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13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery “within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This meant that slavery was now widely illegal in the US and that the majority of slaves gained freedom (apart from private groups that continued this practice despite the legality). -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States". This included former slaves who were recently freed after the Civil War. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment was significant because it was an important step in the struggle for voting rights for African Americans and it laid the groundwork for future civil rights activism. -
Tuskegee Institute created
Tuskegee Institute was founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881 and was created to train Alabaman teachers. Tuskegee also provided colored students with academic training. The Tuskegee Institute was significant to the CRM because it was the first institution of higher learning for African Americans; -
NAACP Founded
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was created for a set of goals: the abolition of segregation and discrimination in housing, education, employment, voting, transportation, and to ensure African Americans' constitutional rights were not infringed upon. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment states that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This meant that women now have the right to vote, and this is a major accomplishment in both the CRM and for women's activist groups. -
Truman's Desegregation of The Military
President Truman enacted Executive Order 9981 during his presidency. This order stated that “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.” This was a large win for the CRM because now men and women of color could serve their country through the armed forces. -
Emmett Till's Death
Emmett Till was a boy who was ruthlessly beaten, shot, and inhumanely disposed of. Emmett Till's death correlates with an upsurge of activism and resistance that later became the Civil Rights movement. -
Beginning of Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested and fined for refusing to yield her bus seat to a white man. This caused outrage among the black community. Many then refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. -
End of Montgomery Bus Boycott
This is an unofficial end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The description of the event is earlier in the timeline. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students that were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School. The students were met with students who wanted a segregated school. Military officials were deployed to the high school to ensure the student's safety. This was significant to the CRM because it was a start to ending segregation in schools. -
SNCC Formed
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was significant because it was a civil rights group that was formed to give younger Black people more of a voice in the civil rights movement. -
Greensboro N.C. sit-ins
The Greensboro sit-ins were acts of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Its success led to a wider sit-in movement, organized primarily by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), that spread throughout the South. -
End Of Greensboro N.C. Sit-Ins
The description of the event is earlier in the timeline. -
Freedom Riders
The Freedom Rides were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses from DC into the segregated South to challenge the non-enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions that ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional -
End Of Freedom Riders
The description of the event is earlier in the timeline. -
Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
MLK's letter served as a reproducible account of the long road to freedom in a movement that was largely centered around actions and spoken words. -
March On Washington
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. -
24th Amendment
The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from restricting citizens' right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. This allowed lower-income families to vote in elections. -
Selma to Montgomery March
The Selma to Montgomery march was organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their right to vote. It was significant to the CRM because it directly led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary organization with an ideology of Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense, particularly against police brutality. -
MLK Assassination
MLK's assassination led to anger among Black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped pave the way for an equal housing bill that would be the last significant legislative achievement of the CRM. -
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement was an American Indian group organized to address issues related to, racism, systemic poverty, and police brutality against Native Americans. It was significant to the CRM because they promoted citizens to actively protest on federal lands and property.