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Radical Republicans
Radical republican's main goals included: immediate emancipation of blacks, enlisting black soldiers in the civil war, and to validate the 13th Amendment. Despite Lincoln being in there party they mainly criticized the lenience of his reconstruction plan and his initial objection to black soldiers. There influence was strong in New England. Gradually, the public grew tired of there tactics. -
Abraham Lincoln Is Elected President
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, he's known for ending the Civil War and helped to free slaves. -
13th Amendment
Forced labor isn't allowed in the United States except as punishment for a crime. -
Sharecropping Begins
Sharecropping was a process for the agricultural industry in which families (often freed slaves) worked in fields for a share of the crop rather than wages. -
Black Codes
With the 13th amendment outlawing slavery whites needed a way to secure their supremacy and thus black codes came into existence. Black codes were made to restrict blacks and to try and keep a labor force. One major example was being forced to sign labor contracts and if you didn't you were arrested for vagrancy. Northern outrage about these laws helped undermine support for Johnson. -
1st Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan was one of Americas first terroism groups. Their motives were targeted at blacks. They wore masks to hide their identities and to scare their victims. Police rarely arrested them. -
Carpetbaggers
Carpetbaggers got their name from the old carpets that they would tear up and make into a cheap suitcase. During the Reconstruction period many people went to the south for all the opportunities that were presented for people with little money. This became a term to refer any northerner who went to the south during that period and became synonymous with “damn Yankee" and "not to be trusted, a scoundrel.” -
The Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a group that aided freed slaves during the Reconstruction era. They faced a lot of hate from many white southerners. -
Abraham Lincoln Is Assassinated
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Andrew Johnson Becomes President
Andrew Johnson was known to not care that much about civil rights of freed slaves. He often let The South go into chaos. -
The Cival War Ends
The Civil War has ended, starting the century of struggle for freed slaves. -
Reconstruction
A period that lasted from 1866 to 1877 which was made to rebuilding the south, readmitting them to the union, and making a society where blacks and whites could coexist peacefully. The southern states however viewed it as unjust. Many blacks used this period to become literate among other things. However opposers to this soon began to erode the progress that many had died for. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The civil rights act of 1866 granted citizenship and all attachments to everyone in the United States "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude." President Johnson's attempt to veto this was over ruled by two-thirds majority in both houses of congress. President Johnson's attitude towards this bill helped shift support to the radical republicans. -
14th Amendment
Defines many rights that you get as a citizen of the united states included african americans and legal immigrants. Harsh punishments were included for states that denied these rights but were never carried out. -
Sharecropping
In a few ways, the emancipation and Reconstruction broke the power of white southern plantation owners over blacks. However many black families ended up working small plots of land owned by white southerners for some of the year’s crop. This practice is known as sharecropping. By 1870, it was the one of the very few methods in which blacks could have any type of access to land in the South. Still, blacks desired more independence than sharecropping allowed. -
The Grandfather Clause
The Grandfather Clause was one way for the South to prevent blacks from voting without preventing whites. It said that if your grandfather could vote, you were automatically eligible to vote. -
15th Amendment
Doesn't matter what your skin color is or if you were a slave previously you are allowed to vote. -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws were rigid anti-black laws that existed from 1877 to the 1960 and were mainly in southern and border states. Many people believed that blacks were naturally inferior to whites in every way. A major fuel for these laws were violence such as public lynching via mobs and race riots. The blacks that were brave enough to resist these laws tended to die in very graphic ways. -
Plessy v Ferguson
Homer Plessy was a black with a white complexion who was arrested for purposefully sitting in the white compartment of a train in east Louisiana. When Plessy's case finally caught the attention of the Supreme Court. However, it ended up backfiring on Plessy when it was decided with a 7 to 1 majority that as long as it was equal it could be separate. This doctrine was not challenged until Brown v Board of Education in 1954. -
WILLIAMS v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
Henry Williams an african american accused of murder convicted by an all white jury and his attorney believed his charge should be receded be cause Mississippi did not allow african americans to serve on grand juries. Both believed the 1890's constitution was discriminatory towards african americans and poor whites. The supreme court however voted 9-0 against Williams. -
Brownsville Affair
This was a racial incident in which the death of a white bartender and the wounding of a police officer was blamed on a group of black solidiers. The solidiers had proof that they were in barracks all night, but evidence was planted against them. -
NAACP Is Founded
The NAACP or "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" is an African-American civil rights orginization who's goal is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination”. -
Red Summer 1919
