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Thirteenth Amendment
The 13th Amendment states that, Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. -
Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment proposed citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. -
Fifteenth Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring 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 race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Nation of Islam is founded
The Nation of Islam is an African American political and religious movement. It attracted many followers, especially prisoners, who were lost and looked for guidance. -
CORE is founded
CORE stands for Congress of Racial Equality, it was founded in 1942 by James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, George Houser and Bernice Fisher. -
Malcolm Little
Malcolm and his friend were arrested for burglary and Malcolm was sentenced to 10 years in prison, although he was granted parole after serving 7 years. -
Jackie Robinson integrates Major League Baseball
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball outside of a segregated black league. -
Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry S. Truman. It abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces and eventually led to the end of segregation in the services. -
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Brown vs. Board of Education
A United States Supreme Court case in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
Ruby Bridges
The first black child to attend an all white public elementary school in the American South. -
Murder of Emmett Till
While visiting family, fourteen year old Emmett Till was brutally murdered for flirting with a white woman four days earlier. (July 25, 1941 - August 28, 1955) -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit of Montgomery, Alabama. -
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Southern Manifesto
The Declaration of Constitutional Principles, also known as the Southern Manifesto, was a document written in opposition to racial integration of public places. -
SCLC is founded
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed in 1957, its main aim was to advance the cause of civil rights in America but in a non-violent manner. -
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"Bull" Connor and Birmingham, Alabama protests
Bull Connor was an American politician who strongly opposed activities of the American Civil Rights Movement. He became an international symbol of institutional racism. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress. It was primarily a voting rights bill. -
Little Rock Nine (Barnett and Eisenhower)
A group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School. These students become known as the Little Rock Nine. -
James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss
James Meredith attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi, chaos broke out and a riot started ending with two deaths, hundreds wounded and many arrested. -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" after his arrest for peacefully demonstrating against segregation and racial terror in Birmingham, Alabama. -
Murder of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was an American civil rights activist from Mississippi who worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi and to enact social justice and voting rights. He was murdered by a white supremacist and Klansman. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
More than 200,000 demonstrators took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the nation's capital. The march was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in Congress. -
Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church
The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church was an act of white supremacist terrorism. Four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite under the front steps of the church. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment was important to the Civil Rights Movement as it ended mandatory poll taxes that prevented many African Americans. -
Murder of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner
These three men from Mississippi were civil rights workers who were abducted and murdered in an act of racial violence. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Freedom Summer
In 1964, civil rights organizations including the Congress on Racial Equality and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee organized a voter registration drive, known as the Mississippi Summer Project, or Freedom Summer, aimed at dramatically increasing voter registration in Mississippi. -
Malcolm X Assassinated
Former Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment. -
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Watts Riots
The Watts riots broke out after an African-American motorist was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving. A minor roadside argument broke out, and then escalated into a fight. -
Executive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246 was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, establishing requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment. -
Black Panthers are founded
The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. -
Stokely Carmichael and 'black power'
Stokely Carmichael was a U.S. civil-rights activist who in the 1960s originated the black nationalism rallying slogan, “black power.” -
Loving v. Virginia
An interracial couple from Virginia married and were charged with unlawful cohabitation and jailed because of 'miscegenation' laws banning marriage between blacks and whites. It became a Supreme Court case and ruled that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional. -
Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
Sanitation workers began a labor strike to protest unfair wages, unsafe working conditions, and the city's refusal to recognize their sanitation workers union. -
Kerner Commission
The Kerner Commission was an advisory commission on Civil Disorders, it warned that racism was causing America to move "toward two societies, one black, one white - separate and unequal." -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin and sex. -
SNCC
SNCC was one of the most important organizations of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a student meeting organized by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in April 1960. -
Bloody Sunday
About six hundred people led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams began a fifty-four mile march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery.
