-
Period: to
Civil War to Civil Rights
-
Civil War/Emancipation Proclamation (1861-1865)
Initially President Lincoln did not seek the end of slavery, however, he eventually decided it was a sound military strategy. After this decision Lincoln had to wait to make the proclamation in order to not offend the border states. Many of the southern slaves aided the Union during this time by becoming contraband's and escaping into union lines. To solve the problem of backlash from northern slave owners, when he issued the proclamation, he only freed slaves in the southern states. -
13th and 14th amendments (1865&1868)
The important 13th and 14th amendments changed the US forever. With the 13th amendment banning slavery, the South's economy was greatly altered. And while the 14th gave former slave citizenship, it also provided due process of law was has been said to have been one of the most influential pieces of the 14th amendments. Because of these characteristics, the 14th amendment has been a highly influential amendment. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
After Plessy deliberately sat in a white car, the lawsuit that followed made it all the way to the supreme court. In a landmark case, the supreme court ruled that segregation could be legal as long as the facilities were equal. This came to be know as the Separate but Equal act. -
Brown v. Board of education
In a supreme court case that overruled the previous Plessy v. Ferguson case, the court ruled that education was not legal. The effect of this case was felt largely and widely, it desegregated schools and ruled that federal law would no longer recognize the Separate but Equal act. -
Emmett Till
The action of a young black boy from Chicago travelling to South Carolina caused one of the greatest tragedies in the fight for desegregation. Emmett Till was brutally murdered by two white men after talking with a white female. His body was found, and all evidence pointed towards the two men, but the all-white jury found them non-guilty. Justice was never served. -
Montgomery Bus boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 381 days and changed the bus system forever. While the boycott greatly affected the bus's financial stability, they refused to shut down. Eventually the boycott was successful, and it desegregated buses forever. After leading this boycott, MLK Jr. emerged as an influential person in the fight for civil rights. -
Integration of Central High School
While the integration of Central High School was met with a terrible backlash from the Little Rock community, it was greatly important in the struggle for civil right. 9 black students were chosen to attend the all white CHS and were the first to do so. They were met with much adversity but struggled through it. The integration of CHS resulted in a closure of all of Little Rock's high schools for a year, but changed the world forever.
