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Civil Rights
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Emancipation Proclamation Issued
Law passed by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, declaring all slaves free in those states that were acting against the union. THis angered the Confederate states greatly. -
Thirteenth Amendment Ratified
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shal exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction". The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, freeing African Americans, creating the first legal step toward equality. -
Fourteenth Amendment Ratified
stated that all people either born or naturalized in the United States were citizens of the United States and also granted all citizens equal protection under the law. This meant that both African Americans and whites had the same legal rights. -
Fifteenth Amendment Ratified
Allowed all male citizens of a certain age to vote. This was a big breakthrough fpr African Americans and one step closer to compleate equality with whites. -
Plessey v. Ferguson
African Americans wer not allowed to sit in "white-only" sections of trains that were much better then the "black-only" sections. Plessey sued the train company, saying the segregation violated his right to "seperate protection of the laws". The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was constitutional if public faciloities followed the idea of "seperate but equal". THis idea of "seperate but equal" led to many more cases until overturned by the Brown v. Board of Education case. -
Brown V. Board of Education
African American children were not permitted to attend white schools even though, often times, those schools were right in the Aferican American's neighborhoods. Parents sued school boards and, eventually, these cases made it to the Supreme Courtwhere it was ruled "unconstitutional" to segregate schools, saying that segregation was a "denial of the equal protection of the laws", overturning the Plessey v. Ferguson case ruling. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
African Americans refused to ride busses to protest segregation on public busses. They found other modes of transportation to and frum work, such as walking, car pooling, and taking taxi cabs. -
Murder of Emmett Till
A 14 year old African American wistled at a white woman in Mississippi. He was murdered by two older white men, but the court rulled the men innocent. This event helped spark the civil rights movement. -
Greensboro Sit-ins
After hearing a speach by MLKJ, four college students sat at a "whites-only" lunch counter to protest segregation of lunch counters. Over 400 people ended up participating in the sit-in. Sit-ins became a prefered form of peaceful protest. -
Freedom Rides
A group of both African Americans and whites rode a bus from Washington DC to Lousianna, trying to test the southern compliance with the Supreme Court ban of segregation on interstate busses. The rides became very famous due to the negative reaction and rioting of southern whites. -
March on Washington
After John F. Kennedy proposed a civil rights bill, Martin Luther King Jr led a march on Washington to bring attention to it. Over 200,000 people participated in the peaceful march. MLKJ delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speach that brought hope to Civil Rights Activists everywhere. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Origionally preposed by President JFK, and passed by Pressident LBJ outlawed segregastion in public businesses, public places, and in the workplace. -
Passing of Voting Rights Act
Allowed federal officers to regester African Americans to vote in states where the public would not allow blacks to register. This brought African Americans closer to compleate equality with whites.
