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The Emancipation Proclamation
officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil Wa -
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime -
The Fourteenth Amendment
passed guaranteeing all African-Americans the rights of full U.S. citizens. -
The Fifteenth Amendment is passed guaranteeing the right to vote for all citizens regardless of race.
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
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.
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President Harry S.
Truman ends segregation in the U.S. armed forces. -
- 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. -
Nine African-American
students in Arkansas (nicknamed the Arkansas Nine) attend a previously all-white high school. Army troops are brought in to protect them. -
The Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders protest by riding buses into the segregated southern states challenging their Jim Crow
laws. -
The Birmingham Campaign
The Birmingham Campaign takes place in Birmingham, Alabama. Schoolchildren marching in non-violent
protest are met with police dogs and fire hoses. Martin Luther King, Jr. is arrested and writes his famous "Letter
from Birmingham Jail." -
The March on Washington
by over 200,000 protesters occurs. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech. -
The Civil Rights Act
is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlaws discrimination based on race, national origin, and gender. It also outlaws segregation and the Jim Crow laws. -
Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. -
Marchers in Selma,
Alabama are met by police with tear gas. Several marchers are injured and the day is nicknamed "Bloody Sunday." -
The Voting Rights Act
s signed into law making it illegal to prevent any citizen from voting regardless of race. -
Race riots
Race riots erupt in Watts, California. -
President Lyndon Johnson
President Lyndon Johnson issues an order requiring "Affirmative Action" in hiring minorities for federal
government work. -
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Colin Powell
is appointed as the first African-American Secretary of State. -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama is the first African-American elected President of the United States.