---
id: kb-2026-00404
title: Civil Rights Movement
schema_type: TechArticle
category: history
language: en
confidence: medium
last_verified: '2026-05-28'
created_date: '2026-05-22'
generation_method: ai_structured
ai_models:
  - claude-opus
derived_from_human_seed: true
conflict_of_interest: none_declared
is_live_document: false
data_period: static
atomic_facts:
  - id: fact-civil-rights-01
    statement: The Montgomery Bus Boycott became a major civil rights campaign after Rosa Parks was arrested in December 1955.
    source_title: Montgomery Bus Boycott - The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
    source_url: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/montgomery-bus-boycott
    confidence: medium
  - id: fact-civil-rights-02
    statement: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law on July 2, 1964, and became landmark federal civil rights legislation.
    source_title: Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964 - National Archives
    source_url: https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/civil-rights-1964/civil-rights-act-1964.html
    confidence: medium
  - id: fact-civil-rights-03
    statement: The Selma campaign helped build momentum for federal voting-rights protections in 1965.
    source_title: Introduction - The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
    source_url: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/introduction
    confidence: medium
completeness: 0.8
known_gaps:
  - Local organizing networks, women organizers, labor history, and Black Power debates are not treated in depth.
disputed_statements: []
primary_sources:
  - title: Montgomery Bus Boycott - The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
    type: academic_reference
    year: 2025
    url: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/montgomery-bus-boycott
    institution: Stanford University
  - title: Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964 - National Archives
    type: government_record
    year: 1964
    url: https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/civil-rights-1964/civil-rights-act-1964.html
    institution: U.S. National Archives
  - title: Introduction - The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
    type: academic_reference
    year: 2025
    url: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/introduction
    institution: Stanford University
secondary_sources:
  - title: Parting the Waters
    type: book
    year: 1988
    authors:
      - Branch, Taylor
    url: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Parting-the-Waters/Taylor-Branch/9780671687427
    institution: Simon & Schuster
---

## TL;DR

The U.S. Civil Rights Movement involved legal challenges, mass protest, local organizing, and federal legislation against racial segregation and discrimination.

## Core Explanation

This article focuses on three evidence-backed anchors: the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Selma campaign. It avoids unsupported shorthand that collapses the movement into a few national leaders or vague references to "nonviolent resistance."

## Evidence Notes

The previous version used a single book page for several precise claims and included broken sentence fragments. This version uses the King Institute and National Archives for directly verifiable claims.

## Further Reading

- [Montgomery Bus Boycott - King Institute](https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/montgomery-bus-boycott)
- [Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964 - National Archives](https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/civil-rights-1964/civil-rights-act-1964.html)
- [Civil Rights Movement introduction - King Institute](https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/introduction)

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