The policy of "massive resistance" as promoted by senators like Harry F. Byrd of Virginia in the Declaration of Constitutional Principles ("Southern Manifesto") of 1956 was:
1. Southern opposition led by the Citizens' Councils and local and state governments against federal efforts to integrate public schools.
This policy was a strategy adopted by some Southern states to resist the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. "Massive resistance" aimed to prevent the integration of schools by using various tactics, including legal challenges, defiance of federal authority, and even the closure of public schools to avoid desegregation.
By understanding the context of the Southern Manifesto and the historical background of the civil rights movement in the United States, we can grasp the significance and impact of the policy of "massive resistance" in shaping the struggle for racial equality and desegregation during that era.