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13th Amendment
The 13th amendment, implemented in January of 1865 and later ratified in December of the same year, abolished slavery. Abraham Lincoln was president during the time and it was significant because it was a watershed moment for the United States. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment came about to help end slavery in America. The amendment states that all people born or naturalized in the United States - including African Americans - are citizens and cannot be deprived of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans and supporters of civil rights used the 14th Amendment as proof that African Americans deserve equal treatment. They used it to demand their constitutional rights be recognized. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1870, prohibited the restriction of voting rights “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This amendment gave the right to vote to African American men, despite whether they were previously a slave or not. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a very crucial case of the Supreme Court. Plessy v. Ferguson took place in 1896 and ruled “Separate but Equal," or that segregation was legal but only if seperate facilities are of equal quality. This decision was overturned when the Brown v. Board case took place in 1954. -
Nation of Islam (NOI) is founded
The Nation of Islam (NOI) was an Islamic religious movement founded in Detroit, United States, by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. The Nation of Islam's stated goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States and all of humanity. In 1963, Malcolm X split with the Nation of Islam. As Malcolm X led a mass rally in Harlem on February 21, 1965, rival Black Muslims gunned him down. -
CORE is founded
CORE stands for Congress of Racial Equality and was founded in 1942 and helped other civil right groups. CORE mainly wanted to desegregate public facilities and even assisted with the Freedom Rides. -
Malcolm Little arrested
Malcolm Little was arrested for armed robbery. When Malcolm was arrested he had time to think, when he was in prison, Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam. When Malcolm was released he brought the views out into the real world and the Black Panthers eventually picked up on Malcolm’s ideas. -
Jackie Robinson integrates Major League Baseball
Sports changed forever when Jackie Robinson was allowed into the MLB. He was a 28 year old war veteran and the biggest part was he was African-American. While many people opposed to the desegregation, soon many other teams were integrated. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Until Brown vs. Board of Education, segregation in schools was legal due to the decision from the previous case, Plessy vs. Ferguson. This case began when an African American child was denied access to a white school. The Supreme Court unanimously decided that racial segregation in schools violated the 14th Amendment. This decision overruled Plessy vs. Ferguson. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was murdered on August 28th, 1955. Emmett was brutally murdered because he flirted with a white woman. -
Southern Manifesto
The Southern Manifesto was a document signed by nineteen Senators and seventy seven members of the House of Representatives. The document expressed disapprovement of the decision the Supreme Court’s ruling on the case of Brown v. Board of Education. -
Little Rock Nine (Barnett & Eisenhower)
Little Rock Nine took place 3 years after the Brown v Board of Education ruled that separate but equal facilities are not equal and not right. Nine African American students on September 4th, 1957, made an attempt to desegregate Central High. Angry mobs of white people tried to attack the students. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The civil rights act of 1957, Pub.L. 85–315, 71 Stat. 634, enacted September 9, 1957, was primarily a voting rights bill. It was the first civil rights legislation passed by Congress in the United States since the 1866 and 1875 acts. -
Greensboro sit-ins
The Greensboro sit-ins were a watershed event in the Civil Rights movement. On this date, college students Ezell A. Blair, Jr., Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond, staged an event. They sat at the whites-only counter at F. W. Woolworth Co. and attempted to order coffee. When they were told to leave, they refused until the store closed. The next day, thirty people joined their efforts. Soon, hundreds of people were arriving every day to protest segregation. -
SNCC is founded
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was founded in April 1960 by Ella Baker. Baker founded the committee because she felt that King’s SCLC was out of touch with younger blacks and because she wanted the movement to quickly progress. -
Freedom Rides
The freedom rides began on May 4th, 1961. 13 white and african-americans went on a bus to ride through the deep south to point out the issues on bus segregation -
“Bull” Connor and Birmingham, Alabama protests
Bull Connor was the klan affiliated Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama, when the Freedom Riders came on May 7, 1961. Connor encouraged violence against the Freedom Riders, stating he would ensure the police would be delayed by about twenty minutes. -
James Meredith and integration of Ole Miss
In September of 1962 after a short legal battle, an African American man by the name of James Meredith attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Riots ensued on the campus and many people were arrested or injured. President Kennedy deployed 31,000 National Guardsmen and other federal forces. They were deployed to escort James Meredith to class and on and off campus. The attorney general Bobby Kennedy had to federalize the national guard. -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
The Letter from Birmingham Jail is a letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. while in jail. He was put in jail in 1963 for holding nonviolent protests against segregation. -
Bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church
The Bombing of 16th street took place on September 15th. Four young girls were killed meanwhile many were injured. The bombing was a hate crime done by the Ku Klux Klan. -
24th Amendment
Citizens in some states had to pay a fee to vote in a national election. This fee was called a poll tax. On January 23, 1964, the United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a movement organized by civil rights groups to increase the amount of African American voters in Mississippi in 1964. The movement was fought by the Ku Klux Klan. -
Malcolm X assassinated
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by Nation of Islam members during one of his rallies. Only a year before, Malcolm had decided against adding emphasis on the Muslim portion of his schpeel which greatly upset the Muslim community, leading to the assassination. -
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday occurred on March 7, 1965 after a group of Six hundred protesters were beat by local police who weren’t allowing them to cross a bridge. The event is significant because it was all televised and drew the attention of King who organized another protest two days later in the same place. -
Watts Riots
The Watts riot was incited on August 11, 1965 after Marquette Frye was pulled over in the Watts neighborhood. A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene and violent tensions rose until the crowd erupted in a violent exchange with the police which lasted for 6 days. -
Executive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246 is a document that was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It ensured that requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment were upheld. -
Loving vs. Virginia
Loving vs. Virginia was a case settled by the Supreme Court dealing with interracial marriage. Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were an interracial couple who married in Washington, DC, and wre arrested when they returned home to Virginia for violating Virginia's law against "miscegenation." The case was taken to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that state's laws against interracial marriage are unconstitutional. -
Memphis Sanitation workers strike
The Memphis Sanitation workers strike was caused by an incident where two black sanitation workers were killed on the job. On the same day, inclement weather caused supervisors to reatin white workers with pay, while they sent black workers home without pay. These events led to a wide protest to demand equal work rights for black and white workers. Martin Luther King Jr. helped organize the strike. -
Kerner Commission
The National Advisory Commission on civil disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission's after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner , Jr of illinois. it was an 11 member commission established by L.B.J. It was founded to investigate the causes of the 1967 race riots. Also to provide recommendations in the future. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was enacted and signed on April 11 of the eponymous year by President Lyndon Johnson. The Act focused on ensuring that every person had equal rights to housing regardless of their race. -
Tommie Smith and John Carlos
Tommie Smith and John Carlos were responsible for what is now known as the “1968 Olympic Black Power Salute.” After winning gold and bronze respectively, Tommie and John raised a black gloved hand during their ceremonial award rendition of the National Anthem. The gesture spawned an iconic photo which depicts the struggle faced in the Black Power movement.
