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Brown V Board of Education
Dec. 9, 1952 - May 17, 1954 - Justice Earl Warren gave the ruling for Brown v Board of Education supreme court case that “separate but equal” facilities are unconstitutional, violating the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment.
This was significant because it made all public schools desegregate and not deny anyone because of their race or color of their skin. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Dec. 5, 1955 - Dec 20, 1956 - Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man and sparked the Montgomery bus boycott where African Americans refused to use the bus system to force the bus system to be integrated.
The significance of this event is that the Supreme Court ordered the Montgomery to integrate its bus system. -
Woolworth’s Sit In
Feb. 1, 1960 - African American students sat down at the segregated counter at Woolworth’s diner in Greensboro, NC and was refused service. They peacefully sat at the diner while being verbally and physically attacked, spat at, food thrown at them, and eventually arrested. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Oct. 16, 1962 - Oct. 28 1962 - The CIA found the Soviets were transporting nuclear warheads to Cuba but the missiles were pointed at the United States. JFK put up a blockade to block the Soviet ships and the ships went home after Kennedy promised to not invade Cuba.
This was significant because it was the closest the US had ever gotten to a nuclear war and Kennedy kept the US out of that war -
Civil Rights Act Passed
July 2, 1964 - The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson stating “An Act To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations”
This was significant because it outlawed discrimination based upon race, sex, religion, color, and national origin in any public place. -
March from Selma to Montgomery, Al
Mar 7,1965-Mar 21,1965 -Protesters marched 54 miles from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama where they faced gruesome violence from police officers and groups of white people. These marchers were in hopes of getting some effort to allow African Americans to be registered to vote in the south.
This is significant because President Lyndon B. Johnson called for a federal voting rights legislation to Protect African Americans from barriers that prevented them from being able to vote. -
MLK Assassinated
April 4, 1968 - While Martin Luther King Jr. was staying at a motel in Memphis, TN sniper, James Earl Ray, struck King in the back of the neck with a bulle. He was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.
This is significant because it sparked riots all over the nation and President Lyndon B. Johnson urged congress to pass the Civil Rights Legislation.
