Montgomery Bus Boycott Significance

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a massively critical part of the Civil Rights Movement. On 1 December 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person in Montgomery, Alabama. Her prosecution in turn sparked a 381 day-long boycott with over 50,000 African-American’s partaking in this protest. Not only was the sheer number of people involved in the boycott successful in making it especially significant in the short term; it acted as a catalyst for the movement, influencing other non-violent protests and in forcing Martin Luther King to the forefront of the movement. The non-violence that was encouraged by King also proved to be extremely effective in impacting the whole of Montgomery and elsewhere.

The boycott had immediate significance

King and his church were not only essential to the boycott by providing organisation, inspiration and financial aid, but in future protests where he was a key leadership figure. In addition, his peaceful philosophies were replicated as it highlighted the effectiveness in using non-violent protest, demonstrating how white brutality could be used to gain international and national support and King’s influence is evident as James Lawson quotes him “An ‘eye for an eye’ results in everybody blind and toothless” as justification as to why non-violence is essential in “creating a more just society”, as Lawson participated in the sit-ins, it is likely to bias towards portraying King and the movement positively. However, as it is a personal account, it is therefore extremely valuable in showing the influence King had on fellow southern Americans, encouraging them to participate in subsequent events. Wyatt Tee Walker also validates King’s influence, describing his involvement in the organisation of the Birmingham campaign of 1963, claiming it to have been his view that if “nonviolence wouldn’t work in Birmingham, then it wouldn’t work anywhere” . Therefore Walker is showing it to have been King’s ‘tactics’ of ‘attacking’ the most racial intolerant parts of America, which ultimately proved

An extract of a British Embassy report reiterates King’s non-violent philosophies being adopted once again, with the March’s organisers urging “their followers to avoid excessive militancy and above all violence” . The protesters were also described as being on their “Sunday best behaviour” with “not a single incident of disorderly behaviour” being reported, showing the dignified manner in which over 200,000 demonstrators had carried themselves, similar to what was encouraged in the ‘1956 Bus Rules’: “Demonstrate the calm dignity of our Montgomery people” . The international significance of this event is evident as the British Embassy reported it, despite having no involvement in America’s Civil Right battle, which also insinuates it is unbiased. However as Britain was not directly involved, it is unlikely they knew the full extent of the events, also, American leaders may not have wanted to portray America as being unable to handle mass protests if violence had broken out. The widespread attention and sympathy that was initially gained during the Montgomery, and that was then maintained through the successive events it influenced, eventually led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act where racial discrimination was deemed unlawful and forbade racial exclusion from public places. This proves just how significant the