-
1619
The first 20 African slaves are sold to Virginia settlers as “indentured servants” -
1789
Three-Fifths Compromise: Slaves are considered ⅗ of a person, in order to form a national government that consisted of free and slave states. -
1823
Johnson v. McIntosh: The Supreme Court stated that Native American tribes could not grant land to anyone other than the federal government, and that the government held title to all Native American land. -
1838
Trail of Tears: 18,000+ Cherokee Indians are removed from their land and forced to move west of the Mississippi River -
1857
Dred Scott Case: slaves go to Supreme Court to file against their owners, but are not citizens and therefore are returned to their owners. -
1861
Civil War between North and South U.S on whether or not we should have slaves. -
1863
Emancipation Proclamation: On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln announced that slaves were no longer property of their owners. They were free people. -
1882
Chinese Exclusion Act: The U.S prohibited Chinese immigrants to come into the country for the next 10 years. -
1896
Plessy v Ferguson: U.S. Supreme Court rules that the segregation (of school, water fountains, restrooms, etc.) was constitutional and legal
“separate but equal” -
1924
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924: After having thousands of Native American soldiers in WWI, Congress passed the Act. This Act grants American Indians with American citizenship. -
1930
With the continued discrimination of the Japanese in the U.S, the Japanese American Citizenship League is formed. -
1934
The U.S. Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act. This Act was implemented to protect Native Americans from losing their land, helped provide economic support, and reestablished tribal governments. -
1944
100 Native American people met and formed the National Congress of American Indians. The organization wanted to monitor federal policies and laws, and preserve Native American rights. -
1947
Jackie Robinson becomes first African American to play major league baseball in the U.S. -
1948
President Truman signs Executive Order 9981. The order stated that “ there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." -
1952
After 71 years of record being kept, there were no reported lynchings of African Americans for the entire year. -
1954
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka: Supreme Court case that declare the segregation of schools unconstitutional -
1955
In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus as required by city ordinance. This protest lead to a bus boycott, ultimately resulting in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional -
1957
Little Rock Nine: Nine African American students were registered to attend Little Rock Central High School, a previously all-white high school.
The Governor brought in National Guard to prevent the students from attending the school, but President Eisenhower had paratrooper come to Little Rock to escort and protect the students while attending school. -
1960
Ruby Bridges was the first black student to attend a pre-segregated all-white school. -
1961
On May 1, 1961 the Freedom Rides were launched. The Freedom Rides consisted of 13 white and African American civil rights activists. They traveled through the south on a bus and encountered a lot of violence along the way. -
1963
On April 16, Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for participating in anti-segregation protests.
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” -
1963
Martin Luther King Jr. organized a March on Washington. More than 200,000 people joined the march. At the Lincoln Memorial that day, MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. -
1963
On September 15, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed. The church was bombed right before the morning service. About 200 people were in the church and all but 4 girls were able to escape. -
1964
The 24th Amendment is passed on January 3rd. The Amendment abolished the poll tax which was used in 11 southern states, making it harder for poorer African American’s to vote. -
1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964 Ended public segregation and make it illegal to refuse someone a job because of their race, religion or gender. -
1965
On February 1, Malcolm X, black nationalist, was shot and killed while speaking at a rally. -
1965
In Selma, Alabama Jimmie Lee Jackson participated in the march led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson is killed by Alabama State Troopers when trying to protect/prevent his mother and grandfather from being beaten. -
1965
Bloody Sunday: Blacks began to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to support voting rights, but they are stopped on the Pettus Bridge by police. Many were harmed and hospitalized after the use of whips, tear gas, etc. -
1965
Voting Rights Act: Prohibits racial discrimination in voting. Law was signed and passed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6. People marched from Selma to Washington D.C. -
1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246. The order enforced affirmative action, requiring contractors to take affirmative action towards hiring prospective minorities. -
1967
Loving v. Virginia: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that prohibiting interracial marriage was unconstitutional. Even though this was the ruling, many states still banned interracial marriage. -
1968
On April 11, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The Act prohibited discrimination in financing, sale, and rental of housing. -
1968
American Indian Movement: A group of mainly urban Native American wanted to confront and redress their grievances on civil rights. They believed the way to do that was through direct and militant confrontation. -
1972
Title IX requires schools to prevent and stop harassment of students by teachers and/or other students. -
1973
The Supreme Court Case Roe v Wade rules to implement restrictive abortion laws. This expand the right to a legal abortion. -
1977
First National Women Conference: Conference held in Houston, Texas. The conference called for reform to aimed at empowering women and helping achieve equality and equal opportunity. -
1979
On October 14th more than 100,000 people march for gay and lesbian civil rights. -
1981
The first reports of AIDS come out starting hysteria. -
1988
Overriding President Reagan's veto, congress passed the civil rights restoration act, which expanded the reach of non- discrimination laws within the private institutions receiving federal funds. -
1990
The American With Disabilities Act is passed, making it illegal to deny work to people based on their disabilities. -
1992
The first race riots in decades erupted in south-central Los Angeles after a jury acquits four white police officers for the videotaped beating of African American Rodney King. -
1993
Don't Ask, Don't Tell: President Clinton lifts the ban that prohibits gays from serving in the military. -
2001
September 11 terrorist attacks occurred resulting in the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (Global War On Terrorism) -
2005
The ringleader of the mississippi civil rights murders, Edgar Ray Killen, is convicted manslaughter on the 41st anniversary of the crimes. -
2007
Emmett Till's 1955 murder case, reopened by the Department of Justice in 2004, is officially closed. The two confessed murderers, J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, were dead of cancer by 1994, and prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to pursue further convictions. -
2009
In the Supreme Court case Ricci v. DeStefano, a lawsuit brought against the city of New Haven, 18 plaintiffs, 17 white people and one Hispanic, argued that results of the 2003 lieutenant and captain exams were thrown out when it was determined that few minority firefighters qualified for advancement. -
2010
Arizona SB 1070: Arizona passed an illegal immigration law in order to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants. -
2013
The Black Lives Matter movement begins after the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen who was fatally shot by police officer George Zimmerman. -
2014
On August 9, an unarmed African American teenager, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson a Ferguson police officer. This event lead to weeks of protest in the area.
