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the Civil War
The Civil War marks as the first fight for the rights of enslaved African Americans. The United States splits into the North and South, the Union and Confederate, the North against slavery, the South for it. Under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the North wins the Civil War, beginning the process of freeing enslaved African Americans. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, and ended on April 9, 1865. -
the 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment is passed, abolishing slavery as an institution, and freeing millions of African Americans. This is the first Amendment that works to give African Americans freedoms, rights, and equality under the United States law. -
the 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is passed and grants citizenship to all people who are born in the United States. It was a way to give former slaves that were born in the United States citizenship. The 14th Amendment also provided all citizens equal protection under the law. -
the 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment grants African American males the right to vote. Women of all races will not get the right to vote until the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920. -
the Jim Crow Laws & Segregation
The Jim Crow laws were passed in the late 1800s in many of the southern states. These laws promoted segregation, or the separation of white and black citizens. The Jim Crow laws also enforced poll taxes, a fee on voting, and literacy tests that had to be passed in order to vote, making elections undemocratic. Interracial marriage was also illegal in these states. The Jim Crow laws targeted African American citizens and prevented many of them from voting. -
Plessy v Ferguson
After an African American man refused to sit in a car for Black people, the Supreme Court declared that segregation was not unconstitutional, stating that facilities for black and white people could be "separate but equal." The Supreme Court ignored the inequalities that African Americans were facing and allowed segregation to advance and continue. -
Executive Order 8802
During World War II, the president at the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, gave Executive Order 8802. Within this executive order, he opened national defense and government jobs to American citizens regardless of race. Because of this executive order, African Americans were allowed to work within the government. -
the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement was a movement led by African Americans to fight against discrimination within American society and to gain equal rights under the law. The main spokesperson for the Civil Rights Movement was Martin Luther King Jr. The Civil Rights Movement lasted until 1968. -
Brown v Board of Education
The United States Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools. In 1957, nine black students start class at Central High in Arkansas. The students had to be escorted into the school because of protestors. These students were called the "Little Rock Nine." -
the 24th Amendment
During the Civil Rights Movement, the 24th Amendment is passed. The 24th Amendment abolishes the poll tax or any tax on voting in elections. It also guarantees equal employment for all. -
Harper v Virginia State Board of Elections
Poll taxes are declared unconstitutional, abolishing them once and for all in all fifty states. The United States Supreme Court stated that the poll tax violated the freedoms of the 14th Amendment, ruling the poll tax unconstitutional. -
The Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act was the last legislation that was enacted during the Civil Rights era. It prevents housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, and/or religion. This act brings an end to the Civil Rights era, an era where African Americans fought for their freedoms and rights as citizens of the United States.