The Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a major conflict in the US during the 50s. Manly protesters sought an end to racial segregation in public places such as stores, buses, and schools. Brown v. Board of Education was a major Supreme Court Case. In this ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that states having segregated schools was unconstitutional. All schools were open to both whites and blacks. Eisenhower supported the Supreme Court's ruling and wanted to ensure black students could go into any school they wanted to. President Eisenhower wanted to ensure that blacks could vote and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Eisenhower's involvement in the Civil Rights movement shaped what civil rights would become in the years to follow.
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Little Rock Nine
The story of the Little Rock Nine is one of the most famous Civil Rights Movement's story. 3 years after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools was unconstitutional, the NAACP recruited 9 African-American students to attend Central High school of Little Rock Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas didn't want any violence in the streets and ordered the Arkansas National Guard to not allow the students admittance into the school. The students stayed in their homes for 2 weeks. In the meantime, there were messages going back and forth between Faubus and Eisenhower, arguing about the Supreme Court's ruling. The Federal Court ruled that Governor Faubus remove the National Guard from the school and allow the students to go to the school. The mobs had become extremely intense and Eisenhower ordered that 1,000 armed paratroopers from the 101st airborne division with machine guns escort the students through the angry mobs and into the school. Military forces would escort the students every day until the rest of the school year. Eisenhower's involvement in the Little Rock Nine was a big step in achieving equal rights for all people.
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