The Underground Railroad was the first in a series of Civil Rights Movements for African Americans. The era of the Underground Railroad was the second most active time for these movements. The most active period was during the 1950s and 1960s. Rosa Parks sparked a protest of Alabama buses in 1955 when she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. In 1957, the governor of Arkansas, Orval E. Faubus refused to allow the integration of Little Rock High School. He attempted to use the National Guard to stop African American students from entering, but President Eisenhower used federal troops to enforce the order. Despite these events, many citizens in the United States remained unaware or unaffected by the Civil Rights Movement. To bring national attention to the issue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, James L. Farmer of CORE, and Whitney M. Young Jr. of the Urban League organized a March on Washington which was attended by over 200,000 people of all colors. Following this march, President Kennedy proposed a series of civil rights laws. These laws were protested by a large number of people, but despite these protests, laws were eventually passed by Congress that guaranteed the rights of all. Huge strides have been made in the advancement of rights for African Americans, however the struggle continues today.
Civil Rights Legislation