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Plessy v. Ferguson
The meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. The amendment is unable to deny “equal protection of the laws” to any person within their jurisdictions. -
Brown vs. The Bored of Education
The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was against the 14th amendment. Separate educational facilities for white and African American students were basically equal. Separate public buildings for whites and African Americans do not violate the equal-protection clause if the facilities are approximately equal. -
Emmett's Death
Emmett was visiting his uncle in Mississippi.Emmett bought bubble gum, he was accused of flirting with the wife of the owner, Carolyn Bryant. Carolyn's husband, and his half brother kidnapped Emmett. They beat him brutally, dragged him to the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire and shoved his mutilated body into the water. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The thing that set off the boycott was Rosa Parks not giving up her seat to a white passenger . Local civil rights leaders decided to emphasize on her arrest. Her arrest and called for a one-day boycott. The boycott was effective because the Montgomery bus system was dependent on African American -
Founding of Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Martin Luther King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta Georgia. The group organized black ministers and demonstrations for civil rights. The organization grew to become an African American youth support group in present day. -
Little Rock Nine & Central High School
The Little Rock Nine were 9 students that wanted to go to Little Rock Central High School. The governor of Arkansas called in the National Guard to stop the students from entering. Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent in 1000 paratroopers to escort the teens into the school. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organized the freedom summer rides in June 1964. They also organized many of the marches and sitins. Gradually though, the SNCC became more radical since it was made of impatient young people. The SNCC gave students a platform to organize protests for the civil rights movement -
Greensboro Sit-In
The Greensboro Sit-ins were organized by the SNCC students. The students sat at the counter of restaurants, in the whites section, until they were served. Sit inners were hit with food and had drinks thrown at them. The Sit Ins brought attention to restaurant segregation, and by summer of 1960 restaurants across the south were beginning integration. -
Freedom Ride/Freedom Riders
The Freedom rides were organized by CORE members. The members roe busses into the deep south to protest desegregation. The buses were full of black and white students. The rides inspired angered many southerners, particularly Klan members. They would set up blockades and beat the people on the buses. -
March on Washington
Over 200,000 people participated in the March for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial. It featured Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” Speech which talked about King’s vision of an equal society. The March on Washington helped persuade Johnson to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the first substantial civil rights legislation since Reconstruction -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a massive voter registration drive in the south. It was organized by SNCC students. Many hundreds of African Americans registered to vote through the program and many of the operators were murdered -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first civil rights act since Reconstruction. The Act made it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sex, race, national origin, or religion. It also made segregation in public places illegal. The Act helped to end legal segregation in the south and de facto segregation in the north. -
Voting Rights Act
The bill was passed by the Senate 77 to 19 and by the House 333 to 85. The bill made it illegal to have voters take literacy tests to vote and allowed the US attorney to investigate poll taxes. The Act was the start of legal battles against voting restriction in the south. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4th 1968. King had been standing on the balcony of his hotel room. His death led many African Americans to turn to violence. Many believed that non-violence had been rejected
