The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6)
I can explain the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6)
I can explain the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man.
- Black Americans came together to boycott the buses in Montgomery.
- Martin Luther King Jr became the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott.
- The boycott ended in the successful desegregation of buses in Montgomery.
- The boycott was one of the first successful mass non-violent protests.
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
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.
To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the USA: how did the civil rights movement develop between 1954-60? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
when you refuse to use a service as a form of protest
when a group of people share a vehicle from from one place to another
use of protests to achieve a goal, rather than negotiation