The Birmingham Campaign 1963 After a of defeats

The Birmingham Campaign (1963) After a # of defeats, the Movement was looking for a victory Perhaps the most segregated city in the U. S. Fred Shuttlesworth Known as “Bombingham” Police Chief Bull Connor For a year Shuttlesworth & others had led a series of sit-ins, marches, pray-ins, boycotts, voter registration drives 16 th Street Baptist Church

• Martin Luther King came to town to support the campaign • The campaign did not seem to be getting anywhere • Dr. King & 50 others arrested on Good Friday (King’s 13 th arrest) • Writes Letter from Birmingham Jail— eloquently explains the need for the civil disobedience campaign • Controversial move—recruited children to protest • “Children face the stinging darts of segregation as well as adults”

1 st day 600 children arrested—now there were 1200 people in jail (capacity of 900) • Next day Bull Connor sets upon the protesters with attack dogs & clubs •

• The next day, Bull Connor orders the fire department to drive away protesters with powerful water hoses • People around the country watched and were outraged; public opinion swung in favor of the protesters • John F. Kennedy sends civil rights bill to Congress 25: 45 -42: 30

March on Washington, Aug. 1963 250, 000 people peacefully demonstrate to pressure Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act Starting at 43: 00

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Passed • Ended discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, lunch counters, theaters and sporting arenas • Gave the federal government responsibility for bringing discrimination cases to court—now the govt. would sue on people’s behalf