One way civil rights were expanded in the 20th century.

The civil rights movement was a political struggle led by Black Americans to gain full citizenship rights and for racial equality. After Martin Luther King's speech, in the early 1950s, Black Americans organized the movement with events such as non/violent protests, sit inns and boycotting. The first significant development of the Civil Rights Movement, came when the Supreme Court overturned the verdict reached in the Plessy vs. Fergusson trial of 1896. The landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the "separate but equal" doctrine was overturned when a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that segregating children by race in public schools was "inherently unequal" and violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

One way civil rights expanded were due to the Civil Rights Movement. This fast expansion of civil liberties and rights in America occurred during the last half of the 20th century, a brand new nation came as a result of many protests made during that time.

This was a long movement with the goal of enforcing constitutional and legal rights for African Americans, they claimed equal rights and equal social treatment. This movement rising was achieved its legislative gains at the middle of the 1960's after years of protest and marches. Some of the goals that social movements wanted to achieve were to end up with the racial segregation, discrimination and violence.

Some of their purposes were accomplished through huge achievements that marked a change in the U. S. history, like the Browder v. Gayle educational segregation ruled unconstitutional, the Legalization of Interracial Marriages on Loving v. Virginia, the ratification of the 24th Amendment which consisted on conditioning the vote on payment of taxes, the equal employment opportunity commission and the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The pursuit of civil rights and liberties of the U. S. citizens had been a theme of controversy throughout the American history. Key figures of American history have fought for those who the majority considered "unreachable" or "inalienable" rights guaranteed in the U. S. Constitution. One of the most recognized leader of the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King Jr., who organized nonviolent protests and mass demostrations to draw attention to racial discrimination and to demand civil rights legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans.