Pearson Edexcel · A-Level · History
Course version: 9HI0 · Version from Sept 2015
Black American civil rights, c1955–80: changing patterns and approaches,…
Full specification wording
The quest for civil rights, 1917–80: Black American civil rights, c1955–80: changing patterns and approaches, 1955–68, including southern-based campaigning, the emergence of Black Power and King’s northern strategy; the impact of civil rights legislation: achievements and limits to success, 1955–80.
This topic examines how Black American civil rights campaigning changed between c1955 and 1968, and how far legislation improved lives up to 1980.
Checked against the Pearson Edexcel 9HI0 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 2 of 3
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
This topic examines how Black American civil rights campaigning changed between c1955 and 1968, and how far legislation improved lives up to 1980. Southern-based campaigning used nonviolent direct action, boycotts, sit-ins and marches to challenge segregation and disfranchisement; organisations such as the SCLC, SNCC and CORE pressured federal government. From the mid-1960s, Black Power emerged through SNCC and the Black Panthers, emphasising racial pride, self-defence and community control. King’s northern strategy, seen in Chicago, exposed entrenched housing and employment discrimination. Civil rights legislation, notably the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, ended legal segregation and protected voting, but poverty, de facto segregation and resistance limited success by 1980.
What earns the marks
- Explains how southern-based campaigning used nonviolent direct action, including the Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides and Birmingham and Selma marches, to challenge segregation and disfranchisement.
- Examines King’s northern strategy, especially the Chicago campaign, to show how it targeted housing, employment and de facto segregation, and why it met limited success.
- Assesses the impact of civil rights legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, by weighing legal achievements against persistent poverty, discrimination and white resistance up to 1980.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Treating the civil rights movement as a single unified campaign.
Put it right: Distinguish between southern-based nonviolent groups, Black Power organisations and King’s northern strategy, and explain their different methods and aims.
Assuming legislation immediately ended discrimination.
Put it right: Show that the 1964 and 1965 Acts removed legal segregation and protected voting but did not eliminate poverty, de facto segregation or resistance.
Confusing King’s southern campaigns with his northern strategy.
Put it right: Explain that the northern strategy, such as the Chicago campaign, focused on housing and employment discrimination rather than southern segregation laws.
Exam tips
- Plan essays around change and continuity: compare southern-based campaigning before and after 1965 with Black Power and King’s northern strategy.
- Use specific legislation and campaigns as evidence, and always link them to the question’s focus on patterns, approaches or limits to success.
- When assessing achievements and limits, weigh legal and political gains against economic and social realities up to 1980.
Try the lesson
The start of the The quest for civil rights, 1917–80: Black American civil rights, c1955–80: changing patterns and approaches, 1955–68, including southern-based campaigning, the emergence of Black Power and King’s northern strategy; the impact of civil rights legislation: achievements and limits to success, 1955–80. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which of the following was a primary focus of Martin Luther King Jr.'s northern strategy in 1966?
Listen
This topic examines how Black American civil rights campaigning changed between c1955 and 1968, and how far legislation improved lives up to 1980. Southern-based campaigning used nonviolent direct action, boycotts, sit-ins and marches to challenge segregation and disfranchisement; organisations such as the SCLC, SNCC and CORE pressured federal government. From the mid-1960s, Black Power emerged through SNCC and the Black Panthers, emphasising racial pride, self-defence and community control. King’s northern strategy, seen in Chicago, exposed entrenched housing and employment discrimination. Civil rights legislation, notably the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, ended legal segregation and protected voting, but poverty, de facto segregation and resistance limited success by 1980. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Explains how southern-based campaigning used nonviolent direct action, including the Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides and Birmingham and Selma marches, to challenge segregation and disfranchisement. Analyses the emergence of Black Power through SNCC’s shift, Stokely Carmichael’s call for Black Power and the Black Panther Party, showing how it rejected nonviolence and emphasised racial pride, self-defence and community control. Examines King’s northern strategy, especially the Chicago campaign, to show how it targeted housing, employment and de facto segregation, and why it met limited success. Assesses the impact of civil rights legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, by weighing legal achievements against persistent poverty, discrimination and white resistance up to 1980. A common slip: Treating the civil rights movement as a single unified campaign. Instead, distinguish between southern-based nonviolent groups, Black Power organisations and King’s northern strategy, and explain their different methods and aims. Exam tip: Plan essays around change and continuity: compare southern-based campaigning before and after 1965 with Black Power and King’s northern strategy.
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Southern-based campaigning
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Black Power
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King’s northern strategy
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Civil rights legislation
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See every definition
- Southern-based campaigning
- Campaigning that used nonviolent direct action, boycotts, sit-ins and marches to challenge segregation and disfranchisement, with organisations such as the SCLC, SNCC and CORE pressuring federal government.
- Black Power
- A movement that emerged from the mid-1960s through SNCC and the Black Panthers, emphasising racial pride, self-defence and community control, and rejecting nonviolence.
- King’s northern strategy
- A strategy seen in Chicago that targeted housing, employment and de facto segregation, and met limited success.
- Civil rights legislation
- Notably the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, which ended legal segregation and protected voting, but poverty, de facto segregation and resistance limited success by 1980.
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