-
Period: to
Time of slavery
Slavery officially ended with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 -
Equal protection
The 14th Amendment to the constitution gave play people equal protection under the law -
The right to vote
Shortly after the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment granted black Americans finally the right to vote. White people were unhappy with that decision, because they don’t want to accept that people that once were slaves, are now equal playing with them. -
The “Jim Crow” laws
“Jim Crow” laws were established in the south beginning. Black people were not allowed to use the same public facilities as white people. In order to vote, black people needed to pass the voter literacy tests. Also, the black people still experienced lots of discrimination -
“Separate but equal”
Southern segregation gained crowns when the US Supreme Court declared, that facilities for plaque and white people could be “separate but equal” -
World War II began
-
Jobs during war
World War II: war-related work was booming, but most black Americans weren’t given the better paying jobs. They weren’t even allowed to join the military -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thanks to the president, national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, color,... were open again -
President Harry Truman
The Cold War began, and thanks to President Harry Truman who initiated a civil rights agenda, discrimination in the military was finally set an end -
Period: to
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice. It was a struggle for black Americans to gain equal rights. The Civil War officially abolished slavery but it didn’t end discrimination against black people. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat up just because a white man wanted to sit there. Therefore she got arrested. She became the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” -
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled segregated seating was unconstitutional -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine black students (the Little Rock Nine) arrived at Central High School to begin classes. The were instead met by the Arkansas National Guard and a screaming, threatening mob -
Civil Rights legislation
President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law. This was the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction -
A stand against segregation
Four college students took a stand against segregation in Greensboro, North Carolina. They refused to leave a Woolworth’s lunch counter, without being served -
The “Freedom Riders”
13 “Freedom Riders”, meaning seven black and six white activists, mounted a Greyhound bus in Washington, D.C. They got on a bus tour of the American south in order to protest segregated bus terminals -
March on Washington
On this day was the March on Washington which was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr. More 200.000 people attended. The famous phrase “I have a dream” from Martin Luther King, quickly became a slogan for equality and freedom -
Civil Rights act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act -
Death of Islam leader
The former Nation of Islam leader and Organization of Afro-American Unity founder Malcolm X was murdered -
“Bloody Sunday”
The civil rights movement in Alabama took an violent turn. 600 peaceful demonstrators participated in the “Selma to Montgomery” march. They protested the killing of a black civil rights activist. They also wanted to encourage legislation to enforce the 15th amendment -
Ban of voter literacy tests
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
The new law finally banned all voter literacy tests for the black Americans. -
Black power
Stokely Carmichael who joined the SNCC during the freedom summer of 1964, had become two years later, the chair of the SNCC, giving his famous speech in which he originated the phrase “black power” -
Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed on his hotel room’s balcony -
The Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act became law a couple days after King’s death. This law should prevent housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion. It was also the last legislation performed during the civil rights period