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History of Race Relations in the U.S.
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Jamestown
In 1607, A Dutch ship came to port in the British colony of Jamestown. After many weeks at sea, the crew was running low on food, and they agreed to exchange the twenty captured African slaves aboard their craft for cash and supplies. The Africans who emerged from the Dutch vessel would go on to labor as indentured servants at Jamestown. They were but the first of approximately 500,000 African slaves that would be brought to North America between 1619 and 1808. -
Institution of Slavery
The institution of slavery was well established throughout the United States. In fact, slave populations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia were larger than the white population. -
Lincoln freeing the slaves
President Lincoln issued a proclamation freeing all slaves held captive in the secessionist states. -
13th Ammendment is ratified
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified.
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." With these words, the single greatest change wrought by the Civil War was officially noted in the Constitution. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment recognized the full citizenship status of African Americans and commanded that every state afford its citizens, white and black alike, equal protection under the laws of the federal government and the individual states. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified. The amendment explicitly forbids the states from denying citizens access to the ballot box on the basis of “race, color or previous condition of servitude.” -
Presidntial Election
President Obama was elected giving a sense of relief to the African American population.
