The Civil Rights Movement and the Right to Vote (1954-1965)
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Nearly one-hundred years after the Civil War, African Americans still faced social segregation and second-class citizenship. They lived in a world that was both separate and unequal.
The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s sought integration and equal treatment for Black people in American life. Civil rights activists used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to bring attention to their cause; their efforts resulted in federal laws that protected the rights of African Americans to participate in the social and political life of the country.