Freedom Summer Project Analysis

The Freedom Summer project was an effort made my various civil rights groups to end segregation in Mississippi's political system. Both the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) began planning in late 1963 to recruit several hundred northern college students, most of whom were white, to take part in the project. The Mississippi project was run by the local Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), which was an association of civil rights groups where both the SNCC and COFO were active members. The civil activists primary goal was to help African-American's to register to vote, as the student voice newspaper stated ''Only 6.6% of Mississippi's voting age Negroes are registered to vote -

As black Mississippians were not allowed to be involved with Democratic Party primaries and caucuses, the groups challenged the right of the Party's all-white delegation to represent the state at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Also as black Mississippi residents were not permitted to vote, they held a parallel "Freedom Election" and challenged the right of the all-white Mississippi congressional delegation to represent the state in Washington in January 1965. The volunteers had a complete non-violent approach they held marches, rallies, voting drives, public speeches and protests in order to tackle the issue. Both Mississippi residents and northern volunteers were attacked with violence, including many bombings, kidnappings, physical and verbal abuse and even murder by the residents and groups who

The MFDP convention drew hundreds of people and successfully launched the new party. Though the MFDP failed to unseat the regulars at the convention, they did succeed in dramatizing the violence and injustice by which the white power structure governed Mississippi and disenfranchised black citizens. The MFDP and its convention challenge eventually helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Freedom Schools thrived more the 40 opened with large attendance in 20 communities. Over 2,000 students were educated by 175 voluntary college students. Mississippi's black residents gained organising skills and political experience. Which stood to them in later years when voting and running in elections.The project only managed to introduce a few hundred new black voters to register, but the harassment conducted during their efforts were widely covered in the national media. During the Freedom vote over 62,000 people cast ballots despite shootings, beatings, intimidation, and arrests. In most counties, Freedom Voters outnumbered regular Democratic Party voters.The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed Congress in part because lawmakers' constituents had been educated about these issues during Freedom Summer. Freedom Summer raised the consciousness of millions of people to the unfair treatment of African-Americans and the need for