Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus.
Explanation
The modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States refers to the campaign for social justice and racial equality that occurred primarily during the 1950s and 1960s, aiming to end segregation and discrimination against African Americans.Analysis:
- Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus. is correct: On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger. This act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr., which is widely recognized as the catalyst that gave momentum to the modern Civil Rights Movement.
- The passing of the Civil Rights Act 1964. is incorrect: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a legislative milestone achieved as a result of the movement's pressure, not the incident that initiated it.
- Options The American Civil War. and The election of Abraham Lincoln. are incorrect: The election of Abraham Lincoln (1860) and the American Civil War (1861–1865) were 19th-century events related to the abolition of slavery. While foundational, they precede the specific era defined as the "modern" Civil Rights Movement by nearly a century.
Key Takeaway: The arrest of Rosa Parks and the subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) are the pivotal events that ignited the modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States.