Civil Rights & Human Rights

ACLU and the Defense of Liberty - American Civil Liberties Union was and is a major organization that promotes of the rights of all citizens. 

Amnesty International - an organization that fights for the human rights of people. Its vision is a world in which people enjoy all the human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, focusing on preventing and ending grave abuses.  Amnesty International is one of the leaders in the exploration of human rights. (World)

Attucks, Crispus - An escaped slave turned sailor living in Massachusetts. He was the first of five men to die in the misnamed Boston Massacre.

Brown vs. Board of Education - During the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America. Although all the schools were suppose to be "separate but equal," the white schools far exceeded the level of the black schools.

Chinese Exclusion Action – In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which basically forbade further Chinese immigration. This act was an exploration into legal ethnic discrimination.

Civil Liberties of Wisconsinites and National Security - During the WWI, German Americans, especially those living in Wisconsin at the time, had to encounter prejudice and discrimination.  For example, the German language was removed from some Wisconsin schools during this time period.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 - This act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal. It also required employers to provide equal employment opportunities.

Civil Rights Movement - In the summer of 1964, these three Civil Rights supporters (Chaney, Goodman, and Swerner) will be killed in the South.  This is an integral part of the Civil Rights Movement. All eyes turned to Mississippi to watch the Mississippi Burning Trial, which greatly affected the Civil Rights  Movement (Medgar Evers).  Many innocent people were killed.

Dorothea Dix - one of the earliest reformers of the prison system.  Dix’s reform efforts extended across the nations, and 100 state hospitals, where mentally ill people could receive professional help, were set up.

Equal Rights Association - the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) was formed to "secure Equal Rights to all American citizens, especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, color, or sex."

Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) - In 1972, Congress passed an Equal Rights Amendment, and then it was passed to the states for ratification.  Eventually, three-fourths of the states did not pass it; however, E.R.A. involves the rights of women and the responsibility of federal, state, and local governments

Fries’s Rebellion – Fries’s Rebellion took place in a heavily German area of Pennsylvania.  In 1799 Revolutionary War veteran John Fries led a group of angry Pennsylvania’s to protest and disrupt the collection of 1798 federal tax on land, houses, and other property.

Father Groppi - most famous civil rights leader of Milwaukee during the 1960’s.  He was well known for his compassion toward the African-American community.  He faced many difficulties in his struggle in the Civil Rights Movement.  This is a great state topic with national connections.

F.H.A.& H.U.D. - Federal Housing Administration (F.H.A.) and Housing and Urban Development (H.U.D.) have played a major role in housing throughout the 20^th Century.

Freedom Rides -  SNCC members rode buses through the deep southern states where discrimination and segregation were most prominent promoting the desegregation of public transportation throughout the south.  They were met with violence and discrimination. 

Gandhi, Mohandas – His philosophy of non-violence and his passion for independence began a drive for freedom that doomed colonialism. (World)

Garvey, Marcus - A native of Jamaica, Garvey led a movement in the 1920’s and 1930’s that led many African Americans to move back to Africa.  Garvey encountered opposition from both blacks and whites in the 1920’s and 1930’s for his ideas and beliefs.    

Japanese Internment Camps - Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps as a reaction to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Executive order 9066 ordered all persons of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast to be held in internment camps, without trial or hearing.  120,000 people were forced from their homes in these internment camps and they were held there for a number of years.

Jones, Vivian Malone - Ms. Jones was the first African-American to graduate from the University of Alabama.  Her admission to the University of Alabama led to then-Gov. Wallace's defiance of allowing African-American students access to the school.

Ku Klux Klan - The Klan was first introduced after the Civil War when southern whites targeted black slaves set free.  The Klan then gained large support during the 1920s and the 1960s.

Little Rock - On September 4, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus defied the court, calling in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine African American students--"The Little Rock Nine"--from entering the building.  In the end President Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne Division paratroopers to Little Rock in order to protect those nine.

Meir, Golda - This woman from Wisconsin ranks as one of the 20^th century’s most important world leaders.  She first lived in Milwaukee, and then she devoted her life to reforming the world and eliminating prejudice.  She and her husband moved to Palestine and helped organize the government of Israel.  She was ambassador to the Soviet Union, and in 1969, she made history when she became the first woman to win election as a nation’s prime minister.

Nat Turner - Nat Turner was the leader of a revolt that he believed would cause a massive slave uprising.  Instead only a few slaves joined his rebellion. The state militia quickly covered Turner's rebellion.  In response to Turner's actions a hundred innocent slaves were killed. 

Northern Wisconsin and/or Stop Treaty Abuse (STA) & Dean Christ - Stop Treaty Abuse involves the rights and responsibilities of both Native Americans, non-native Americans, and the federal government.  This highly controversial topic has many primary sources available because STA is primarily a Wisconsin group.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the Chippewa Treaty provided the right for Chippewa Indians to spearfish.   

Olympic Project for Human Rights - Tommie Smith and John Carlos, teammates at San Jose State College, were stirred by the suggestion of a young sociologist friend who asked them and all the other black American athletes to join together and boycott the games. The protest, it was hoped, would bring attention to the fact that America's civil rights movement had not gone far enough to eliminate the injustices black Americans were facing. The Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), gained support from several world-class athletes and civil rights leaders but the all-out boycott never materialized.

Rosa Parks - The story of a woman that challenged the social norms and governmental laws that restricted so many, just by sitting down.  For this she has been called the "mother of civil rights."

Shay’s Rebellion – In 1785 and 1786, with the economic depression continuing, matters came to a head in western Massachusetts, when indebted farmers began to protest loudly against their creditors, state tax officials and the courts.   

Tinker, John: Protesting the Vietnam War – John Tinker was a high school student in Des Moines, Iowa who wore a black armband to school to protest the Vietnam War. He encountered much opposition from students, parents and the school.