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Spanish and Portuguese bring African slaves to the Caribbean and Central America to replace Native Americans in the gold mines.
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A Virginia court decides a child born to an enslaved mother is also a slave
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January 1, Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Thousands of African Americans migrate from the South to the West to escape exploitation and oppression. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, a former slave, is a leader of this "Exodus of '79."
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Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. His murder sparks a week of rioting across the country.
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President Clinton affirms his campaign pledge to lift the ban that prohibits gays from serving in the military. On April 25, at least 300,000 (the figure is hotly debated) march on Washington supporting federal civil rights legislation protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination.