The summer and fall of 1919 saw race riots explode in many cities north and south, the most notable being: Chicago, Washington, D.C, and Elaine, Arkansas. On July 27th a black youth mistakenly swam into an area claimed by Chicago youths which resulted in stone-throwing. In the ensuing chaos, Eugene Williams, the black youth drowned. When a officer came to arrest the white boys involved he instead arrested a black man. Violence then stated to break out between mobs and gangs. For 13 days Chicago -
2nd Ku Klux Klan
The second KKK ws slightly more civilized than the first. There was rarely terrorism and there was more of a complex organization. They now tried to put blacks as far back in civil rights as they wanted them to be. -
Moore v. Dempsey
This was a famous trial because it raised a lot of hype in the civil rights movement. During a riot, only Afircan Americans were arrested. The mob-dominated trials deprived them of due process and the defendants were put to death. -
Hosea Williams
In his later life he worked with NAACP and the Civil Rights movement. He also worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and became a known activist for the civil rights movement. He worked with Martin Luther King Jr. in the early '60s and he was in the first Selma to Montgomery march. He was with Martin Luther King Jr. when he was assassinated. -
KKK 1928 D.C. March
In 1928 many KKK members marched through D.C. Many also marched without covering their faces. A lot of people also turned out to watch. -
Scottsboro Boys Case
This case dealt with 9 black teenager accused of rape. This sparked a many issues about racism and right to a fair trial. Theire trial was rushed, had an all white jury, and they were almost lynched by an angry mob. -
Jesse Owens Wins The 100m Sprint
Jesse Owens was an African American athlete who performed in the Berlin Summer Olympics. It was there that besides winning many gold medals, he fought against racism from both America and Nazi Germany. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
This was a case that ended segregation in public schools. It stated that the sgregation was unconstitutional. -
Emmett Till
On August 24, 1955, Emmett Till, a fourteen year old boy, reportedly whistled at Carolyn Bryant. Four days later at 2:30 am or so Roy Bryant (Carolyn Bryant's husband), J.W. Milam, and another person came to his grandfather looking for the boy who had "done the talking" and kidnapped Till. August 31, 1955, Till's naked body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River with injury to his head and a 75 pound cotton-gin wrapped around his neck with barbed wire. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were cleare -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was 42-years old, when she sat just behind the seats reserved for whites. When a white man entered the bus, the driver followed normal segregation practices and demanded the four blacks behind the white only section get up. Rosa Parks spontaneously refused. She was than arrested for violating the Jim Crow laws. This action ended up sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A bus boycott is started. African Americans refuse to get on a bus until bus segregation ends. -
The civil rights act of 1957
The civil rights act of 1957 was the first time since the reconstruction period that federal government got involved in civil rights. The bill itself put much more protection on someone's right to vote. It created the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department and it allowed federal officials to prosecute anyone that attempted to deny or abridge someone's right to vote. -
Little Rock High School Desegregation
A group of nine african americans enrolled in the segregated school Little Rock Central High School in the year 1957 but were blocked by the governor however the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People got a court order allowing the students in but fearing mob violence they were were quickly rushed. The president received a letter from King insisting he act quickly. Very soon the president realized it was becoming an international embarrassment and ordered troops from the Arm -
The civil rights act of 1960
The civil rights act of 1960 made it so anyone trying to deny someone's right to vote could be legally punished. Both this civil rights act and the act of 1957 only got 3% more blacks to vote. Civil rights leaders were unimpressed they were glad this issue was being acknowledged by the federal government. This ultimately led to the civil right act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. -
The Freedom Rides Begin
The freedom rides were a group of protests in which groups of blacks rode on busses through the segregated south. The recieved much hate and many mob attacks, but they pulled thorugh. -
16th street baptist church
The year was 1873 and the First Colored Baptist Church was made in Birmingham, Alabama. This is a city that many people believed to be the most racist in America. It functioned as a hall for a variety of activities important to the lives of the city’s black citizens and it served as headquarters for the civil rights mass meetings and rallies in the early 1960’s. Sunday, September 15, 1963, at 10:22 a.m., the church became known world wide when a bomb exploded, killing four young girls attending -
24th Amendment
You can't make someone pay poll taxes or other taxes to vote. -
Bloody Sunday (Selma March)
State Troopers from Alabama attacked and beat a large group of peaceful black protestors demanding the right to vote. The event sparked serious action in the Civil Rights movement. -
Selma to Montgomery Marches
These were marches that went from Selma to Montgomery as well as birmingham. They were to give blacks the right to vote. Selma to Montgomery experienced attacks (see Bloody Sunday). -
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act is passed. After a century, Afircan Americans are finally aloud to vote. This event helped mark the end of segregation. -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong advocate of civil rights. His first major involvement with a civil rights movement was the Montgomery boycott which he led. During this time he was arrested and his home was bombed. He protest used the methods that Gandhi used. His non-violent protests and marches ended up catching the eye of the entire world. At the age of thirty-five he became the youngest person to be awarded the nobel peace prize; he donated all the money to further civil rights movements.
