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13th Amendment
Declared that slavery and involuntary servitude will not exist in the United States or any area subject to their control, unless it is as punishment for a crime where the guilty part status and ensure that no such type of exploitation occurs again in the US. Applied has been rightfully convicted. Helped relieve indentured servants or slaves of their mainly to African Americans, but also to some enslaved Native Americans. -
14th Amendment
Declared that any person born or naturalized in the US or any territories it controls would be considered citizens, and cannot have their privileges obstructed, revoked, or hindered in any way unless determined by a due process of law. Provided all citizens with the security that their rights will not be violated at all and will be protected by law. Applied to all persons born or naturalized in the US. -
15th Amendment
The right to vote in the United States cannot be denied or restricted to any citizen by any measure of race, religion, color, previous status, economic status, or any other classification. Provided US citizens protection against violation of their right to vote based on discrimination. Applied to all citizens of the US. -
Tuskegee Institute created
Educational institution founded by Booker T. Washington primarily to teach African American students vocational skills and academic training, as well as train teachers to not only remain in the Institute, but also go out and teach at other schools in Alabama. It was the first educational institution that freely allowed black students to enroll and receive higher education to better their lives. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
Homer Plessy was an African American who refused to sit in a train car designated for blacks, leading to a court case against presiding judge Ferguson who determined that as long as segregated areas had equal facilities, they would be allowed to continue separating by color. This effectively provided permission for the nation to continue segregating through unfair policies such as Jim Crow laws. Applied to African Americans. -
NAACP created
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - organization founded to promote civil rights and equality for any people of colored races, and helped fight segregation and Jim Crow laws that obstructed this goal. Played a large role in the civil rights movement and also the decision in Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Affected mostly African Americans but applied to all colored people such as Chicanos and Native Americans. -
19th Amendment
Declared that state and federal governments cannot refuse the right to vote based on gender, effectively opening up the pathway to full women’s suffrage that extending voting to a major portion of the population. Affected only women, since men were already able to vote. -
Executive Order 9981
Declared that the US military should promote equality of treatment and opportunity by removing any discrimination due to race, color, religion, economic status, origin, or any other classification. Helped minorities and marginalized groups such as African Americans and Chicanos receive fair treatment in the armed forces, as well as earn promotion and recognition similar to other members. -
Brown vs Board of Education
Oliver Brown and several other black plaintiffs sued the Topeka Board of Education for not upholding the 14th Amendment’s “separate but equal” clause, claiming that all-black schools were not of the same standards as the all-white ones. The Supreme Court then ruled that the segregation of education was indeed unconstitutional, providing African American citizens with another victory towards the goal of complete equality. Affected all school going African Americans in the United States. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks was a black woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person, leading to her arrest and the boycott, which consisted of black citizens of Montgomery refusing to use city buses due to their segregation policies. The court eventually decided in Parks’ case that the city should incorporate all citizens into their system without separation, marking a great victory for African Americans. Future activist MLK Jr. was a part of this boycott. Affected African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Protected the same rights as the 15th amendment, but created the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department to enforce any unfair restrictions on voting rights for citizens. This included federal prosecutions and court orders, as well as the establishment of a Civil Rights Commission that would investigate any reports and take necessary actions or recommend measures. Affected all citizens of the United States. -
Freedom Riders
Movement where groups of both black and white civil activists, known as Freedom Riders, would ride freely on buses and attempt to use white-only terminals as a way to test the segregation laws that were declared unconstitutional. This extended into the South where segregation and Jim Crow laws were more prominent, often leading to violent encounters and arrests which brought attention to the continued unfair treatment of blacks despite the passage of laws. Affected all African American citizens. -
Cesar Chavez
Farm worker activist who created the National Farm Workers Association in order to bring awareness to the mistreatment of farm workers on grape vineyards and other labor intensive industries. Led several boycotts that attempted to oppose grapes produced through farm worker exploitation, often targeting Californian grape growers. Went to jail for violating an anti-boycott law, but also succeeded in his efforts through the California Labor Relations Act. Affected farm workers, mostly Chicanos. -
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
MLK was arrested in Birmingham for violating a restriction that prohibited any form of protesting, which led to him spending days in jail and subject to unfair treatment during all of it. During his tenure, he was able to write an open letter that addressed the criticisms of several religious leaders published in the local newspaper. King criticized them in return for being so passive while his movement took action and risked everything. Affected African Americans, mostly in Birmingham. -
March on Washington & speech
MLK Jr coordinated a march on the capital for civil rights, while A. Philip Randolph coordinated a similar march for fair employment practice for blacks. The two merged efforts and produced a single large march on Washington that culminated in MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, addressing the injustice against colored people and painting a picture of an ideal future with equality for all. Affected mostly African Americans, but applied to all colored people. -
24th Amendment
The US House of Representatives passed an amendment that prohibited any citizen from needing to pay a poll tax in order to vote, which was present in the heavily black-populated states of Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. This allowed citizens to vote without any discouragement from financial burdens, essentially removing some disenfranchisement from the segregated South. Applied to all citizens, but most directly to disenfranchised African Americans in the Southern states. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Eliminated segregation in public places based on race, ethnicity, or religion, as well as prohibiting the discrimination of laborers by employers under the pretense of race, religion, or origin. It also prevented any funds from being used to support any sort of discriminatory program, directed support to help desegregation efforts, and strictly enforced the establishment of equal suffrage opportunities through standard voting requirements. Affected all citizens, but mostly African Americans. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Acted as a supplement to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by specifically targeting unequal voting requirements such as literacy tests and poll taxes, which were made illegal. The act also called for supervision in areas where less than half the non-white population had registered to vote, and ordered investigation of poll taxes in state and local elections. Drastically improved voter turnout in the South from previously disenfranchised blacks. Affected all citizens, but mostly African Americans. -
Black Panthers
A group of African Americans who started out by patrolling heavily black neighborhoods to scope out police violence and possibly stop it, but then expanded to social programs such as their Ten-Point program. This called for equal treatment for blacks in the forms of equal employment, land, housing, and justice, as well as attempted to completely end police brutality against blacks. Helped empower urban black communities to fight for their rights and equal treatment. Affected African Americans. -
MLK Assassinated
MLK Jr was giving a speech in Memphis, Tennessee when he was shot in the neck by a sniper, critically wounding him until he succumbed to his injuries an hour later. Although the man who killed King was a white racist, King’s movement had already amassed a number of enemies and was the target of many violent attacks. However, King’s death sparked protest throughout the country as members of his movement saw the assasination as a rejection of their nonviolent ideals. Affected African Americans.
