Strom Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

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Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/strom-thurmond-filibuster-of-the-civil-rights-act-of-1957

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the speech duration?24 hours and 18 minutes
2. What is the date of filibuster?August 28-29, 1957
3. What was Strom Thurmond's super long speech about?He spoke for 24 hours to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957, saying it gave the federal government too much power and threatened segregation.
4. Why did he speak for so long?He used a filibuster to delay the vote and try to keep the bill from passing.

Filibuster: A tactic used in legislative bodies to delay or block a vote on a bill by prolonging debate indefinitely.
Civil Rights Act of 1957: The first federal civil rights legislation enacted in the United States since Reconstruction, primarily focused on protecting voting rights.
Segregationist: An individual who advocates for the enforced separation of different racial groups in all aspects of public life.
States' Rights: The political powers reserved for the U.S. states rather than the federal government, often invoked in debates over federal intervention.