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Brown v. Board of Education
The suprememe court ruling on the Brown versus Board of Education case was that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. This overturned the 1896 Plessy versus Ferguson ruling and paved the way for large-scale desegregation. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks sat at the front of the bus in the "white section" as opposed to the colored section, and she refused to give her seat up. This defied one of the southern customs. Parks was arrested, which launched a bus boycott by the Montgomery black community. This lasted for over a year until the buses were desegregated. -
SCLC
Martin Luther Kind Jr., Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth create the Southerin Christian Leadership conference. This became a major organizing force wehn it comes to the Civil Rights Movement. Their principles were based on nonviolence and civil disobedience. -
Greensboro Sit-In
Four black students began a sit in at local restaurant Woolworth's. They sat at an all white lunch counter. They were allowed to sit there, but they were refused service. This triggered even more nonviolent protests, including more student sit ins. -
Freedom Riders
Student volunteers took bus trips around the South to try out laws that prohibit segregation in interstate travel facilities. This includes bus and railway stations. They were attacked by angry mobs. -
Birmingham Jail
During anti segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King was arrested. This is where her wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham jail". This argued that individuals have the moral ability to disobey unjust laws. -
Birmingham Violence
Peaceful, nonviolent protests were occuring in Birmingham, Alabama. Commissioner of Punlic Safety Eugene "Bull" Conner used police dogs and fire hoses on protestors. These brutal images were telivised, and as a result it gained a very relevant amount of sympathy around the world for the Civil Rights Movement. -
March On Washington
At the Lincoln Memorial, about 200,000 people joined the March on Washington. Martin Luther Kind Jr. delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speach. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
On July 2nd, 1964, president Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. This prevented any discrimation of any kind based on race, color, or religion. It also provided the federal government with the right to enforce segregation. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Congress passed the voting rights act of 1965, which made it easier for Southern blacks to vote. Things such as literacy tests and poll taxes were made illegal. -
Martin Luther King Assasination
As he stands on the balcony of his hotel room, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot at age 39. The man convincted of the crime is James Earl Ray. The King Assasination Riots occured as a result, and it was a wave of civil disturbance. They were the greatest wave of social unrest in the United States since the Civil War.
