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13th Amendment
The 13th amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States. The constitution now stated "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." This is the first act of 1865 that started life after slavery for African Americans. https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=013/llsl013.db&recNum=596 -
The Black Codes
Black Codes were laws passed by the new southern governments that attempted to regulate the lives of the former slaves. The laws granted African Americans limited rights, they were, however, still denied the right to testify against whites, to serve on juries or in state militias, or to vote. This is important because the laws were a poor compromise put in place in order to silence African Americans. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sl004.asp -
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The Elimination of Black Voting
Between 1890 and 1906, every southern state enacted laws or constitutional provisions meant to eliminate the black vote. Southern legislatures drafted laws that on paper appeared color-blind but that were actually designed to end black voting. "Constitution of the State of Louisiana, Adopted May 12, 1898," in Walter L. Fleming, ed., Documentary History of Reconstruction, Vol. 2 (Cleveland, Ohio: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1906), 451–453. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
The Court gave its approval to state laws requiring separate facilities for blacks and whites. The Louisiana law was upheld because it was argued that segregated facilities did not discriminate so long as they were "Separate but Equal". This is important because even though African Americans were "free" now they were still forced to live in discriminating conditions. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/prologue.html#obj014 -
Minorities in the Great Depression
Unemployment more than tripled in between 1930 and the beginning of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term. Everyone who experienced the Great Depression was hit hard but the people that were hit the hardest were African Americans, disease and lynching were increasing in the south. This is important because only white people's struggles are shown during the Great Depression. http://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/minority-groups-and-great-depression -
Executive Order 8802
African Americans were being excluded from jobs so Philip Randolph called for a March on Washington which "scared the government half to death". To persuade Randolph to call it off Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which banned discrimination in defense jobs and established a Fair Employment Practice Commission to monitor compliance. https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc_large_image.php?flash=false&doc=72 -
Postwar Civil Rights
The NAACP, its ranks swollen during the war, launched a voter registration campaign in the South. By 1952, 20 percent of black southerners were registered to vote, nearly a seven fold increase since 1940. This is important because it means more Africans Americans are going to have a say in who gets elected. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks had refused to surrender her seat in the front of the bus to a white rider, as required by law. Parks' arrest sparked a year long Montgomery bus boycott, this is important because it was the beginning of the mass phase of the civil rights movement in the South. Government, Politics, and Protest: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner, et al., Gale, 2006. World History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/PC2687587024/UHIC?u=sain62671&xid=2410b10b. -
Obama's First Inauguration
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first ever black president of The United States. Obama promised a foreign policy based on diplomacy rather than unilateral force, pledged to protect the environment, spoke of the need to combat income inequality, and to renew respect for the Constitution. This is important because Obama was the first black president and he addressed community and responsibility as something he cares about. -
Obama's Orders
In May 2011, to wide wide acclaim in the United States, Obama authorized an armed raid into Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden, who had been hiding for years there. This is important because Osama was the man responsible for 9/11. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed/story?id=13505703
