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The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation is issued by President Abraham Lincoln freeing the enslaved in the rebellious Confederate states. -
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment is passed abolishing slavery in the United States. -
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is passed guaranteeing all African-Americans the rights of full U.S. citizens. -
The Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment is passed guaranteeing the right to vote for all citizens regardless of race. -
Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws become common in many southern states segregating blacks from whites. -
The Supreme Court rules that segregation
The Supreme Court rules that segregation is legal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case using the "separate but equal" argument. -
The NAACP
The NAACP is founded by African-American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells. -
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play major league baseball. -
President Harry S. Truman
President Harry S. Truman ends segregation in the U.S. armed forces. -
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court rules that segregation in the schools is unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education case, overturning the earlier ruling in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus. This sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasts for over a year. Eventually, segregation on the buses in Montgomery comes to an end.