The aim of this research is to understand and explain the underlying motives of Branch Rickey and his signing of Jackie Robinson – which paved the way for a new era of Major League Baseball; the cultural significance of this signing; and the lasting impact that Jackie Robinson’s breaking of baseball’s color barrier has continually had on America’s pastime. The questions that will be used to explore these events are: which particular processes led to the desegregation of Major League Baseball? How did the integration of Major League Baseball change the game and the culture of an entire country? How has publicity been affected by the integration of Major League Baseball? What role did the desegregation play in shaping the culture of modern-day America and the Civil Rights Movement? These questions will not only help to provide adequate background information, but will also allow for a look at societal context of a nation during the middle decades of the twentieth century. The answers to these questions are essential to understanding the motivation behind such a controversial decision on one of the world’s largest stages and even more essential to understanding the cultural impact of such a decision. This research is important because civil inequality is a hot-button issue in America right now, and has been for the majority of the last century. Exploring this event and public thought of Americans in the first half of the twentieth century is imperative to understanding race relations and why a decision as challenging as Branch Rickey’s has proven to be so influential in shaping American society.