Compare the civil rights movements of the United States and Australia. How similar were these movements? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The American civil rights movement, from 1955 to 1968, was a time of revelatory growth and change in America. This moment of change was a time of pain for all people and was fought with great passion by both Americans and African Americans. The Australian civil rights movement began after the American movement, starting in 1957 and ending in 1967. Both movements fought for the rights and freedoms of the marginalized through various methods, including civil disobedience and freedom races. However, the American civil rights movement used war started by African-Americans, which led to the civil war, while Australia used freedom races and civil disobedience. The results of both countries' Freedom Rides were different as African Americans had higher quality weapons to use during fighting. The American and Australian civil rights movements were similar in that they both fought for the rights and freedoms of that country's indigenous population. The American civil rights movement was a movement that began when “the modern civil rights movement…Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama” ( Washington, 2017) December 1, 1955. Rosa Parks, a Native American, was the first activist to fight for her rights, also starting the first race for freedom. Parks influenced many Americans who believed in fighting slavery and equal rights for all, helping them defend their beliefs about African Americans. The American civil rights movement began before the Australian civil rights movement and Rosa Parks, who essentially started the American civil rights movement, is known as “the mother of the civil rights movement.” The Australian civil rights movement began when "students planned to draw public attention to the poor state of Aboriginal health, education and housing". (Indigenousrights.net.au, 2014). The students did this to “help reduce socially discriminatory barriers” (Indigenousrights.net.au, 2014) and create equal opportunities for all individuals, in this case particularly the marginalized. Although the American and Australian civil rights movements were fought at different times, they were similar in the motivations behind the movements as they were both about equality for all individuals through similar methods. Both African Americans and indigenous Australians used freedom rides to publicize and fight for their rights and freedoms. Australia used jousting to defend their beliefs and America also relied on violence to represent the severity of the problem, the Australians only had one main one. May 4, 1961 was the first African-American Freedom Ride with thirteen civil rights activists both black and white launching the Freedom Rides. The Freedom Rides were “a series of bus trips across the American South to protest segregation at interstate bus terminals” (Washington, 2017) with the aim of integrating public facilities such as restrooms and lunch counters. During the four months following the first freedom ride, "several hundred Freedom Riders were.