400 CHAPTER 13|CIVIL RIGHTS
In terms of women’s rights, both the national and state governments have taken
important actions.Social Movements
It is important not to overlook the importance of social movements. From the early
women’s rights movement and abolitionists of the nineteenth century to the gay
rights and civil rights movements of the mid-twentieth century, activists have
pressured the political system to change civil rights policies. Through collective
action, these social movements have made sure that such controversial issues
remained on the policy agenda.
Women started to push for the right to vote at a convention in 1848 at Seneca
Falls, New York. Subsequently, a constitutional amendment to give women the
right to vote was regularly introduced in Congress between 1878 and 1913 but
never was passed, despite the eff orts of women such as Susan B. Anthony and Eliz-
abeth Cady Stanton. After a parallel movement at the state level had some success,
the constitutional amendment fi nally passed in 1919 and was ratifi ed in 1920.
The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, aimed at ending segregation
and gaining equal political and social rights for blacks, is the most famous example
of a successful social movement (see Figure 13.2). Although the Brown v. Board
of Education decision, which struck down segregation in public schools, gave the
movement a boost, most southern blacks saw little change in their daily lives afterSource: Adapted from “Key Moments in Civil Rights History,” Ann Arbor News, January 11, 2004, http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/
base/features-0/1073819921106320.xml.
CIVIL RIGHTS TIMELINE
1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 19611954, May 17
U.S. Supreme Court rules segregated
schools are unconstitutional in
the Brown v. Board of Education
decision.1957, September 23
President Eisenhower sends troops
to escort black students into
a white high school in
Little Rock, Arkansas.1960, February 1
Black college students refused
service at a lunch counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina,
launch a sit-in.1957, September 9
The federal Civil Rights Act
prohibits discrimination.1955, December 1
Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing
to move to the back of a bus in
Montgomery, Alabama.1961, May 4
Freedom Riders test a Supreme
Court decision that integrated
interstate bus travel,
sparking violence.