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A Year before the mayflower, the first 20 African slaves were sold to settlers in Virginia as indentured servants
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compromise that said slaves counted as three-fifths of a person for means of representation.
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a slaved who had lived in a free territory sues for his freedom residence on free soil liberates him. The Supreme Court historical and conventional view of African Americans rules against him saying African American people are regarded as "so far inferior. that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." The court also declares that slaves were not citizens and had no rights to sue, and that slave owners could take their slaves anywhere on the territory.
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The civil war begins
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made African Americans full citizens of the United States and gave them equal protection of the laws.
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the Supreme Court decided that "separate but equal" facilities satisfied the guarantees of 14th Amendment, giving legal sanction to "Jim Crow" segregation laws.
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He became the first black player in the major leagues of baseball
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court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional
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A 14 year old African American is shot, beaten and lynched by whites...After saying "bye baby" to a white woman at a store.
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Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man, precipitating the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Montgomery bus boycott ends in victory, December 21, after the city announces it will comply with a November Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation on buses illegal. Earlier in the year, King's home was bombed. Lucy is first African American admitted to the University of Alabama.
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Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which King is made the first president. The SCLC becomes a major force in organizing the civil rights movement and bases its principles on nonviolence and civil disobedience.
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Formerly all-white Central High School learns that integration is easier said than done. Nine black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sends federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine."
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Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South.
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Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organizes Freedom Rides into the south to go test court orders barring segregation in interstate transportation. This caused them to be beaten by mobs in several places like Birmingham and Montgomery Alabama.
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James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Violence and riots surrounding the incident caused President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.
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Martin Luther King is arrested during anti-segregation protest in Birmingham Alabama. He writes " Letter from Birmingham Jail " arguing that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws.
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About 200,000 people join the March of Washington at the Lincoln Memorial listening to Martin Luther King Jr give his "I have a dream speech".
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President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
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Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal.
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Martin Luther King at age 39 is shot as he stands on the balcony outside his hotel room. Committed racist James Earl Ray is convicted of the crime.
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Congress passes the Civil Rights Restoration Act which expands the reach of non-discrimination laws within private institutions receiving federal funds.
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The Justice Department opens a civil rights investigation into police practices in Ferguson, Mo., where a Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer on Aug. 9.
