-
13,14,15 Amendments
The 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865 and formally abolished slavery in the U.S. The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 and granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to all people born or naturalized in the U.S., thus including African Americans and slaves who have been emancipated. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 and guaranteed the right to vote can't be denied based on a person's race, color, or previous condition of servitude, ensuring citizenship to African Americans. -
Tuskegee Institute Created
Tuskegee Institute was founded by Booker T. Washington for the purpose of training African American teachers and was the first institution of higher learning for African Americans. The institute used Washington's principles of providing practical training for African Americans as well as developing economic self-reliance, providing the students with both academic and vocational training. The institute shifted from vocational to academic higher education, becoming a degree-granting institute. -
Plessy v Ferguson
Plessy v Ferguson was a Supreme Court decision that advanced on the idea of a "separate but equal" doctrine among white and black Americans. However, did not have the same supposed equal equality amongst white Americans; preserving racial segregation and the Jim Crow South through this supposed equal public facilities and services. In addition to the constitutionally supported racial segregation, the Brown v Board of Education developed, concurring with the ideals seen in the Plessy v Ferguson. -
NAACP Created
NAACP was America's oldest and largest civil rights interracial organization that was created to abolish segregation and discrimination, oppose racism, and ensure African Americans their constitutional rights. NAACP was partially created in response to the 1908 Springfield race riot in Illinois. NAACP played a pivotal role, creating key victories in the Brown v Board of Education, March on Washington, Freedom Summer, and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment extended the right to vote for women, guaranteeing the right to vote to all U.S. citizens regardless of sex. As such, the 19th Amendment served a major victory and turning point in the women's rights movement. This increased women's participation in voting and federal elections, further changing the status quo and role of women in society. -
Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry S. Truman in which abolished racial segregation in the U.S. military, calling for the desegregation of the U.S. armed forces. Furthermore, it established the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Servies. African Americans were able to serve the military, which evolved as an important model for desegregation and equal opportunities. This led to the end of segregation in the services during the Korean War. -
Brown v Board of Education
The Brown v Board of Education challenged state laws that had required racial segregation in public schools and overruled the Plessy v Ferguson case. Thurgood Marshall served as chief attorney for the plaintiffs, which concluded that segregated schools are inherently unequal and are deprived of protection by the 14th Amendment. The case set the legal precedent that would be used to overturn laws that are enforcing segregation in public facilities and led to appropriate steps for public schools. -
Emmett Till's Death
Emmett Till was an African American teenager who had been murdered while spending the summer with his great-uncle, Moses Wright, to help with the cotton harvest. Due to a supposedly flirty confrontation with the store's cashier, Roy Byrant, the cashier's husband, and J.W. Milam forced their way into Wright's home and abducted Till at gunpoint, in which they severely beat and killed the boy and dumped his corpse in a river. The death of this teenager catalyzed the merging civil rights movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, a seamstress and an activist for racial justice, boarded the Cleveland Avenue Bus and refused to give her seat to a white passenger. Local laws dictated that African American passengers should sit in the back of the bus while the white passengers sit in the front. Parks was taken to jail but unknowingly launched the modern civil rights movement. Black community leaders organized a planned boycott of the city's bus system and distributed flyers for Rosa Parks and urged for support. -
SLCC formed
The SLCC was formed by MLK and other civil rights activists in order to coordinate and assist local organizations that are striving for equality for African Americans in all aspects regarding American life. The organization conducted leadership training programs, citizen education projects, and voter registration drives. The SLCC played a major role in the march on Washington D.C., racial discrimination, and spurred the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock 9 were a group of African American high school students who challenged racial segregation in public schools by enrolling in an all-white Central High School in Little Rock. Their attendance was a test of Brown v Board of Education. Due to the massive hostility and mobs against racial integration, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort the Little Rock 9 into the school. This incident drew national attention and provided a significant role in the civil rights movement. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, marking the first occasion since the Reconstruction era that the federal government took legislative action to protect civil rights. The legislation authorized the federal government to take legal measures in order to prevent citizens from being denied voting rights. The legislation created a U.S. Civil Rights Commission to investigate discriminatory acts and signal a growing federal commitment to civil rights. -
Chicano Movement
A group formed by radicalized Mexican Americans in which advocated social and political empowerment through cultural nationalism. The term "Chicano" was a racial slur in which activists wore it with pride, celebrating not only their European background but as well as their Indigenous and African roots. It advocated against discrimination in schools and the anti-war movement, farmworkers movement, political empowerment, and the struggle for ownership over homelands. It won many valuable reforms. -
Greensboro NC Sit-in’s
Four African American college students sat down at a "whites only" section of the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. The clerk refused to serve the students and explained that the black students had to eat standing up or take their food outside. However, the students waited 45 minutes and returned the next day with more students. Similar sit-ins occurred in more than 100 cities, eventually lifting the white-only policy in Greensboro. A new effective, nonviolent tactic was formed. -
SNCC Formed
The Student Nonviolent Coordination was formed by a group of about 200 student activists, consisting of both black and white, in Raleigh, NC. Their goal was to increase the effort to dismantle racial segregation through direct action and nonviolent efforts. The SNCC coordinated the protests that began during the sit-ins and expanded its efforts to include "kneel-ins" at all-white churches and "wade-ins" at segregated public swimming pools. However, it migrated to one of greater militancy later. -
Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were an organized mixed-race group consisting of 18 Black and White Americans who had boarded two buses traveling from Washington, D.C., through the Lower South to New Orleans. The Freedom Riders wanted to test a federal court ruling that had banned racial segregation on public transportation and protest against racial segregation. As such, the KKK firebombed the buses and beat and arrested the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders created a rapid growth of civil rights groups. -
Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
King's campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew attention when the police used dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators. Several of the demonstrators were arrested, including King. In his cell, King wrote a letter in which he emphasized his belief in nonviolence, a stirring defense of nonviolent civil disobedience that became a classic document in the civil rights movement. Birmingham officials finally agreed to end segregation practices but defiance continued. -
March on Washington - "I have a Dream Speech"
The largest political demonstration in American history by civil rights leaders to protest against racial discrimination and to support for the major civil rights legislation that was pending in Congress. Martin Luther King Jr. uplifted the crowd with emotional strength through the "I Have a Dream Speech" in which he hoped that children wouldn't be judged by their race but rather by their character. This greatly influenced national opinion and led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
24 Amendment
The 24th Amendment prohibited the federal government prohibited the federal and state government from imposing poll taxes as a voting requirement in federal elections. This disproportionately affected African Americans in the South, where Jim Crow laws have enabled disenfranchised black voters and institute segregation. As such, the 24th Amendment ratified an economic tool that was used to limit voter participation, thus increasing voter participation amongst previously disenfranchised groups. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The act guaranteed equal treatment for all Americans and prohibited discrimination in public places based on race, sex, or national origin. It prohibited discrimination in the buying, selling, and renting of housing, as well as hiring and firing employees. It also provided the integration of schools and other public facilities. The act created a major blow to racial segregation and gave the federal government new powers. It also established the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. -
Cesar Chavez
In 1965, Chavez converted the Farm Worker's Association into the United Farm Workers, a union for migrant workers, many of whom were undocumented immigrants who could have been deported. Chaves led a series of nonviolent protest marches, hunger strikes, and nationwide boycotts amongst the poor workers. In 1970, the grape growers agreed to raise wages, offer health benefits, and improve working conditions. Chavez utilized this popularity in political activism for migrant workers' civil rights. -
March from Selma, Alabama
The march from Selma, Alabama was a political march led by MLK in an effort to register Black voters in the South in which they were violently stopped by the local police using whips, nightsticks, and tear gas. The scene was captured on television, enraging many Americans and drawing civil rights leaders and supporters to Selma in protest, occurring in some 80 cities. These events became a landmark of the civil rights movement and directly led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The act ensured all citizens the right to vote and outlawed discriminatory voting practices, such as requiring literacy tests that many local officials had utilized as a prerequisite for voting, especially for black and Latino citizens. This led to an increase in voting participation and voter registration amongst African Americans in the South. The act enabled black empowerment, allowing for black public officials, however, this caused the South to turn Republican as many white voters switched. -
Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court
Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Marshall became the first African American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. Marshall was previously known for his victory in the Brown v Board of Education, in which he argued that the "separate but equal" doctrine was unconstitutional. Still his retirement in 1991, Marshall favored abortion rights and against the death penalty and continued to ensure equal treatment of individuals by the government. -
MLK Assassinated
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent leader in the civil rights movement, was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In effect of his death, the wealth of idealism died: the hope to mend the fragmented America. As such, a growing number of young people lost the hope in democracy and turned into radicalism and violence. Furthermore, MLK's assassination widened the distance between Black and White Amercians, as many Black Americans saw the assassination as a rejection for equality. -
American Indian Movement Founded
AIM was founded by Geoge Mitchell and Dennis Banks, two Chippewas living in Minneapolis. AIM was formed to help Indians in urban ghettos that have been displaced by government programs that forced them from the reservations, but its goals later expanded on a spectrum of Indian demands. The AIM was involved in Alcatraz Island, the march on Washington D.C., the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Wounded Knee. The group eventually won settlements and upgrade the standard of living on reservations. -
Sandra Day O’Connor appointed to Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan and his promise to fulfill his 1980 campaign promise, thus being the first woman Supreme Court justice in U.S. history. O'Connor became a major influence on the court's decisions and was a moderate conservative. She also influenced a generation of women to pursue careers in law. Sandra Day O'Connor served in the supreme court till she retired in 2006 and was eventually replaced by Samuel Alito. -
Sonia Sotomayor appointed to Supreme Court
Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Obama, being the first Hispanic justice to serve in the nation's highest court. Additionally, Sotomayor became the third woman to serve the Supreme Court. Sotomayor is known for her forceful disagreements regarding racial discrimination, as well as siding with the majority that upheld the Affordable Care Act.
