-
The First African Slaves Arrive in America
A Dutch trader brought twenty slaves to Jamestown, Virginia. The number of slaves continued to increase, and by as late as 1670, there were about 2,000 slaves in Virginia. -
Stono Rebellion
More than fifty slaves along the Stono River in South Carolina marched toward Spanish Florida. On their fifteen mile march, they killed at least twenty whites. The revolt was stopped by the local militia. -
Congress Bans Importation of Slaves
Congress banned the importation of slaves, however slaves were still smuggled into America. -
Nat Turner Slave Rebellion
Nat Turner, a slave and black preacher, led a slave rebellion in Southhampton County, Virginia. About sixty Virginians, mostly women and children, were murdered. Turner was later hanged, and Virginia enacted stricter slave laws. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of safe havens through which thousands of slaves escaped from slavery in the south to Canada. Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave from Maryland, was one of the most famous conductors, rescuing more than 300 slaves. -
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 was strengthened due to the success of the Underground Railroad. It enforced the capture of runaway slaves in both the north and the south by punishing anyone who aided the runaways. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriot Beecher Stowe, a white abolishtionist, was determined to reveal the evils of slavery, especially the act of splitting up families. Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was greatly successful in the United States and abroad. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott sued for his freedom on the basis of his long residence on free soil. The Supreme Court ruled that because Scott was a slave and not a citizen, he could not sue in federal courts. -
Civil War Begins
The Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Eleven states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. It was the bloodiest war in America, resulting in about 600,000 deaths. -
Emancipation Proclaimation
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclaimation declared the slaves in the Confederacy free. However, it did not really free any slaves. Although he could free the slaves in the loyal border states, he did not in order to spare the Union, and he did not have control of the states in the Confederacy. -
Thirteenth Amendment
After the Civil War ended in 1865, Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery. -
Fourteenth Amendment
Republicans passed the Civil Rights Bill in 1866, which conferred on blacks American citizenship and struck at the Black Codes. The principles of the Civil Rights Bill turned into the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship to former slaves. -
Segragation Legalized
In the case of Plessy V. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities were constitutional under the "equal protection" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
NAACP Founded
W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Ida B. Wells, Henry Moskowitz, and William English Walling founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on February 12, Lincoln's birthday. -
Harlem Reinassance Begins
The Harlem Reinassance was a literary, artistic, cultural, and intellectual movement that lasted until 1935. Harlem in New York City was one of the largest black communities in the world with about 100,000 black residents. Important African American artists, such as poet Langston Hughes and writer Zora Neale Hurston, emerged during this time. -
Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
The Warren Court ruled that segregation in public schools was "inherently unequal" and therefore unconstitutional. It startled conservatives because it reversed the declaration in Plessy V. Ferguson. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white male on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, triggering the Montgomery bus boycott. -
Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were student volunteers that went on interstate bus trips in order to test the implemation of new laws prohibiting segregation. -
March on Washington
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led 200,000 black and white demonstrators on the "March on Washington." It concluded at the Lincoln Memorial where King gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. -
Thurgood Marshall to Supreme Court
Thurgood Marshall, a former NAACP attorney, was appointed to the Supreme Court becoming the first black justice. -
Colin Powell Becomes Secretary of State
Colin Powell became the first African American secretary of state. -
Barack Obama Inagurated as Fourty Fourth President
Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States.
