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Brown v. Board of Education
The Brown v. Board of Education case declared the separate but equal doctrine unconstitutional. This case stopped segregation in schools and was a big part of the civil rights movement. -
Emmett Till Murder
Emmett Till was a 14 year-old African American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi for flirting with a white woman. His death encouraged people to stand up for their rights. -
Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white man, this inspired people, which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This event made segregation on buses unconstitutional, this boycott lasted for 382 days. -
The Little Rock Nine and Integration
A group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School and were denied from entering the school, the national guard blocked all african american students from entering the school even tho public school segregation was found unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education case. Federal troops were sent in to escort the students into school. This ended segregation in this school and others. -
Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins
A non-violent protest where a group of 4 African American college students sat down at a lunch counter and asked for service, they were denied and asked to leave but they remained seated.
This protest lasted from February 1st- July 25, 1960. This ended segregation in southern United State stores. -
Freedom Rides
Protests against segregated transportation, African Americans and whites would ride buses together through the south. -
MLK’s Letter From Birmingham Jail
Letter that Martin Luther King wrote saying that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting potentially forever for justice to come through the courts. It inspired people to take action in the civil rights movement. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was to protest racial discrimination in jobs and rights of African Americans. Bayard Rustin organized the march. -
Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing
white supremacists terrorists bombed the Birmingham Baptist Church killing 4 young girls. This angered people and made the civil rights movement stronger. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This prohibited voting discrimination against race, religion, sex or nationality. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment banned poll tax which gave many African Americans who could not afford the tax the right to vote. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This Act banned discrimination in voting, it enforced the 15th amendment which says the right of citizens to vote could not be denied. African Americans could finally vote without enduring discrimination. -
“Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March
600 Civil Rights activists marched out of Selma, they made it six blocks before they were stopped by police with billy clubs and tear gas. They were violently forced back to Selma. This march was formed to bring to attention the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson. -
Loving v. Virginia
Landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.