civil rights

By Chris_23r96

  • The Emancipation Proclamation

    1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation is issued by President Abraham Lincoln freeing the enslaved in the rebellious Confederate states.

  • The Thirteenth Amendment

    1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment is passed abolishing slavery in the United States.

  • The Fourteenth Amendment

    1868 - The Fourteenth Amendment is passed guaranteeing all African-Americans the rights of full U.S. citizens.

  • The Fifteenth Amendment

    1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment is passed guaranteeing the right to vote for all citizens regardless of race.

  • Jim Crow laws

    1890s - Jim Crow laws become common in many southern states segregating blacks from whites.

  • The Supreme Court

    1896 - The Supreme Court rules that segregation is legal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case using the "separate but equal" argument.

  • The NAACP

    1909 - The NAACP is founded by African-American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells.

  • Jackie Robinson

    1947 - Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play major league baseball.

  • President Harry S. Truman

    1948 - President Harry S. Truman ends segregation in the U.S. armed forces.

  • The Supreme Court

    1954 - The Supreme Court rules that segregation in the schools is unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education case, overturning the earlier ruling in the Plessy v. Ferguson case.

  • Rosa Parks

    1955 - Rosa Parks is arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus. This sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasts for over a year. Eventually, segregation on the buses in Montgomery comes to an end.

  • Nine African-American

    1957 - Nine African-American students in Arkansas (nicknamed the Arkansas Nine) attend a previously all-white high school. Army troops are brought in to protect them.

  • 1961 - The Freedom Riders

    1961 - The Freedom Riders protest by riding buses into the segregated southern states challenging their Jim Crow laws.

  • The Birmingham Campaign

    1963 - The Birmingham Campaign takes place in Birmingham, Alabama. Schoolchildren marching in non-violent protest are met with police dogs and fire hoses. Martin Luther King, Jr. is arrested and writes his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

  • The March on Washington

    1963 - The March on Washington by over 200,000 protesters occurs. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech.

  • The Civil Rights Act

    1964 - The Civil Rights Act is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlaws discrimination based on race, national origin, and gender. It also outlaws segregation and the Jim Crow laws.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr

    1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

  • Marchers in Selma, Alabama

    1965 - Marchers in Selma, Alabama are met by police with tear gas. Several marchers are injured and the day is nicknamed "Bloody Sunday."

  • The Voting Rights Act

    1965 - The Voting Rights Act is signed into law making it illegal to prevent any citizen from voting regardless of race.

  • Race riots erupt in Watts, California.

    1965 - Race riots erupt in Watts, California.