Civil Rights

13th Amendment (African Americans)

Dec 6, 1865

Official end of slavery and freedom for both slaves and their descendants.

14th Amendment (African Americans)

Jul 9, 1868

Rights of citizenship, due process of law, and equal protection of the law. The 14th amendment has become one of the most used amendments in court to date regarding the equal protection clause.

15th Amendment (African Americans)

Feb 3, 1869

Right of African American men to vote in elections, regardless of former status of a slave.

Plessy v. Ferguson (African Americans)

May 18, 1896

A man protested the color segregation on the train, court ruled that he was wrong and should have gone to the other car, saying it was fine under “separate but equal”.

Cesar Chavez (Chicanos)

Mar 31, 1927

Apart of the United Farm Workers movement, organized grape boycotts to try and protest for better conditions of migrant workers.

Executive Order 9981 (African Americans)

Jul 26, 1948

Ordered by Truman, it ended segregation in military and government.

Brown v. Board of Education (African Americans)

May 17, 1954

Supreme court ruled that segregation of schools was unconstitutional and that all public schools had to desegregate.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (African Americans)

Dec 5, 1955

After Rosa Parks was arrested, Montgomery buses were boycotted for a year to fight against segregation and discrimination. People would walk or carpool to get where they needed to go, which hurt the buses who weren’t earning money and couldn’t run.

Little Rock 9 (African Americans)

Sep 4, 1957

Following desegregation of schools, 9 black students enrolled at Little Rock Central HS, where there were attempts to bar their entrance by Orval Faubas. Federal government had to step in with troop escorts to maintain the decree made after Brown V Board of Education.

Civil Rights Act of 1957 (African Americans)

Sep 9, 1957

Signed by Eisenhower, allowed persecution for anyone who attempted to block someone's voting rights, as well as stopping Jim Crow laws for preventing a vote.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed (African Americans)

1960

Students who helped advance Civil Rights movement by organizing events, protests, and sit-ins.

Freedom Riders (African Americans)

1961

Activists that rode buses to segregated cities, opposing segregation there. Often faced with violence, they persisted to fight oppression.

Dr. King’s: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (African Americans)

Jun 12, 1963

After being arrested, MLK wrote a letter claiming that the nonviolent protest they had been doing was the only way to peacefully push for rights. In the letter, he addresses the natural rights of all people and the great need for equality of all US citizens.

24th Amendment (African Americans)

Jan 23, 1964

Prohibited poll taxes/any other taxes in stopping voting and prohibited attempts to prevent others from voting.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (African Americans)

Jul 2, 1964

Outlawed discrimination of sex, race, and color. Outlawed the unfair voting restrictions, and public segregation.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 (African Americans)

Aug 6, 1965

Made voting barriers and taxes illegal, created to maintain the voting rights of African Americans and allow all people to exercise right to vote.

Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court (African Americans)

Oct 2, 1967

The first black supreme court judge to be appointed, Thurgood worked towards equal rights and equality for all.

MLK Assassinated

Apr 4, 1968

Killed on April 4, 1968, he was assassinated outside of his motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Sandra Day O’Connor appointed to Supreme Court (Women)

Jul 7, 1981

First woman to serve on the supreme court, appointed in 1981.

Sonia Sotomayor appointed to the Supreme Court (Chicanos)

2009

First female Hispanic supreme judge appointed in 2009.