-
The 14th Amendment is passed
The House Joint Resolution declared the amendment to all people born or naturalized in the US, including past enslaved individuals. This provided "equal protection under the laws". -
‘Jim Crow’ is in place
Enforced racial segregation. “Jim Crow” came to be a derogatory term for Black people -
Plessy vs Ferguson decision is handed down by the US Supreme Court
The decision allowed racially segregated in public facilities containing similar beliefs and laws to the “Jim Crow laws” throughout the US -
The Grandfather Clause is Repealed
-
Period: to
The leader of the Mississippi NAACP is murdered outside his home
Medgar Evers was shot after coming home from a meeting. This action spurred actions on civil rights legislation. -
Desegregation of the Armed Forces (Executive Order 9981)
President Harry Truman signed an Executive Order, creating the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the US Armed Services. -
Period: to
Brown vs Board of Education Topeka case
A landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. -
The Murder of Emmett Til
Brought nationwide attention to the injustice of racial violence, prevalent in Mississippi. -
Rosa Parks sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks protested the segregation towards South African Americans by having to offer their seats to white people that boarded the bus. -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High, where they were racially segregated from entering the school. -
Sit-in at a lunch counter by college students
Four black students from North Carolina A & T College sat down at a Woolworth lunch counter, originally reserved for white people. The movement grew and launched lunch counter protests. -
Period: to
Freedom riders Begin to Test Segregation Laws
Freedom riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States, challenging bus segregation in the upper South. -
James Meredith Enrols at University
After state forces took control, Meredith became the first African-American student to enrol at the University of Mississippi. -
University of Alabama Standoff
Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in front of the Auditorium at the University of Alabama, to stop the enrollment of two African-American students. -
Martin Luther King Jnr’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial
King's “I have a dream” speech called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. -
The 24th Amendment is passed
Proposed by congress, it abolished and forbids the federal and state governments from imposing taxes on voters during federal elections. (Elmited poll taxes). -
Interracial marriage is ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court
A landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. -
Martin Luther King Jr. is murdered
Martin Luther King is fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, prompting major outbreaks of racial violence