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Thirteenth Amendment
On December 6th, 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified and added to the Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment states that slavery or involuntary servitude is not permitted in the United States or any place under their jurisdiction, unless a crime was committed and the person was convicted. This overturned centuries of practice of slavery as this Amendment permanently abolished slavery. This was a big step for Civil Rights as slavery could no longer be practiced. -
Ku Klux Klan
KKK was a white supremacy group founded in 1866 in Tennessee by Confederate veterans. They terrorized newly freed blacks to stop them from exercising their rights and privileges after the new Amendments were being passed, to attempt to show they were superior. They broke into homes, would whip or even murder them. They burned public schools to prevent them from getting an education. This is important as it shows what African Americans endured and the importance of the Civil Rights movement. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted citizenship rights to all men of the United States, regardless of color or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude. President Johnson vetoed this bill; however, was overturned by a two-thirds majority in Congress on April 9, 1866 and became law. This was another big step in the Civil Rights movement because after the Thirteenth Amendment now slaves were not only free, they were considered citizens of the United States just as white men. -
Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 09,1868. This Amendment states that all people born in the United States are citizens of the United States and no state can make laws that take privileges away from citizens. After the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans were considered citizens and now they had equal protection under the law as well as equal rights. This Amendment was added to answer the ongoing question of the legal status of African American's. -
Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified on February 03, 1870. This Amendment was meant to correct the weaknesses of the previous Amendments. This Amendment states that the right of citizens to vote cannot be denied based on race, color, or previous status of servitude. This Amendment was another very important step in the Civil Rights movement as it continued to build on the previous Amendments and gave African American men the same right to vote as white men. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 passed the Senate on February 27. It was originally meant to outlaw racial discrimination in juries, schools, transportation and public accommodation; however, it was repeatedly thrown out. By the time it was passed it was weakened with no mention of education, but mentioned equal use of public transportation and prohibited discrimination on juries. While this Act did allow African Americans more rights, it did nothing to impede segregation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson Decision
Homer Plessy was jailed June 7, 1892 for sitting in a white train car on the East Louisiana Railroad and found guilty of refusing to leave. Supreme Court upheld decision in 1896, setting precedent for "separate but equal". They ruled as long as separate facilities for African Americans were equal to those of whites, it is constitutional they have separate cars on trains. Since no Amendment or Act mentioned segregation, it quickly extended to restaurants, theaters, restrooms and public schools. -
Niagara Movement
The Niagara Movement was founded in 1905 by W.E.B. Dubois as an organization to advocate for the civil rights of African Americans. A group of leaders met in a hotel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, because segregation laws did not ban them here. They drafted the "Declaration of Principles" calling for immediate political, economic and social equality for African Americans. This movement was short lived and faltered; however, it was important as it laid the ground-work for the NAACP. -
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
The NAACP was founded in 1909 after the Niagara Movement. The NAACP was crucial to the Civil Rights Movement as they fought for equality for African Americans. W. E. B. Dubois was very influential in the NAACP and was the director of publications between 1909 and 1933. He became the voice of African Americans using this platform to express his views on issues he felt African Americans faced between the Progressive era and the end of World War I. -
Red Summer
1919 is known as "red summer" due to a series of bloody race riots in northern cities killing over 250 people. Black soldiers coming home from war felt a sense of justice while white soldiers wanted to resume their position of white supremacy. Lynchings continued; one riot in Chicago occurred after a white mob stoned a young black boy to death because he swam to close to a "white beach". This was significant for African Americans who stood to defend themselves and fight against discrimination. -
Harlem Renaissance
In the 1920's African Americans embraced the concept of the "new negro". This period altered African American history in multiple ways culturally, politically, and socially. Black artistic expression emerged in literature and music and this period is known as the Harlem Renaissance. This was a cultural movement in northern Manhattan and helped to raise black consciousness nationally. Some people involved in this cultural movement included Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and W. E. B. DuBois.
