67 pages • 2 hours read
The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, From the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Index of Terms
The American Civil War
The American Civil War was a conflict that took place from 1861 to 1865. In the years prior to the Civil War, the United States was divided over the issue of slavery. States in the South were enslaving states, while Northern states were free. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, several Southern states feared that he would end slavery and decided to secede. Eventually, the North defeated the South, enslaved people were freed, and the country was reunited.
The Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a national social movement that began in 1954 and fought to end racial injustice, including segregation and discrimination against African Americans. The movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the most iconic and important in US history; however, it was also a time of great violence and division. The civil rights movement eventually resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Although these were crucial steps toward justice, systemic racism remains a part of daily life in the US today.
Jeanes Fund
The Jeanes Fund, also known as the Negro Rural School Fund, was established by wealthy Northerner Anna Thomas Jeanes in 1907 to support African American schools in rural communities across the South. The fund hired a number of “supervising teachers” who were responsible for supporting schools and communities in their regions—raising money, overseeing curricula, and training teachers.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott began in December 1955 and was the first major protest of the civil rights movement. African Americans boycotted the Montgomery city buses for 13 months to protest segregation on the public buses. The boycott was successful, and buses were finally integrated.
NAACP
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded in 1909 to advocate for civil rights for African Americans. The organization played an important role in the civil rights movement and continues to work to eliminate discrimination and inequality.
Suffrage
The term “suffrage” refers to the right to vote in political elections. Until 1920, women did not have the right to vote in the United States. Women won this right through a lengthy suffrage movement beginning in the late 19th century.
Unlock all 67 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: