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13th Amendment
Freed the slaves in the United States after the Union won the Civil War. Significance: First step in the long journey of Civil Rights for African Americans. -
14th Amendment
Rights of citizenship, due process of law, and equal protection of the law. The 14th amendment has become one of the most used amendments in court to date regarding the equal protection clause. Significance: African Americans have technically gained equality in the constitution, but not in practice. -
15th Amendment
The right to vote can’t be denied to those by race, color, or pervious status of slavery. The 15th amendment did not give rights to vote for women. Significance: Slaves now had the right to vote under the constitution, though it would take a long time for vote discrimination to end for women and minorities. -
Tuskegee Institute Created
First institute for education for African Americans. Eventually became accredited vocational and higher education. President is Booker T. Washington. Famous people include botanist George Washington Carver. Significance: This made attaining higher education possible for African Americans. Photo: Booker T. Washington sitting with Andrew Carnegie. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Legalized the notion of segregation with separate but equal status. by race. Used the 14th amendment to justify this by saying that facilities can be seperate but equal. Significance: Start of segregartion laws for colored vs. white people in the United States which catalyzed discrimination -
NAACP - National Association for Advancement of Colored People Created
Organization to ban segregation and discrimination. Co-founded by W.E.B Dubois, Ida B. Wells, and Mary White Ovington. It was first a quarterly magazine publisher which called for the advancement of racial equality which led Wilson to say lynching was wrong. Also helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and end Aparthied in South Africa. Significance - One of the most significant organizations to help create an equal society. -
19th Amendment
Gave women the right to vote. Huge wins for civil rights because before women could not vote. Proposed in 1890, the movement for women’s suffrage became mainstream in the 1910s, in 1919, the act passed both Congress and Senate with bipartisan support and then, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment, making it official in the constitution. Significance: Gave women the right to vote which was one step closer to gender equality. -
Equal Rights Amendment
No discrimination based on sex. Introduced in 1923, passed congress in 1972, but did NOT pass the states in 1982. Significance: Gender equality echoes through the working of the amendment though it did not pass. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson’s decision that separate but equal segregation in schools was legal, this made minorities attend the same schools as those with white students and therefore leading to a more integrated society. Significance: This made schools legally desegregated, though not yet in practice. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Started when Rosa Parks refused to give her front seat to a white person in Montgomery in 1955. Rosa Parks was arrested and African Americans started to boycott (not ride) buses. Since the demand went down for buses, the U.S. Supreme Court declared bus segregation was illegal. This event also gave rise to M.L.K. Significance: One more step for equality in public life for African Americans. Photo: Rosa Parks on a bus in Montgomery Alabama. -
SCLC - Southern Christian Leadership Conference Formed
Civil rights organization created by Martin Luther King Jr. Hosted demonstrations including the March on Washington in 1963. Also hosted vote drives, education, and leadership programs for African Americans. Eventually led to the Civil Rights act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 Significance: Gave rise to Martin Luther King Jr. and African Americans for a more integrated society. -
Little Rock 9
Though Brown v. Board desegregated schools by law, many counties refused to do so. In 1959, 9 African American children were on their way to Little Rock H.S. to find groups of demonstrators who refused to let them in. Governor Faubus let them enforce segregation, however, President Eisenhower sent 1200 troops for escort of the 9 African Americans into Little Rock H.S. Significance: Integration and equality was first demonstrated in schools. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Signed by Eisenhower, anyone who violates someone else’s liberties will be prosecuted. Significance: Showed the government is now pro-civil rights since the reconstruction era. -
Greensboro N.C. Sit-ins.
Organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Protesters sat in the front counters of bars - where African Americans were not allowed. The Greensboro Four entered Woolworth’s General Merchandise Store and sat on a whites only counter. The whites attempted to call the police but police signaled they could not do anything and the media immediately showed up to further the cause. Ralph Johns - A white businessman - further invested in the cause. -
Chicano Mural Art Movement
Actually traced back to the 1920s with 3 artists: José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaros Siqueiros, and Diego Rivera developed muralismo - a Mexican painting style that focused on painting murals. In the 1960s and 70s, many families started painting murals to further demonstrate equality for Mexican Americans. Adopted by the United Farm Workers by Ceaser Chavez as well. Significance: Mexican American pride and equality movements for Mexican Americans started to form in the medium of art. -
SNCC - Student Nonviolent Coordinating Comittee Formed
Founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.Helped organize the sit-ins, freedom rides, and the march on washington in 1963. Though in the later 1960s, they became more synonymous with Black Nationnalist movements from Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X. Significance: More and more organizations saw rise of protest and advancement of equality for African Americans Photo: Stokely Carmichael, his ideas influenced SNCC in thier later years when they started becoming Black Nationalist. -
Freedom Riders
Organized by SNCC and Congress of Racial Equality, Freedom Riders were tours that would take place with integrated buses travel from D.C. to various cities in the south. In Alabama, they were met with violent protest as freedom rider bus tires were slashed and passengers beaten. Significance: Integration of buses in the South and also showed Northerners the conditions African Americans had to go through in the South. -
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" - Martin Luther King Jr.
Written in the spring of 1963, the letter from Birmingham Jail was a justification of why Martin Luther King Jr. chose to do nonviolent protest instead of negotiation. He was in jail for protesting desegregation at lunch counters in Birmingham Alabama and many of the protesters were hosed down and taken to jail. Significance: showed that negotiation simply will not help and civil disobedience is nessecary for civil rights. Photo: Sit-ins by M.L.K in Birmingham, Alabama. -
March on Washington "I have a Dream" Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
During the March on Washington in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most legendary speeches in history as he described the dream as a place where people are not judged by race but rather by who they actually are. It was held at the Lincoln Memorial with 250,000 demonstrators of all races and during the time, Congress was drafting the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Significance: Racial Equality and eventual passage of Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. -
Ceaser Chavez
Born March 31st 1927 in Yuma Arizona, died April 23rd 1993. He co-founded the United Farm Workers with Dolores Huerta which held the grape boycott in California. This was because migrant Mexican American workers had to endure poor conditions of farming. The protest was successful and farmers had the right to organize and collective bargaining - right for farmers to decide prices. Significance: Wage equality and better conditions for migrant farmers.
