-
1492
Discovery of America
-
Slavery era begins in the North American Colonies
The first 20 African slaves are shipped to Jamestown, Virginia. Slavery quickly spreads and 6-7 million Africans are imported during the 18th century. -
Revolutionary War 1775-1783
Independence from Great Britain. -
Underground railroad
Antislavery northerners—many of them free blacks—help fugitive slaves escape from southern plantations to the North via a loose network of safe houses. -
4 million black slaves in the US
More than the half live in the South, working in plantations. -
Civil War 1861-1865
The anti-slavery North vs the pro-slavery South.
The North wins. President Lincoln officially abolishes slavery with the 13th Amendment of the Constitution. -
Citizenship and equal protection for all
14th Amendment -
Voting right to all males
15th Amendment -
Ku Klux Klan
White southerners try to resist to the establishment of political and economic equality for black people. -
Segregation Laws in the South
"Separate but equal": southern States laws that separate people because of skin colour. Separate schools, restaurants, hotels, buses seats, train cars, barber shops... -
1st World War
African-Americans register to fight. Separated again: white-only and black-only units. -
Segregated schools declared uncostitutional
Separate schools were an inherently unequal treatment and thus violated the 14th Amendment. -
Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery, Alabama. 42-yr-old Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and gets arrested.
Four days after Parks’ arrest, an activist organization called the Montgomery Improvement Association—led by a young pastor named Martin Luther King, Jr.—spearheaded a boycott of the city’s municipal bus company. Boycott continues for over a year! -
Desegregation of buses
The bus company’s segregation seating policy is declared unconstitutional and thus violating the 14th Amendment.
Boycott stops and Rosa Parks is one of the first to ride the newly desegregated buses. -
Desegregation of cafeterias, libraries, beaches, hotels...
Young blacks and whites engage in peaceful protests against segregation in various public establishments forcing change. -
Freedom Riders
In May 1961, seven African Americans and six whites set off on a “freedom ride” on two buses from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans to test the decision to desegregate interstate buses. They were attacked by angry segregationists outside of Anniston and Montgomery, Alabama and one bus was even firebombed. However, interstate buses and terminals finally got desegregated. -
March on Washington - I have a dream
250,000 people -black and white- participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, calling for voting rights, equal employment opportunities for blacks and an end to racial segregation.
Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the struggle facing black Americans and the need for continued action and nonviolent resistance.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” -
Civil Rights Act
The Act gave the federal government more power to protect citizens against discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or national origin. It mandated the desegregation of most public accommodations, including lunch counters, bus depots, parks and swimming pools, and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to ensure equal treatment of minorities in the workplace. The act also guaranteed equal voting rights for all. -
Voting Rights Act
-
Fair Housing Act
-
Barack Obama becomes 44th U.S. president