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Rosa Parks
In 1955, Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Her defiant stance prompts a year long bus boycott. -
Eisenhower
In 1957, Eisenhower signs the civil rights act of 1957 to help protect voters rights. -
March on Washington
In 1963, approximately 250,000 people take part in the March on Washington. Martin Luther King gives his "I have a dream" speech. -
Children's Crusades
In 1963, more than 1,000 black school children marched through Birmingham in a demonstration against segregation. It was meant to provoke desegregation to the city's leaders. -
Civil Rights Act
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was meant to prevent employment discrimination due to race, color, sex, or religion. -
Vietnam
In 1964, Congress told the president to take all necessary measures to protect American soldiers and their allies from the communist viet Cong. Within days the draft began. -
Bloody Sunday
In the Selma to Montgomery March, about 600 civil rights marchers walk to Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. It was in protest of black voter suppression. Local police brutally attacked them. -
Assassination
In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room in Tennessee. James Earl Ray is convicted of the murder in 1969. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
In 1968, president Johnson signed the civil rights act of 1968, also known as the fair housing act. It provided equal housing opportunities to all Americans. -
Vietnamese tet offensive
During 1968, the north Vietnamese tet offensive convinced many people that the Vietnam war would be impossible to win. The Democratic party also split and Johnson ended his reelection campaign