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In 1619, Colonial records first inidcate the presence of black servants in Virginia, America.
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Though the concept had been seen in Europe centuries before, the Abolitionist movement, or the push for the end of slavery, came to America with the quakers during the First Great Awakening. This movement would see great leaders such as Frederick Douglas and would end with the Emancipation Proclamation in America.
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Freed slave Phyllis Wheatley publishes Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, making her the first African American to publish a book. Having recognized her talent at a young age, her masters had taught her how to read and write.
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Congress decides that there can be no slavery in the newly formed states in the Northwest. However, they also decide that slave trade will continue until 1808
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As promised in 1787, Congress enacts a ban on the importation of slaves from Africa.
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An escaped slave, Frederick Douglas would go on to become one of the best orators in the North and become a leader of the abolitionist movement.
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William Lloyd Garisson begins to write a weekly newspaper fighting for the abolition of slavery. He would go on to become one of the most prominent figures of the abolitionist movement.
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Nat Turner, an enslaved African-American preacher leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of followers launch a short, bloody, rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia.
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David Wilmot of Pennsylvania attempts to ban slavery in the territory gained in the Mexican War. However, the proviso is blocked by the South.
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Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and becomes one of the most effective and celebrated leaders of the Underground Railroad.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin is published. It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery sentiments.
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A group of slaves revolt and take command of the slave ship Amistad, killing all sailors but the captain. The captain then tricks them by bringing the ship to New York instead of back to Africa. The slaves are tried, but acquitted and eventually sent home.
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Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the United States. This signing made the Civil War a fight over slavery. However, the proclamation did not affect the border states.
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The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln, as the country entered the third year of the Civil War.It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion, thus applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the U.S. at the time.
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Former confederates in Tennessee form the Ku Klux Klan, an organized hate group against antone who was not a white Christian, especially blacks.
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The South in response to the end of slavery with the end of the Civil War, enacts several Black Code laws. These laws restricted the right of all the freed slaves and often forced them into poor working conditions with very little pay.
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Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote.
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The Black Exodus takes place, in which tens of thousands of African Americans migrated from southern states to Kansas.
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While the first Jim Crow laws had been passed in 1876, this marked the first of the truly impactful laws. These Jim Crow laws were a type of "Black Code" law and created the concept of "separate but equal" public facilities for African Americans. Unfortunately, while the facilities were separate, they were not equal.
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded in New York by prominent black and white intellectuals and led by W.E.B. Du Bois.
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The Great Depression hits America and subsequently the rest of the world. The economy tanks as banks make loans and are not repaid. People become unable to access their money.
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James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist.At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Owens won international fame with four gold medals: 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100 meter relay. He was the most successful athlete at the games and as such has been credited with "single-handedly crush[ing] Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy.
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The Congress of Racial Equality, one of the largest organizations for civil rights, is formed
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Jackie Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color barrier when he is signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers by Branch Rickey.
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Although African Americans had participated in every major U.S. war, it was not until after World War II that President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order integrating the U.S. armed forces.
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African Americans in the South score a huge victory as the Supreme Court overturns one of the Jim Crow laws and declares that "separate but equal" school are unconstitutional.
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Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger (Dec.1). In response to her arrest Montgomery's black community launch a successful year-long bus boycott. Montgomery's buses are desegregated on Dec. 21, 1956.
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Martin Luther King Jr., pastor and leader of the African American civil rights movement, gives one of the most famous speeches in Washington D.C. His speech, describing his dream of equality for all races, was actually impromptu, and not the speech he had prepared.
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Malcolm X, black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, is assassinated.
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Fueled by racial segregation, A six day riot breaks out in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. The riots caused over 40 million dollars in damage.
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Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. (April 4).
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Colin Powell became the first African American to serve on the United States joint Cheif of Staff in 1989. He would then go on to become the first African American to become the Secretary of State in 2001 under George Bush
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After a high-speed car chase, Rodney King was thrown out of his car and brutally beaten by police officers, supposedly because he was black. All four of the police officers were then acquitted of all charges, raising a national civil rights outcry.
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Barack Obama Democrat from Chicago, becomes the first African-American president and the country's 44th president.
