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13th Amendment (Constitutional Amendment)
An Amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the U.S. A direct cause of the end of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. -
14th Amendment (Constitutional Amendment)
It addresses the idea that all U.S. citizens should be equal under the law and ensures rights for all natural-born citizens. It also defines what a U.S. citizen is. -
15th Amendment (Constitutional Amendment)
Prohibits both the federal and state government from denying or restricting citizens the right to vote. They could not deny these citizens based on race, gender, culture, or religion. -
Plessy v. Ferguson (Supreme Court Case)
A Supreme Court case that ruled that segregation was constitutional. It was ruled constitutional under the condition that all segregated areas are equal. -
Wilmington Coup (Violent Action)
Also known as the Wilmington Massacre, the Wilmington Coup was a violent action carried out by white supremacists against African Americans. It began when the North Carolina Democratic Party decided to make a campaign to drive out Populist and Republican politicians. -
Formation of the NAACP (Formation of an Organization)
A group of interracial Americans created the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to help push for the rights of African Americans. This was in response to the Springfield race riots in Illinois. -
Truman Desegregated the U.S. Military (Executive Orders by the President)
Executive Order 9981, signed by President Harry Truman in light of spreading equality to the U.S. military. It established that all military personnel were to be given equal opportunities and treatment. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (Supreme Court Cases)
The Supreme Court ruled that segregation among schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment. This led to the desegregation of schools and a long history of protests and violence towards African American students. -
Emmett Till's Murder (Violent Action)
Emmett Till was a young African American boy who was accused of offending Carolyn Bryant, a white woman. This led to Roy Bryant (Carolyn Bryant's husband) and J.W. Milam (Brother-in-Law to Carolyn) kidnapping and lynching Emmet and throwing his lifeless body into the Tallahatchie River. -
Rosa Parks is Arrested/Montgomery Bus Boycott (Protests including Marches)
A course of protest began by Rosa Parks, a black woman who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and was arrested. These protests included many black citizens who refused to ride the bus to fight back against racism. -
Little Rock Nine (Protests including Marches)
After Brown v. Board of Education, the beginning of desegregation among schools led to many protests, not by black people but by unhappy white people who were against the mixing of races. One of the most notable is the group called Little Rock Nine, which was made up of 9 black teens who began going to Little Rock High School, which sparked chaos among the white population at the time. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 (Executive Orders by the President)
An executive order signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to end inequality across America affecting people of color. This would be a cause to many other acts that would protect voting rights for colored individuals as well. -
Greensboro Sit-In (Protests including Marches)
A group of college students by the name of Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond all sat at a white only dining area to protest segregation. They refused to leave or give up their seats until they were given service. -
Freedom Rides (Protests including Marches)
A series of bus rides, including both white and black people, to challenge the social norms of not mixing people of different races. These bus rides were sponsored by CORE to stop segregation among white and black individuals. -
March on Washington for Jobs/ MLK's I Have A Dream Speech (Protests including Marches)
A gathering of around 250,000 people fought for racial equality, voting rights, and economic fairness. This was the large gathering of the civil rights era and was the place of Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream Speech. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Executive Orders by the President)
An act signed by Lyndon B. Johnson which made discrimination based on race, gender, religion, national background, etc, illegal. This act also outlawed segregation, which ended segregation of races in public places. -
March from Selma to Montgomery (Protests including Marches)
A nonviolent march led by MLK from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. This march was to promote easier voting for African Americans. This eventually led to the protesters being beaten and assaulted by state troopers and country citizens on Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Executive Orders by the President)
Another act signed by Lyndon B. Johnson, which made discrimination against minorities and color when voting illegal. This act abolished literacy tests and poll tax. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Violent Action)
While standing on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, MLK was shot in the face by James Earl Ray. Soon after his assassination, many violent acts against black people began to spread and worsen across the U.S. -
Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (Supreme Court Cases)
17 years after the Brown v. Board Supreme Court case, integration and mixing of races in schools were finally beginning to become more normalized. This Supreme Court case dealt with further integrating schools by handling busing students to schools.