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The Emancipation Proclaimation
This document, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, stated that all slaves in Confederacy states would be free. This proclamation did not impact the border states (i.e. Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia). This proclamation led to the 13th amendment. Picture: "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Before the Cabinet." Francis Carpenter, 1864. -
The 13th Amendment
This amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States of America, was passed by Congress and by President Abraham Lincoln in early 1865. By December 6, 1865, the necessary number of states had ratified the amendment. -
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to anyone who was born in the United States. This made it so the former slaves would be considered citizens. The author of this amendment was an Ohio Congressman, John A. Bingham. -
Sharecropping
From the 1870s to the 1950s, sharecropping was popular on southern plantations. In order to legally put the former slaves to work, white farmers would allow the African Americans to be sharecroppers. The farmers would lease out their land to sharecroppers and in exchange, the sharecroppers would have to give the white farmers a large share of the annual crop. Once the sharecroppers gave up their required share, they rarely had anything left to sell. This led to the Great Migration. -
The 15th Amendment
The 15th amendment granted the African American male the right to vote. This amendment, along with the 13th and 14th amendments, made the African American male equal to white male only in the eyes of the law. However, in the eyes of the white male, the African American male was still not seen as equal. -
The Great Migration
The Great Migration was the movement of over 6 million African Americans. From 1916 to 1970, African Americans moved from the South to other areas of the country, especially the North. This movement was sparked by African Americans becoming tired of the prejudice against them -
Red Summer
The Red Summer in 1919 involved tensions between whites and African Americans. There were race riots which resulted in a large number of deaths on both the white and African American sides. -
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The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an explosion of African American culture in the New York slum, Harlem. Their culture had been repressed since they first were taken from Africa. Now that they were free to express themselves, white Americans saw African American's true talents when it came to writing, singing, dancing, and acting. -
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club in Harlem was a venue where African Americans were eventually able to showcase their talents, especially their musical talents. Picture: The Cotton Club Orchestra, Harlem, 1925. -
The Peak of the Ku Klux Klan
Originally founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan is a group that is notoriously known for being racist towards most minority groups. In the 1924, the KKK was at its peak membership with over 4 million members. Members would often threaten those in the American American community in an attempt to scare them off. They would even lynch members of the American American community which caused African Americans to want to relocate. Picture: KKK members hold a march in Washington, D.C. on August 9, 1925. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was sparked by a crash in the stock market in 1929. The Depression lasted until 1939. During the Great Depression, more than 10 million Americans were unemployed. People had so little money that they no longer went out to places like the Cotton Club, thus ending the era of the Harlem Renaissance.
