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13th amendment ratified
Constitutional Amendment: The 13th Amendment was passed by Lincoln on February 1st, 1865. It formally abolished slavery in the United States outside of criminal punishment. -
14th Amendment ratified
Constitutional Amendment: The 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” It also prohibited former Confederate officeholders from holding any state or federal office without the approval of 2/3rds of both the House and Senate. -
15th Amendment ratified
Constitutional Amendment: The 15th Amendment ensured the right to vote for men of any “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Former Confederate states still attempted to prevent blacks from voting through convoluted voting laws designed to allow only educated, wealthy, white men to vote. -
Supreme court rules on Plessy V. Ferguson
Supreme Court Case: The Supreme Court upheld that laws that segregated public facilities like bathrooms based on race were constitutional, with the condition that the two facilities were equal, spawning the infamous ¨ Separate but equal¨ motto. -
Wilmington Coup
Violent Action: The Wilmington Coup was a violent coup by white supremacists in Wilmington, NC in order to remove black owned businesses and black politicians from town. They federal government did nothing to intervene and the coup stood. -
NAACP is formed
Formation of an organization: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) was created in order to protect the rights of any minority/oppressed group. Its main goal throughout the 20th century was the abolition of segregation and better protections of African Americans' constitutional rights. -
Truman desegregates the U.S. Military
Laws: Truman mandated equality of treatment and opportunity for all in the military. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Supreme Court Case: In the case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court ruled that the racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, stating that the separate schooling for white and African American students was inherently unequal. Furthermore the court ordered that public schools must work towards integrating their schools “with all deliberate speed.” -
Emmett Tills murder
Violent Action: Emmett Till was tortured and murdered by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam while visiting his aunt in the south. They murdered him after a false accusation of Emmett wolf-whistling a local cashier. The two men were let go by an all white jury. -
Montgomery bus boycott/ Rosa Parks is arrested
Protest: The Montgomery bus boycott was an organized mass protest in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks and the segregation of Montgomery buses. It was through this movement that Martin Luther King Junior gained popularity, becoming head of the Montgomery Improvement Association. The boycott was successful, with a federal district court declaring segregated buses to be unconstitutional. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were a group of high schoolers who were the first to integrate into the public schools of Little Rock, Arkansas. They were met with extreme protest by white families to the point where President Eisenhower had to call in the national guard to escort them to school through the whole school year -
Civil rights Act of 1957
Laws: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation to be passed since 1875. It allowed the federal government to intervene when a citizen was denied voting rights. -
Greensboro Sit-In
Protests: The Greensboro sit-in was a nonviolent protest against segregated sitting areas. It was successful and sparked a wider sit-in movement across the country. -
Freedom Rides
Protest: The Freedom Rides were a series of protests throughout the south in which whites and blacks rode busses together as many southern busses kept separate white and black sections despite it being ruled unconstitutional. They were met with extreme violence with things like fire bombs and beatings by white mobs. Law enforcement would often have very delayed responses when called to deal with this violence. -
MLK´s I have a dream speech in the March on Washington
Protest: The March on Washington was a peaceful protest in which ~250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to protest racial discrimination and encourage the passing of the Civil Rights Act, which was being talked about in Congress. The March culminated in MLK´s famous ¨I have a dream¨ speech. -
Civil rights act of 1964
Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was intended to end discrimination based on race. It also ensured that voting could not be infringed upon, removing unfair voter registration requirements. -
Selma to Montgomery March
Protest: The Selma to Montgomery March was a protest led by MLK Jr. after the previous two attempts at the march were stopped by mobs, and once violently by police. ~25,000 people participated, and the match is credited with directly leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting rights act of 1965
Law: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was made to dismantle legislation in southern states that prevented minorities from voting. -
Assassination of MLK, Jr.
Violent Action: MLK, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, by a white man named James Earl Ray. -
Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Supreme Court Decision: In Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the Supreme Court upheld busing programs used to make sure that racial integration of public schools was happening after Brown v. Board. It was the result of the fact that public schools remained unintergrated due to the ¨natural¨ segregation of black and white communities.