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Brennan Saur
Ms. Whitcomb
Purple Class
NHD Draft
The Cold War era was a revolutionary time in US History and
provided many new rights for Americans, particularly those that were
once discriminated against. Perhaps the most effective movement of
this time was the Civil Rights movement, which finally gave AfricanAmericans the rights they deserved. As the Cold War raged on,
politicians realized that they had to stop discrimination of AfricanAmerican citizens in America before they could successfully compete
against Communism. The result of this was newfound political support
for Civil Rights, which led to many new laws and acts that gave rights
to black citizens. Almost all of these acts outlawed discrimination for
skin color or land of origin. These laws, such as Brown v. Board of
Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1965, were turning points in the
Civil Rights movement.
In February of 1946, Joseph Stalin, then leader of the USSR
declared that Communism and Capitalism were incompatible
[History, Joseph Stalin-Facts & Summary] [Unknown, The Cold War
Period]. Joseph Stalin had spoken what was on the mind of many
Americans. These thoughts are what sparked the Cold War, a decades
long battle between Communists and Capitalists. At this point in time,

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African-Americans were heavily discriminated; still bound under
discriminatory laws dubbed Jim Crow laws. These laws denied them
their basic rights and separated them from whites.
As the Cold War began, politicians began to realize that to
successfully combat Communism they had to grant their own citizens
Civil Rights. In a 1960s advertisement by Richard Nixon, he states,
Why must we rigorously defend them [civil rights]? First, because it is
right and just. And second, because we cannot compete successfully
against Communism if we fail to utilize completely the minds and
energy of all our citizens. And third, because the whole world is
watching us. When we fail to grant equality for all, that makes newsbad news- for America all over the world, [Nixon, 1960]. Since a large
amount of politicians now supported Civil Rights, many laws were
passed to destroy American discrimination and get rid of Jim Crow
laws.

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One of the purposes of Jim Crow laws was to separated AfricanAmericans and whites. The races were often divided in their schooling,
which was the subject of Brown v. Board of Education. This case from
the 1950s was a name given to the separate cases Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, Briggs v. Elliot, Davis v. Board of Education of
Prince Edward Island, Boiling v. Sharpe, and Gebhart v. Ethel. The
main argument when Brown v. Board of Education was brought to the
court was that black and white segregated schools were unequal. This
was against the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution. On May
31, 1955, the Justices made a plan for how Brown v. Board of
Education would proceed. They ruled that desegregation in public
schools was to proceed at all deliberate pace. [United States Courts ,
History of Brown v. Board of Education]. With this act, segregation in

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legal schools was made illegal. At last, African-Americans had the right
to the same education as white people.
Another landmark act was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act
completely abolished the unfair Jim Crow laws and prohibited
discrimination due to race, sex, or religion in employment and public
places. In 1964 the bill was brought to the Senate and the debate
began on March 30 of the same year. The result was a 54-day filibuster
that ended with a compromise bill. On June 19, 1964, the bill was
passed with a vote of 73 to 27. Less than a month later on July 2,
President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill into law [United States
Committee on the Judiciary, The Civil Rights Act of 1964]. This act was
potentially the more important than of all the others, due to the fact
that it not only gave African Americans new rights but also ended open
discrimination against them in general. It also paved the way for the
new American standard of anti-racism.
In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was added to the United States
Constitution. This amendment, which went hand-in-hand with the
thirteenth and fourteenth, allowed black male citizens the right to vote.
In the beginning it was an extremely influential amendment, but soon
various tests were put out to prevent African-Americans from voting.
For example, literacy tests were created to test African-Americans on
their reading ability. These literacy tests were not given to any of the
white voters, which was unjust. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was

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created to abolish those tests. In 1965, president Lyndon Johnson
urged the Congress to pass the law and stated, we cannot have
government for all the people until we make certain it is government of
and by the people. [Johnson, 1965]. On August 5, 1965, this bill was
signed into law. By the end of that year, a quarter of a million new
black voters had registered to vote [ourdocuments.gov, Voting Rights
Act (1965)].
The court case Loving v. Virginia not only benefited blacks but
also whites as well. In 1958 Mildred Jeter, an African-American woman,
married Richard Loving, a white man. At the time they lived in the
South, which caused some controversy. The couple was charged with
violating Virginias ban on interracial marriage and sentenced to one
year in jail. However, this sentence was suspended and led to a 25year ban from the state of Virginia [Warren, Loving v. Virginia]. In 1963
they filed a motion on the state, and after many years, the court
decided unanimously in their favor. [lovingday.org, The Loving Story].
Loving v. Virginia stated that laws against interracial marriages were
unconstitutional [Lisa Vox, Timeline of Civil Rights Movement]. After
years of having their love deemed illegal, interracial couples were
suddenly free to marry.
The dictionary definition for the term oppressed is [A person or
group of people] subject to harsh or authoritarian treatment. This
definition describes the situation of African-Americans for hundreds of

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years. They were mostly used as slaves, but were freed at the end of
the Civil War. However, upon entering society, they found that their
basic human rights were denied under various Jim Crow laws. At that
time, politicians realized that they needed to end segregation in their
country before battling Communism. In the words of Harry Truman,
We shall not finally achieve the ideals for which this nation is founded
so long as any American suffers discrimination as a result of his race,
or religion, or color, or the land of origin of his forefathers. [Truman,
1948].
This statement described the general opinion of American
politicians in the 1950s and 1960s. At this time, while the Cold War
raged on, many new acts and laws were introduced to give AfricanAmericans the rights they always deserved. Because of these new
freedoms granted by the acts, the Cold War era suddenly became the
most influential time period in the twentieth century for Civil Rights.

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Works Cited
1960. Print. Transcript. Very helpful source. Gave a great primary source and evidence
that Civil Rights was gaining political support.
"The Civil Rights Act of 1964." United States Committe on the Judiciary. N.p., n.d. Web.
24 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/history/CivilRightsAct.cfm>. Gave me all
the information I needed to know about the topic. Gave a sufficient amount of
details but still kept it understandable.
The Cold War Period. Farmington Mills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Print. American
History By Era. Extremely excellent source that mapped out what happened in the
Cold War from the very beginning.
"Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution." Our Documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb.
2014. <http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=44>. Gave me
the information I needed, but if someone were to have to do a lot of research on
the fifteenth amendment I would not recommend it because it didn't focus on the
document itself that much.
"History of Brown v. Board of Education." United States Courts. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb.
2014. <http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/federal-courtactivities/brown-board-education-re-enactment/history.aspx>. An extremely great
source that gave me everything I needed to know for the paragraph.

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"Joseph Stalin- Facts & Summary." History. A+E Network, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-stalin>. I did not spend much time with
this source because I only needed to know when Joseph Stalin ruled Russia.
However, I did get the information from this site.
"The Loving Story." Loving Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://lovingday.org/theloving-story>. I could not get much information from this because it simply
restated what I had gotten from the other source, but if it is your first resource you
go to it is great.
"Loving v. Virginia." Legal Information Institute. Cornell University, n.d. Web. 24 Feb.
2014. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/388/1>. I am not sure how I
feel about this one because it is confusing to read and I cannot tell if the sources
are primary or not. If you knew how to use it properly I would definitely
recommend it.
Shahn, Ben. Sign on a restaurant. Aug. 1938. Photograph. Lib. of Cong. It may only be a
picture, but it gave perspective to the discrimination of the Jim Crow laws.
"Voting Rights Act (1965)." Our Documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=100>. An excellent source because
it not only gave me information on the subject but also elaborated on their
evidence.

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