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Presence of black servants in America
In 1619, the colonial records first indicated the presence of black servants in America. -
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Black History Timeline
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Slavery present in American Colonies
In 1638, slavery was present in all of the American Colonies. -
Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks was an American slave, merchant seaman and dockworker of Wampanoag and African descent. Many people think he was the first person shot to death by British redcoats during the Boston Massacre, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is one of the most important figures in African-American history, not for what he did for his own race but for what he did for all oppressed people everywhere. -
Percentage of slaves in the U.S.
19% of the entire U.S. population was slaves by 1790. -
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his antislavery writings. He was also an abolitionist, human rights and women's rights activist. -
CORN
Congress of Racial Equality is a U.S. civil rights organization that played a great role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement -
Civil War (1861-1865)
These years mark the duration of the Civil War. This war officially marked the end to slavery and put the states against each other. The Union and Confederate armies fought against each other in this war. The Union army consisted of the northern states which were in favor of the abolition of slavery and the Confederate army consisted of southern states which supported slavery for various reasons. Many blacks in the civil war in the Union Army fought to end slavery and gain their freedom. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1862. Issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation declared "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery, it did change the basic character of the Civil War. -
Klu Klux Klan
The Klu Klux Klan was formed in Tennessee in 1865. The Ku Klux Klan, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous - and oldest - of American hate groups. Although black Americans have typically been the Klan's primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians and, until recently, Catholics. -
"Black Codes"
These laws were passed after the Civil War with the effect of the limiting of the civil rights and the human’s right against the black people. Even the discrimination was already existed in both Northern and Southern States from the early 19th century, the term "Black Codes" is used most often to refer to legislation passed by Southern states at the end of the Civil War to control the labor and movement of newly-freed slaves. -
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Jim Crow Laws
These were laws that promoted racial segregation. For example, restuarants, bathrooms, and water fountains. -
Abolitionist Movement (18th to 19th Century)
The Abolitionist Movement was the emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. It took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. Often called the antislavery movement, it sought to end the enslavement of Africans and people of African descent in Europe, the Americas, and Africa itself. -
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Lynching
During this time, over 1,000 blacks were killed by lynching. -
NAACP
The NAACP stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was created in 1909. It was a US civil rights organization set up to oppose racial segregation and discrimination by nonviolent means. -
Who was Rosa Parks?
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist born in 1913, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". Her most famous act against segregation occured when she refused to give up her seat to a white man and move to the back of the bus. This caused more segregation laws and a bus boycott. -
Jesse Owens
An American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression shaped all of American society in 1930. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression, especially in the United States, in the decade preceding World War II. The problems of the Great Depression affected virtually every group of Americans. No group was harder hit than African Americans, however. By 1932, approximately half of black Americans were out of work. In some Northern cities, whites called for blacks to be fired from any jobs as long as there were w -
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters -
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. -
"If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie Cochran was an American lawyer best known for defending O. J. Simpson in his trail for the murder of his divorced wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. -
Death of Marcus Garvey
During his life, he was a Jamacian-born activist who created a "back to Africa" movement in America. He was an insirational civil rights leader. -
Jackie Robinson
He was the first black player to ever participate in Major League Baseball. -
Desegregation of Military
The military was now desegregated and blacks and whites fought together. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. -
MLKJ's "I Have a Dream" Speech
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Malcom X's Asasassination
Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. He was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who accused white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. Critics accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. -
Malcom X "By any means..."
"We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary." This is an exerpt from a speech given by Malcom X in the last year of his life. -
"Burn Baby, Burn" Watts Riots
On August 11, 1965, the arrest of a drunk driver in the Watts section of Los Angeles sparked a riot that lasted five days and took the lives of 34 people. African American rioters vandalized and set fire to stores, chanting the riot slogan, “Burn, Baby, Burn.” The series of more than 300 riots lasted from 1965 to 1968. -
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Black Panthers
African-American revolutionary socialist organization active in the United States from 1966 until 1982 -
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. King was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. King is also one of the most influential African Americans in history. -
“Can’t we all just get along?” Rodney King
Rodney King was an African-American construction worker who is famous for being excessively beaten by LA police officers while on parole for robbery in 1991. This violent act was caught on tape and when King was asked to speak about what happened, one of his most memorable lines was "Can't we all just get along." -
Ray Lewis
a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League -
Abner Louima
a Haitian who was assaulted, brutalized and forcibly sodomized with the handle of a broom by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997 -
Amadu Diallo
a 23-year-old immigrant from Guinea who was shot and killed in New York City on February 4, 1999 by four New York City Police Department officers
