Civil Rights

By Leslie W.

  • 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.

  • Plessy v. Ferguson

    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.

  • President Harry S. Truman

    President Harry S. Truman ends segregation in the U.S. armed forces.

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    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.

  • The Montgomery Bus Boycott

    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.

  • Arkansas Nine

    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

    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

    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.

  • Bloody Sunday

    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

    The Voting Rights Act is signed into law making it illegal to prevent any citizen from voting regardless of race.

  • Thurgood Marshall

    Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated

    Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

  • Barack Obama

    Barack Obama is the first African-American elected President of the United States.