-
13th Amendment 1865
The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18. -
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. -
15th Amendment
On February, 25, 1869, more than two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives approved the proposed 15th Amendment. Some Republicans, notably Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, abstained from voting because the amendment did not prohibit literacy tests and poll taxes. -
Tuskegee Institute created
Founded by Booker T. Washington, “established a normal school for colored teachers”. Provided students with academic and vocational training. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". -
NAACP created
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey and Ida B. Wells -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878. -
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposed
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. -
Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981 was issued on July 26, 1948, by President Harry S. Truman. This executive order abolished discrimination "on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin" in the United States Armed Forces, and led to the end of segregation in the services during the Korean War. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and a social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a seminal event in the civil rights movement in the United States. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) formed
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civil rights movement. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 9, 1957. -
Greensboro, NC Sit-ins
Four African American students sat at a whites-only lunch counter and refused to leave after being denied service. Protesting racial segregation. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed
Student political organization civil rights movement group. Used nonviolent tactics. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions -
Cesar Chavez
César Estrada Chávez was an American labor leader, community organizer, businessman, and Latino American civil rights activist. -
Dr. King’s: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
By April 12, King was in prison along with many of his fellow activists. While imprisoned, King penned an open letter now known as his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” a full-throated defense of the Birmingham protest campaign that is now regarded as one of the greatest texts of the civil rights movement. -
24th Amendment
Prohibits the poll tax in elections