History Brief: Ideas and Action

In 1776, representatives of thirteen British colonies declared that they wanted to govern themselves. Thomas Jefferson was the main writer of the document explaining why the colonies sought independence. The United States later adopted the Constitution, a plan for the national government that also sets limits on its powers. George Washington became the nation’s first president in 1789. Many years later, Black Americans challenged unfair laws that denied them equal rights. Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 after she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her action helped inspire a bus boycott. Martin Luther King Jr. became a leading voice in the Civil Rights Movement. He urged people to use nonviolent protest, and his 1963 speech at the March on Washington expressed a vision of a better future. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in many public places and banned discrimination in several areas.

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