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Events of the Civil Rights Movement - 19th-20th Centuries
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American Civil War
The American Civil War occured because many problems had arrived throughout the United States after the U.S. Constitution was signed. The main effects of the Civil war include abolishing slavery and declaring America as an independent nation. However, the abolishing slavery aspect of the war was not very succesful, as slavery continued in many southern states for several years after the war ended in 1865. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln created and signed the Emancipation proclamation in 1862, in hopes that this would free the U.S. slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation also allowed blacks to join the U.S. Army. This also began the process of the creation of the 13th Amendment. -
First KKK Formation
In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan is formed in Tennessee. This cult consisted of white people against blacks' civil rights. This group died out and resurfaced a couple of decades later. -
15th Amendment
On February 3rd, the 15th Amendment guarantees the right of male U.S. citizens to vote, no matter their race or color. -
Colfax Massacre
On Easter Sunday of 1873, armed white Democrats attacked Republican freemen. About 3 whites were killed, and over 150 black people were killed and thrown in the Red River. -
Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases
In 1892, Ida B. Wells published her pamphlet "Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases", which discusses lynching cases across the U.S. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
The Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896 legitimized the "separate but equal" segregation system in which facilites may separate customers by race legally.
In this case, an African-American man named Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow segregated car, which was against Louisiana law.The court decided that this segregation act was not against the 13th and 14th Amendments, and the case was not again looked at until several decades later. -
Up From Slavery
Booker T. Washington's Autobiography, Up From Slavery, is published in 1901, discussing his life growing up as a slave during the Civil War, and how he succeeded and grew up to help fight black opression. -
National Negro Committee Formation
The National Negro Committee meets for the first time, and will eventually lead to the formation of the NAACP. This committee met and discussed the political, social, and economic rights of African-Americans. -
Strange Fruit
Billie Holliday Strange FruitIn 1939, Billie Holliday first performs "Strange Fruit", a song about the cruel treatment of blacks, in NY. -
Sipuel v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Okla.
On Jan. 12, 1948, the court stated that the University of Oklahoma, who rejected Ada Lois Sipuel only because she was black, could not reject applicants based on their race. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This case is a very important part of the Civil Rights Movement, for in this case the court declared that public school segregation was unconstitutional. -
MLK
I Have a DreamOn August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream.." speech, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. -
Loving vs. Virgina
The Loving Case is another very important trial that impacted the Civil Rights Movement greatly.
In this case, a couple of a black woman and a white man were put on trial after they had gotten married, because interracial marriage was illegal. The judge based his decision soley off of religious values, stating that God did not intend for the races to mix.
