Setting the Scene: Birmingham, May 3, 1963
Part of Birmingham 1963 — GCSE History
This introduction covers Setting the Scene: Birmingham, May 3, 1963 within Birmingham 1963 for GCSE History. Revise Birmingham 1963 in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 3 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 1 of 14 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 1 of 14
Practice
10 questions
Recall
3 flashcards
📖 Setting the Scene: Birmingham, May 3, 1963
It is the morning of May 3, 1963. Over a thousand Birmingham schoolchildren — some as young as six — march out of the 16th Street Baptist Church in columns. They are singing freedom songs.
Public Safety Commissioner "Bull" Connor gives the order. Fire hoses are turned on the children at full pressure — 100 pounds per square inch, enough to strip bark from trees and tear the clothes from children's bodies. Police dogs lunge at the marchers. The children do not run. They do not fight back.
The photographs taken that morning appear on the front page of every major newspaper in the world within 24 hours. Soviet state media broadcasts them as proof that American "freedom" is a lie. In the White House, President Kennedy tells his advisors that the images make him sick to his stomach. Within six weeks, he will announce a Civil Rights Bill to Congress. Birmingham has worked — precisely as Martin Luther King planned.