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Africans sold as indentured servants
A Dutch sea captain brought the first Africans to the Virginia colony of Jamestown in 1619 and sold them as indentured servants. -
Slave codes passed
Virginia passed the slave codes declaring that any foreign-born non-Christian could be enslaved, and that enslaved people were considered property. -
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Rise of slavery
For the next 150 years, Africans were being kidnapped from their homes and shipped to the New World. -
Begining of the Civil War
Slavery became an issue between the North and the South, eventually dividing the nation in two and starting the Civil War. -
Civil War ends
The Union won the Civil War. The war ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
The first African American president
Barack Obama became the first African American president in 2008.