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The Missouri Compromise (1820)
In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. -
14 Amendment (1868)
“all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. -
15 Amendment (1870)
The 15th amendment granted African American men the right to vote. -
School Segregation Illegal (1954)
In Brown v. Board of Education(1954), the Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for blacks and whites at the state level. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 superseded all state and local laws requiring segregation -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a seminal event in the civil rights movement. -
Rosa Parks (1955)
Rosa Parks got arrested and the Montgomery Bus Boycott begins. Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". -
MLK's House Bombed (1956)
On January 30, 1956, Martin Luther King Jr.'s house was bombed by segregationists in retaliation for the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Bus Boycott Ends (1956)
The boycott officially ended December 20, 1956, after 381 days. The city passed an ordinance authorizing black bus passengers to sit virtually anywhere they chose on buses. -
Little Rock Nine (1957)
These nine students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957 and were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faustus. The Nine created the Little Rock Nine Foundation to promote the ideals of justice and educational equality. -
Black Power Movement (1960)
The Black Power Movement. The Black Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was a political and social movement whose advocates believed in racial pride, self-sufficiency, and equality for all people of Black and African descent -
Greensboro (1960)
Greensboro sit-in, act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, that began on February 1, 1960. Its success led to a wider sit-in movement, organized primarily by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), that spread throughout the South. -
Freedom rides begin (1961)
The first Freedom Ride began on May 4, 1961. Led by CORE Director James Farmer, 13 riders left Washington, DC, on Greyhound (from the Greyhound Terminal) and Trailways buses -
Birmingham Campaign (1963)
The Birmingham campaign, or Birmingham movement, was a movement organized in early 1963 by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the integration efforts of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama -
"I Have A Dream" Speech (1963)
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. -
16th Street Baptist Church bombing (1963)
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was an act of white supremacist terrorism which occurred at the African-American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963 -
24th Amendment (1964)
The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax -
MLK Awarded Nobel/Peace Prize (1964)
In 1964 Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his dynamic leadership of the Civil Rights movement and steadfast commitment to achieving racial justice through nonviolent action. -
Voting Rights Act (1965)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. -
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Police Attack Demonstrators in Selma (1965)
On March 7, 1965, state troopers and a sheriff's posse in Selma, Ala., attacked 525 civil rights demonstrators taking part in a march between Selma and Montgomery, the state capital. As the demonstrators crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, they were ordered by the police to disperse. -
MLK Shot... (1968)
April 4, 1968, Memphis, TN
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination -
Civil Rights Act Passed (1968)
The 1968 act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and since 1974, sex. Since 1988, the act protects people with disabilities and families with children.
