---
title: "Civil Rights Act of 1964 — AP African American Studies"
description: "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and banned discrimination by race, color, and religion. See how AP African American Studies tests it in Topic 4.6."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/civil-rights-act-of-1964"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 4"
---

# Civil Rights Act of 1964 — AP African American Studies

## Definition

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was federal legislation that ended segregation and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, and religion. In AP African American Studies (Topic 4.6), it's the landmark legislative payoff of coordinated nonviolent activism by the Civil Rights movement (EK 4.6.C.3).

## What It Is

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the federal law that ended legal [segregation](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/10-hbcu-black-greek-letter-organizations-and-black-education/study-guide/kP0Y57GAauhTajQD "fv-autolink") and prohibited discrimination on the basis of [race](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/14-interlocking-systems-of-oppression/study-guide/CZielrxhDkY9k8KM "fv-autolink"), color, and religion. In the CED's words (EK 4.6.C.3), it was the result of "the coordinated efforts of the Civil Rights movement." That phrase is doing a lot of work, and it's the part the exam actually cares about.

Think of the Act as the destination at the end of a chain of events you study in Topic 4.6. The "Big Four" organizations ([NAACP](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/naacp "fv-autolink"), SCLC, CORE, and SNCC) united African Americans with different experiences around a shared goal of ending racial discrimination. Their nonviolent direct-action campaigns, especially the Birmingham Children's Crusade in 1963 and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that same year, put segregationist violence on national television and built the public and political pressure that pushed the law through Congress. So when the AP asks about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it's rarely asking what the law says. It's asking how activism produced it.

## Why It Matters

This term lives in Topic 4.6 (Major Civil Rights Organizations) in [Unit 4](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4 "fv-autolink"): Movements and Debates, and it directly supports learning objective 4.6.C, which asks you to explain how civil rights activism in the mid-twentieth century led to federal legislative achievements. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the two named legislative achievements in the CED (the other is the [Voting Rights Act of 1965](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/voting-rights-act-of-1965 "fv-autolink")). It's the proof point for the whole Unit 4 argument that organized, strategic, nonviolent resistance changed federal law. If you can trace the line from sit-ins and the Children's Crusade to the March on Washington to this Act, you've mastered the cause-and-effect reasoning the exam rewards.

## Connections

### [Birmingham Children's Crusade (Unit 4)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/birmingham-childrens-crusade)

The televised police violence against children in Birmingham in 1963 shocked Americans and the world (EK 4.6.B.2). That moral outrage is a major reason Congress acted the following year, so the Crusade is the cause and the Act is the effect.

### March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (Unit 4)

Organized by [A. Philip Randolph](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/a-philip-randolph "fv-autolink"), Bayard Rustin, and a coalition of civil rights, religious, and labor groups in 1963, the March showed lawmakers a unified mass movement. It built the direct momentum for the Act's passage less than a year later.

### CORE and SNCC direct action (Unit 4)

[Sit-ins](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/sit-ins "fv-autolink"), freedom rides, and other nonviolent direct-action tactics by CORE and SNCC created the sustained public pressure that made segregation impossible to ignore. Exam questions often ask you to connect these specific tactics to the Act's passage.

### NAACP litigation strategy (Unit 4)

The NAACP attacked segregation through the courts while [SCLC](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/sclc "fv-autolink"), CORE, and SNCC worked through protest. The Act shows both tracks converging, since legal victories and street activism together forced federal legislative change.

## On the AP Exam

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 appeared in a 2024 short-answer question, so this is exam-tested material, not background trivia. The pattern across multiple-choice and short-answer questions is consistent. You're asked to explain causation, like which organization's nonviolent direct action most directly built the public pressure for the Act, how CORE and SNCC's tactics influenced its passage, what the March on Washington demonstrated about the movement, or how events like Medgar Evers's assassination in June 1963 shaped the legislative process. So don't just memorize the definition. Be ready to name a specific tactic (sit-ins, the Children's Crusade, the March on Washington), describe what it did (televised injustice, mobilized mass support), and connect it to the Act as the outcome. That three-step chain is the answer structure graders want.

## Civil Rights Act of 1964 vs Voting Rights Act of 1965

These two laws sit side by side in EK 4.6.C and get mixed up constantly. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and banned discrimination based on race, color, and religion, covering things like public accommodations. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 came a year later and specifically outlawed discriminatory barriers in voting, like the tactics used to keep Black Southerners from registering. Quick check: segregation and discrimination broadly means 1964; the ballot box means 1965.

## Key Takeaways

- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, and religion.
- The CED frames the Act as the result of coordinated Civil Rights movement efforts, so exam answers should connect activism to legislation, not just define the law.
- The 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade and the March on Washington built the televised moral pressure and mass momentum that led to the Act's passage.
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 addressed segregation and discrimination broadly, while the Voting Rights Act of 1965 specifically targeted barriers to voting.
- All of the Big Four organizations (NAACP, SCLC, CORE, SNCC) contributed through different methods, and the Act represents their shared goal achieved.

## FAQs

### What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do?

It ended segregation and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, and religion. In AP African American Studies, it's taught as the legislative achievement produced by the coordinated activism of the Civil Rights movement (EK 4.6.C.3).

### How is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 different from the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

The 1964 Act ended segregation and banned discrimination based on race, color, and religion broadly. The 1965 Act specifically outlawed discriminatory barriers in voting. If a question is about registering to vote or the ballot, the answer is 1965, not 1964.

### Did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 end racism in America?

No. It ended legal segregation and banned certain forms of discrimination, but inequality persisted, which is exactly why Unit 4 continues into later movements and debates. The Voting Rights Act was still needed a year later to address voting discrimination.

### What events led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Key 1963 events built the pressure, including the Birmingham Children's Crusade, whose televised police violence shocked the nation, the March on Washington organized by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, and the assassination of Medgar Evers in June 1963. Together they made federal action politically unavoidable.

### Is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the AP African American Studies exam?

Yes. It's named in essential knowledge 4.6.C.3 and appeared in a 2024 short-answer question. Expect to explain how activism (sit-ins, the Children's Crusade, the March on Washington) led to its passage, not just recite what the law says.

## Related Study Guides

- [4.6 Major Civil Rights Organizations](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/6-major-civil-rights-organizations/study-guide/4Nt9gVozCJusjVjM)

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