-
Period: to
Events of the Civil Rights Movement - 19th and 20th Centuries
-
American Civil War
The Civil War was the bloodiest war in American History. More Americans died in the Civil War than World War I and War World II combined. The war officially began with the shelling of Fort Sumter. Confederate States claimed the Union fort as their own, and opened fire on April 12, 1861, forcing the Union to surrender. Originally, the Union fought only to keep the crumbling United States together, but around 1864, the Union's goal was to destroy the Old South and its basic institution of slavery. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidental proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862 to take affect on January 1, 1963. It stated all slaves reding in rebellious states, or the states that had succeeded from the Union, were free. It was this document that changed the focus of the war for the Union. Prior, it had been to keep the Union together. With the Emancipation Proclamation, the focus was shifted to abolish slavery. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the first document to define American citizenship belonging to any person born in the United States not subject to any foreign power. It also affirmed that all citizens were to be protected by the law, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude. The main purpose of the act was to protect the rights of African-Americans immediately after the Civil War. -
Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment was the third of the civil war amendments. The first, being the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. The second, being the Fourteenth Amendment, gave all citizens equal protection under the law. The Fifteenth Amendment gave African American's the right to vote. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1875, also known as the Enforcement Act, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1875. It guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and prohibited exclusion from jury service. However, the act was deemed unconstitutional in 1883 by the Supreme Court. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last civil rights act until the Civil Rights Act of 1957, almost 100 years later. -
Mississippi Passes a New Constitution to Keep Blacks From Voting
In 1890, Mississippi passed a new constitution designed specifically to keep Amrican Americans from voting. It utilized poll taxes, residency tests and literacy tests in order to accomplish this. A poll tax was a fee that had to be paid to satisfy taxpayer requirements in voting laws. African-Americans were often too poor to pay the poll tax, and were unable to vote. Literacy tests prevented Blacks from voting as many African Americans could not read or write. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy attempted to sit in an all white-car on a Lousiana Railroad. When he was asked to move to the car seperated for colored people, Plessy refused. He was arrested on the spot. In his case, Plessy argued his Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated. The Supreme Court decided against Plessy. They claimed as long as the facilities were equal, the concept of separate facilities was constitutional. This legalized the idea of "Separate but Equal." -
Lousiana Enacts the First Grandfather Clause
On September 1, 1898, Lousiana enacted the first grandfather clause to keep African-Americans from voting. A grandfather clause gave the right to vote only to those whose ancestors had the right to vote before the Civil War. Because African-Americans had been slaves at that time and had not been given the right to vote , these clauses worked very effectivly. They still allowed poor, illiterate whites to vote without having to pay a poll tax or take a literacy test. -
First NAACP Meeting
NAACP (The National Association for the Advancment of Colored People) was founded on Febuary 12, 1909 by a diverse group of people, including W. E. B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells. Its goal was "to promote equality of rights and to eradicate caste or race prejudice among the citizens of the United States; to advance the interest of colored citizens; to secure for them impartial suffrage; and to increase their opportunities for securing justice in the courts..." -
The Great Migration Begins
The Great Migration was the relocation of six million African-Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West from 1916 to 1970 due to harsh segration laws in the South. What is so prominent about the Great Migration is no one leader led it. Each African-American decided for himself/herself to leave. No one ever proposed the idea of a Great Migration. It just happened. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. It began with the stock market crash of October 1929. By 1933, 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. The Great Depression lasted until the begining of World War II. -
Executive Order 10479
Executive Order 10479 was a presidental order signed by President Dwight Eisenhower. This executive order created the Government Contract Committee. The committee was established to ensure there were equal oppurtunities for employment for people of color. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
In 1951, Oliver Brown and twelve other parents attempted to sue the Board of Education of Topeaka Kansas for denying their children the right to attend an all white school. Brown claimed the colored school was grossly inferior. The justices used Plessy vs. Furguson as a precedent to rule in favor of the Board of Education. Brown appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's ruling in favor of Brown was a major step in striking down the idea of "Seperate but Equal." -
Executive Order 10925
Executive Order 10925 was signed by John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961. This executive order required government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." Executive Order 10925 established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted on July 2, 1964 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law. John F. Kennedy had made a speech on June 11, 1963 calling for legislation "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public", as well as "greater protection for the right to vote". When Kennedy was assassinated, and Johnson became President, Johnson put a civil rights act on the top of his list. Finally, the act was signed into law. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. This document prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Despite the 15th Amendment, southern states found ways to keep blacks from voting through means such as literacy tests, poll taxes, or grandfather clauses. Blacks were asked to accomplish tasks even white voters would be hard pressed to acomplish. The act banned the use of literacy tests and poll taxes designed to keep Blacks from voting. -
Detriot Riot
The Detroit Riot was one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in United States history, lasting five days. It was surpassed only by the New York City draft riots, during the U.S. Civil War, and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. It began as a police raid on an unlisecenced, after-hour bar. Police confrantation with pedestrions and observers lead to the riot. At the end, 43 were dead, 1,189 were injured, over 7,200 were arrested, and more than 2,000 buildings were destroyed. -
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988
The Civil Rights Restoration Act was passed March 22, 1988. It specified that recipients of federal funds must comply with civil rights laws in all areas, not just in the particular program or activity that received federal funding. While President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill as he had promised, Congress overrode the presidental veto, and the bill became a law.
