The Bus Boycott: A Year-Long Stand Against Injustice

how many days did the bus boycott last

The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days, from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956. It was a mass protest against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. The protest was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. The boycott ended when the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.

Characteristics Values
Start Date 5 December 1955
End Date 20 December 1956
Duration 381 or 382 days

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The boycott lasted 381/382 days

The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 or 382 days, from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956. The boycott was a mass protest against the bus system of Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Local laws dictated that African American passengers sat at the back of the bus and yielded their seats to white riders if the front section was full. When Parks refused to move, she was jailed and later bailed out by a local civil rights leader.

The boycott was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with Martin Luther King, Jr. as its president. King, a young pastor, became a prominent civil rights leader as a result of the boycott, which brought national and international attention to Montgomery. The MIA demanded courtesy, first-come-first-served seating, and the hiring of Black bus drivers. To sustain the boycott, Black leaders organized carpools, and Black taxi drivers charged the same fare as buses for Black riders. Despite efforts by city officials and white citizens to defeat the boycott, Montgomery's Black residents stayed off the buses through 1956.

The boycott was met with significant resistance and violence. King's home was bombed, and boycotters were attacked and fired from their jobs. However, the MIA persisted, and their efforts were successful. On June 5, 1956, a federal court ruled that segregated seating on buses was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court affirmed this decision in November. The boycott officially ended on December 20, 1956, after 381 or 382 days, when the federal ruling took effect and Montgomery's buses were integrated.

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It started on 5 December 1955

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a social and political protest, regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the US. It was also a foundational event in the civil rights movement. The boycott was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with Martin Luther King Jr. as its president.

The MIA's initial demands included first-come, first-served seating, with whites and blacks entering and filling seats from the front and rear respectively, and the hiring of black bus operators on predominantly black routes. The MIA also asked for courteous treatment by bus operators. These demands were not met, and the boycott continued.

The protest was extremely effective, with enough riders lost to the city transit system to cause serious economic distress. The MIA organised carpools, and black taxi drivers charged the same fare as buses in support of the boycott. Many black residents chose to walk to their destinations.

The boycott lasted for 381 days, ending on 20 December 1956. It concluded with a US Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. This decision led to the integration of Montgomery's buses on 21 December 1956.

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It ended on 20 December 1956

The Montgomery Bus Boycott ended on 20 December 1956, after 381 days. The boycott was a mass protest against the bus system of Montgomery, Alabama, by civil rights activists and their supporters. It was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on 1 December 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. The boycott lasted for over a year, with African American residents of Montgomery walking, carpooling, and taking taxis instead of riding the buses.

During the boycott, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) coordinated the efforts of the protesters, and its president, Martin Luther King, Jr., became a prominent civil rights leader. The MIA faced significant resistance and violence from white citizens, including bombings and physical attacks. However, the protesters remained committed to nonviolent resistance, and their efforts ultimately led to a landmark legal victory.

On 5 June 1956, a federal district court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that bus segregation was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this decision in November 1956, striking down the laws requiring segregated seating on public buses. On 20 December 1956, the Supreme Court's ruling took effect, and King called for an end to the boycott. The community agreed, and the buses were integrated the following day.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott is widely regarded as a pivotal event in the civil rights movement in the United States. It demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest to challenge racial segregation and inspired similar campaigns across the South. The boycott also brought national and international attention to the struggle for civil rights, with King emerging as a prominent leader of the movement.

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It was sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Parks was seated in the first row of the "coloured section" when the white seats filled up, and the bus driver, James Blake (also known as J. Fred Blake), asked her and three other Black riders to vacate their seats. The other three Black riders complied, but Parks refused, sparking her arrest for "refusing to obey orders of the bus driver". At the time, Alabama law required African Americans to give up their seats to whites if the bus was full, and they were also required to sit at the back of the bus. Parks later recalled her defiance, stating, "I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day... The only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

Parks' arrest galvanised the African-American community in Montgomery, leading to a remarkable year-long boycott of the city's bus system. The boycott began on December 5, 1955, the Monday after Parks' arrest, and ended on December 20, 1956, after 381 days. During the boycott, African Americans refused to ride city buses, instead choosing to walk, carpool, or take taxis. The success of the boycott was due in large part to the organisation and leadership of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. emerging as a prominent civil rights leader during this time.

The boycott was not without challenges and setbacks. Boycotters endured bad weather, harassment, intimidation, and even loss of jobs. Additionally, there was violent backlash from opposing whites, with King's and Abernathy's houses being firebombed, along with four Black Baptist churches. Despite these difficulties, the boycott remained steadfast, and its impact extended far beyond Montgomery. It inspired similar campaigns and sparked a broader movement for civil rights across the United States.

The boycott culminated in a significant legal victory. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling in Browder v. Gayle, declaring that racial segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. This decision not only ended the boycott but also set a precedent for the desegregation of public transportation nationwide. Parks' courageous act of defiance and the subsequent boycott played a pivotal role in advancing the civil rights movement, challenging and ultimately dismantling the unjust system of racial segregation in the United States.

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It was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association

The Montgomery bus boycott was a 13-month mass protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on Montgomery's public transit system. It lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with Martin Luther King, Jr. as its president.

The MIA was formed on December 5, 1955, the same day as the initial one-day boycott, during a meeting of Montgomery's ministers and leaders to discuss the possibility of extending the boycott into a long-term campaign. King was elected president of the MIA during this meeting. That evening, at a mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, the MIA voted to continue the boycott, with King delivering a powerful speech to several thousand attendees.

Under King's leadership, the MIA continued the boycott with remarkable success. They established a carpool system for African Americans, with over 200 volunteers offering their vehicles and approximately 100 pickup stations within the city. The MIA also held mass gatherings at various African American churches to collect donations and share updates on the boycott's progress.

The MIA issued a formal list of demands on December 8, 1955, which included courteous treatment by bus operators, first-come, first-served seating for all, with blacks seating from the rear and whites from the front, and the employment of black bus operators on predominantly black routes. When these demands were not met, Montgomery's black residents continued to stay off the buses throughout 1956, despite efforts by city officials and white citizens to defeat the boycott.

In early 1956, the homes of King and E. D. Nixon, a local labor leader and treasurer of the MIA, were bombed. Boycott leaders were also indicted under a 1921 law prohibiting conspiracies that interfered with lawful business. Despite this resistance and ongoing harassment from local police, the boycott remained highly successful, with African Americans proudly enduring the inconveniences caused by limited transportation options.

The MIA's tactics of combining mass nonviolent protest with Christian ethics became a model for challenging segregation in the South. The boycott demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass action in the struggle for civil rights, propelling King into the international spotlight as a prominent civil rights leader.

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Frequently asked questions

The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 days, from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest where African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. The boycott was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, an African American woman, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.

The boycott led to a 1956 U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared Montgomery's segregation laws on buses unconstitutional. It also brought national attention to the civil rights struggles in the United States and brought Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., into the spotlight as a prominent leader of the civil rights movement.

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