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Outlawing Slavery
Massachusetts outlaws slavery within its borders.It was considered that slavery was unconstitutional and all slaves are free. -
US troops
Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Virginia. Fifty-seven whites are killed; U.S. troops killed 100 slaves. Turner is caught, tried, and hanged. -
The Dred Scott Supreme Court Case
The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision rules that slaves do not become free when taken into a free state, that Congress cannot bar slavery from a territory, and that blacks cannot become citizens. -
Civil War
The Civil War Begins, when Confederates attacked the U.S. fortress of Fort Sumter. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln issues the official Emancipation Proclamation freeing "all slaves in areas still in rebellion." -
The Black Code
The “Black Code,” which severely limits the rights and liberties of blacks in areas such as jobs, voting, and holding public office. -
Supreme Court
Supreme Court approves the "separate but equal" segregation doctrine in the Plessy v.s Ferguson court case. -
US Military
President Truman issues an executive order outlawing segregation in the U.S. military. -
Rosa Parks
On December 1, Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, AL, city bus and sparks a 381-day boycott of buses by blacks in the city -
Freedom
Freedom Rides into Southern states. They were activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years in order to challenge the non-enforcement. -
School Segregation
President Kennedy sends federal troops to the University of Mississippi to quell riots so that James Meredith, the school’s first black student, can attend. -
"I have a Dream"
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream” speech to hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington. -
Civil rights Acts
After a 75-day long filibuster, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act declaring discrimination based on race illegal. -
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified on July 28, 1868. The amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which includes former slaves who have just been freed after the Civil War. It also provides for due process and equal protection under the law. -
First Black Governor
L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first black elected governor in the U.S. He also worked to fund Virginia's transportation initiatives, effectively lobbying Congress to reallocate highway money to the states with the greatest needs. -
In Space
Dr. Mae Carol Jemison becomes the first African American woman
in space when she travels on board the space shuttle Endeavor. -
Nobel Prize
Toni Morrison becomes the first black American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for her novel Beloved. -
First Black President
Barack Obama becomes first African American president of the U.S. he won the election in a landslide victory.