How far was peaceful protest responsible for the successes of the civil rights movement in the years 1955-64

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How far was peaceful protest responsible for the successes of the civil rights movement in the years 1955-64

There were many occasions during the civil rights movement when peaceful protest played a major role in bringing change and often desegregation. For instance, the Greensboro sit-ins of 1960 aimed to achieve desegregation of public places. They not only succeeded, but managed to gain masses of support from others for the civil rights movement and even spread to other areas of public living in America. This was very significant in the civil rights movement, as it showed the amount of growing support and the changing attitudes towards desegregation.

However, some peaceful protests from around the same time weren’t as successful. The Albany movement led by King in 1961-2 was deemed a failure, due to the fact that it was unsuccessful in achieving its primary aim to end segregation as a whole by using media attention to gain sympathy. Although a failure, the Albany movement is still rather significant in the timeline of the civil rights movement as it can be seen as somewhat of a turning point in the sense that it illustrated that peaceful protest didn’t always bring about change. Nonetheless, change did occur, but in another form; The Albany movement led to a change in King’s tactics, as well as divisions within the civil rights movement, with an increase of support for radical groups such as the Nation of Islam.

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A peaceful protest of great significance was the March of Washington in 1963 which was also led by King, along with many other organisations such as NAACP, SNCC, SCLC and CORE. The protest aimed to put pressure on Kennedy and Congress to pass a civil rights bill which would lead to a de facto desegregated America. The fact that the march was peaceful, gained further support for the civil rights movement, especially from whites. A key success of the march, was that it gained widespread media coverage worldwide, further increasing support for the civil rights movement and desegregation. The march ...

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