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Year 11
Edexcel

The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6)

I can explain the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

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New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6)

I can explain the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man.
  2. Black Americans came together to boycott the buses in Montgomery.
  3. Martin Luther King Jr became the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott.
  4. The boycott ended in the successful desegregation of buses in Montgomery.
  5. The boycott was one of the first successful mass non-violent protests.

Common misconception

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a successful, peaceful boycott that was carried out with minimal resistance.

The boycott was a peaceful means of protest, but continued despite huge resistance throughout Montgomery. Those who participated risked arrest, unemployed and sometimes their lives.

Keywords

  • Boycott - when you refuse to use a service as a form of protest it is known as a boycott

  • Carpool - a carpool is an arrangement where a group of people agree to share a vehicle from one place to another, usually as an alternative to public transport

  • Direct action - direct action is the use of demonstrations or protests to achieve a goal, rather than negotiation

When explaining the legacy of the boycott, you can emphasise that prior to the boycott there wasn't unanimous support for non-violent, direct action amongst black Americans. Many felt hopeless as there had been few examples of successful protest for change.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which organisation fought racial injustice in the courts?
Correct Answer: NAACP
Q2.
Which organisation used non-violent direct action such as sit-ins to protest in the 1950s?
Correct Answer: CORE, Congress of Racial Equality, congress of racial equality
Q3.
The is an organisation that continued to protest against desegregation in the 1950s.
Correct Answer: KKK, Ku Klux Klan , White Citizens Council, WCC
Q4.
Which of the following statements correctly describe the impact of the events at Little Rock in 1957? Select all statements that are true.
Correct answer: It set a precedent for challenging segregation at a federal level.
Correct answer: All four high schools in Little Rock closed for a year rather than desegregate.
All the high schools in Little Rock immediately desegregated.
Correct answer: Many families moved away from desegregated school areas.
Q5.
A is when you refuse to use a service as a form of protest.
Correct Answer: boycott
Q6.
In which year was Brown v Topeka?
Correct answer: 1954
1957
1909
1942

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the words with their definitions. Write the correct letter in each box.
Correct Answer:boycott ,when you refuse to use a service as a form of protest

when you refuse to use a service as a form of protest

Correct Answer:carpool,when a group of people share a vehicle from from one place to another

when a group of people share a vehicle from from one place to another

Correct Answer:direct action,use of protests to achieve a goal, rather than negotiation

use of protests to achieve a goal, rather than negotiation

Q2.
Which of the following civil rights activists refused to give up their seat on a bus for a white man on December 1st 1955?
Claudette Colvin
Correct answer: Rosa Parks
Jo Ann Robinson
E.D. Nixon
Martin Luther King Jr
Q3.
Which of the following civil rights organisations were involved in supporting the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
CORE
Correct answer: Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)
Correct answer: NAACP
Q4.
Which of the following civil rights activists became known as a leader and a motivating and charismatic speaker following the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Jo Ann Robinson
E.D. Nixon
Correct answer: Martin Luther King Jr
Claudette Colvin
Q5.
Which of the following sentences accurately describes the resistance to the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Correct answer: Martin Luther King Jr’s home was bombed
Correct answer: many boycotters were fired from their jobs or arrested
Correct answer: carpools were often attacked by white Americans.
there was minimal resistance to the boycott
Q6.
Which of the following sentences accurately describes the impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Correct answer: The Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses in Alabama to be unconstitutional.
Correct answer: It showed that non-violent direct action could successfully achieve its aims.
Correct answer: It contributed to the passing of the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
Correct answer: It showed that the government would support the civil rights movement.

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