African ameican timeline cover

African-American History Timeline

  • 1492

    The Encounter/ El encuentro

    The Encounter/ El encuentro
    Christopher Columbus and his crew land in the Dominican Republic, beginning a period of exploration, trade, and conquest of the native people of the Americas. People from Europe, Africa, and Asia begin to live in the Americas to farm and trade.
    Colón y su tripulación aterrizan en la República Dominicana, comenzando un período de exploración, comercio y conquista de los pueblos nativos de las Américas. Personas de Europa, África y Asia comienzan a vivir en las Américas para cultivar y comerciar.
  • 1530

    Los africanos son esclavizados y llevados a las Américas a trabajar

    Los africanos son esclavizados y llevados a las Américas a trabajar
    Portuguese colonists bring enslaved Africans to Brazil to work on sugar plantations.
    People were brought to America from Africa and forced to work. Los colonos portugueses traen africanos esclavizados a Brasil para trabajar en las plantaciones de azúcar.
    La gente fue traída a América desde África y obligada a trabajar.
  • Massachusetts makes slavery legal

    Massachusetts makes slavery legal
  • Virginia law declares that the children of enslaved people are also enslaved.

    Virginia law declares that the children of enslaved people are also enslaved.
  • people held as slaves in every colony, including New Jersey

    people held as slaves in every colony, including New Jersey
  • Marriage between black and white people illegal in some places

    Virginia passes a law making marriage between black people and white people illegal.
  • Florida's native communities protected people who escaped slavery

    Florida's native communities protected people who escaped slavery
    1738-1818 Florida, ruled by Spain, was a place that protected people who escaped slavery in their native American seminole communities.
  • First Black church founded in America, in South Carolina

    First Black church founded in America, in South Carolina
  • Revolutionary War begins

    Revolutionary War begins
    Revolutionary War begins. The American colonies declare independence from England and the United States of America begins.
  • first state to ban slavery

    first state to ban slavery
    Vermont bans slavery, slavery illegal in Vermont.
  • United States allows people who have escaped slavery to be returned

    United States allows people who have escaped slavery to be returned
    The Constitution of the United States includes a "fugitive slave clause". This means that if a person who was enslaved escapes to a state without slavery, that person can be returned to the people that enslaved them. No place in the United States is safe for an escaped person.
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
    This is where slavery was allowed when the USA became a country.
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
    States with more industry became free states. States that relied on large crops, such as tobacco, cotton, and rice, remained slave states.
  • Slave Trade outlawed

    Slave Trade outlawed
    people could no longer be brought to the United States from other countries to be enslaved.
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
    The Missouri Compromise of 1821 helped decide what new American territories would allow slavery or not.
  • Mexico ends slavery

    Mexico ends slavery
    Mexico abolishes slavery, and many slaves escape to Mexico.
  • 75,000 people escape on the Underground Railroad

    75,000 people escape on the Underground Railroad
    1831-1861 75,000 people escape slavery by on the Underground railroad. They migrate to areas where slavery is not legal, including Canada and Mexico.
  • Slavery ends in Canada

    Canada, which is part of England, declared all black people free. Many enslaved people in America escaped to Canada.
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
  • Some states leave the United States

    Some states leave the United States
    In 1860, the Confederate States of America is formed when 11 states secede (leave)from the Union (The United States of America).
  • Where was slavery allowed in the United States?

    Where was slavery allowed in the United States?
    11 states that allowed slavery became their own country.
  • Civil War Begins

    Civil War Begins
    The Civil War begins, between the Union (USA) and the Confederacy.
  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Emancipation Proclamation
    President Lincoln frees all enslaved people in the Confederacy with the Emancipation Proclamation
  • Civil War Ends. All slavery ends in America.

    Civil War Ends. All slavery ends in America.
  • "Black Codes" hurt African Americans

    "Black Codes" hurt African Americans
    "Black Codes" are passed in the Southern states, which segregate schools, housing, jobs, and public places like parks and libraries.
  • African Americans can vote.... but...

    African Americans can vote.... but...
    African Americans are allowed to vote. But local laws are passed to stop them in many areas.
  • Many African Americas leave the South for a better life.

    Many African Americas leave the South for a better life.
    Nearly 40,000 people migrated to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
  • Supreme Court says segregation is legal

    Supreme Court says segregation is legal
  • NAACP, an organization to help African Americans, is established.

    NAACP, an organization to help African Americans, is established.
  • Great Migration

    Great Migration
    1916-1930 First Great Migration, 1.6 million people leave the South.
  • Harlem Renaissance

    Harlem Renaissance
    Great music and writing movement in the African American community
  • Women earn the right to vote

    Women earn the right to vote
  • Second Great Migration

    Second Great Migration
    1940-1970 5 million people leave the South
  • Brown v. Board of Education: segregation in schools is illegal

    Brown v. Board of Education: segregation in schools is illegal
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott
    led by the Montgomery Improvement Association, including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, African Americans refused to ride segregated buses for over a year.
  • Southern Christian Leadership Conference

    Southern Christian Leadership Conference
    Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group to promote Civil Rights, established by Martin Luther King
  • Civil Rights Act; discrimination is illegal.

    Civil Rights Act; discrimination is illegal.
  • Voting Rights Act makes it easier for African Americans to vote.

    Voting Rights Act makes it easier for African Americans to vote.
  • Loving v. Virginia marriage between black and white people is legal.

    Loving v. Virginia marriage between black and white people is legal.
  • Martin Luther King is assasinated

    Martin Luther King is assasinated
  • Martin Luther King Day becomes a national holiday

    Martin Luther King Day becomes a national holiday
  • Barack Obama becomes the first African American president of the United States

    Barack Obama becomes the first African American president of the United States
  • Black Lives Matter movement begins

    Black Lives Matter movement begins
    Black Lives Matter movement begins, reacting to violence against African Americans
  • Kamala Harris becomes the first African American vice president of the United States

    Kamala Harris becomes the first African American vice president of the United States