St. Augustine Movement An Indigenous Movement or Outside Agitators

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Hite, Gregory

Keywords

Civil Rights Movement, St. Augustine Movement, Indigenous Movements

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

In this thesis, I am going to reassess Aldon Morris's theory regarding the origins of the modern civil rights movement, using the St. Augustine Movement in Florida as an example. Morris sought to counter the prevalent belief that white northerners were responsible for initiating the Civil Rights Movement and to explain how the Civil Rights Movement actually became a major force in American Society. To do this, he explores and analyzes the origins and development of the Modern Civil Rights Movement where he studies the role of the black masses. Morris argues that movements are indigenous, he also argues that movements are rooted in the Black Church, rather than the NAACP, last, Morris explains that the South endured a tripartite system of domination, suffering oppression economically, politically, and personally and it was this system that pushed Blacks to fight in the Civil Rights Movement. I will give another perspective to Morris's theory of outsider agitators and show how outsiders did not always consist of the white community, but could also consist of the Southern black protestors and demonstrators; in addition, I show that regardless of this outside influence such as the media, the federal government, demonstrators, and opposition were just as important in the development and influence of a movement. The St. Augustine Movement was in no way an indigenous movement. Not all cities were the same and this is seen when looking at the St. Augustine Movement in Florida. The St. Augustine Movement was an entirely different movement than what Morris describes. I am going to explain why St. Augustine does not follow Morris's theory and how it developed differently. This thesis will show a different perspective on the idea of outside agitators showing both how outsider agitators were necessary and useful and how Blacks were still the main parties responsible for bringing about the necessary help for racial change.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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