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Missouri Compromise
CitationWho: Congressman James Tallmadge from New York, Congressman Henry Clay of Kentucky, Senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois
Where: States of Maine & Missouri
What: Missouri admitted to Union as a Slave State, Maine admitted to Union as a Free State, Slavery excluded from all new states in the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri.
Why: To prevent more slave states than free states -
Nat Turner Rebellion
CitationWho: Insurrectionist, Abolistionist, Preacher Nate Turner & 40+ slavesWhere: Southhampton Virginia
What: Killed 60+ white people in raids that lasted about 1 week. He was caught and shot after confessing. It was the first anti-slavery rebellion that resulted in the deaths of whites.Why: Turner believed he saw a vision from God calling him to uprise against white slave owners to free slaves. Many blacks were killed in retaliation. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
CitationWhat: It is an anti-slavery novel written by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe that sold over 1.5 million copies in 1852. It changed how Americans thought about Slavery. It solidified the Abolitionist Movement and contributed to the start of the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
CitationWho: Dred Scott a slave
Supreme Court of the United States
What: ruled that as a black man Scott was excluded from United States citizenship and could not bring suit. Congress never had the right to prohibit slavery in any territory. The ban on slavery was a violation of the Fifth Amendment. The Missouri Compromise was therefore unconstitutional.
Why: Dred Scott was the property of his owner, and property could not be taken from a person without due process of law. -
John Brown Raid
CitationWho: John Brown
What: It was an attempt by white abolitionist John Brown to start an armed slave revolt by seizing a United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Virginia in 1859. -
American Civil War
CitationWho: Southern states, Northern states, President Abraham Lincoln
What: War between the Northern states and the Southern state to abolish slavery in the South, or Confederate states. The last shot was fired on June 22, 1865. It was the deadliest war with over 600,000 men killed. The Reconstruction Era began after the war. Slavery was abolished but Black Americans still didn't receive equality for 100 years. -
Emancipation Proclamation
CitationWho: President Abraham Lincoln
What: A document passed that declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." It only freed slaves in states not under Union control. It allowed black soldiers to fight with Union troops. Over 200,000 black soldiers fought iin the war. -
Gettysburg Address
CitationWho: Abraham Lincon What: A speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, considered one of the most well known speeches in American history. It was delivered in Gettysburg, PA at the dedication of a cemetary for the Union soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. In just two minutes and 272 words, he restated the principles of the Declaration of Indepence, and about the principles of the equality of all men. -
Reconstruction Period
CitationWho: President Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson, President Ulysses S. Grant, President Rutherford B. Hayes. What: Purpose was to bring the South back to normal as soon as possible and restore the devastated infrastructure. Freedmen were given equal rights including voting rights. Included how the Confederate States would regain Union statehood status. Ended in with the Compromise of 1877. -
Klu Klux Klan
CitationThe Klu Klux Klan was founded in Tennessee and by 1870 members were in every Southern state. Ku Klux Klan dedicated itself to a campaign of violence against Republican leaders and voters (both black and white) in an effort to reverse the policies of Radical Reconstruction and restore white supremacy in the South. There was a resurgence of the Klan during the 1960's and still exists today. -
Jim Crow Laws
CitationWhat: Jim Crow Laws represented the legitimization of anti-black racism and based on the idea the blacks were an inferior race. These laws prevented blacks from being able to mix with whites in public environments , keeping blacks segregated, and remained until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Plessy v. Ferguson Decision
CitationWho: Homer Plessy a black man from Louisania, John Ferguson a Supreme Court Justice.
What: A case based upon violations of Plessy's rights under the 13th Amendment, prohibiting slavery, and 14th Amendment, same rights to all citizens.
Decision that created seperate but equal doctrine -
Jesse Owens
CitationWho: Jesse Owens
What: An African-American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals. He did this in Nazi Germany, under the eyes of Hitler, who condemed those that weren't "Aryan" (white). -
TKAMB Set
CitationWhere: South Alabama
What: A book based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old. A black man was wrongly accused and convicted of beating and kissing a white woman. -
Jackie Robinson
CitationWho: Jackie Robinson
What: The first African-American to play in the MLB(Major Leauge Baseball). As the first black man to play in the major leagues since the 1880s, he was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball -
Brown v. Board of Education
CitationWho: Topeka, Kansas
What: Case in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional ending the segregation of schools. The Court ruled in a unanimous decision that separate schools violated the Equal Protection clause under the 14th Amendment. It is considered one of the most important cases iin American History. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
CitationWho: Rosa Parks, Montgomery Alabama Bus System. What: A political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system that made blacks give up their seats for whites. The boycott lasted 381 days and was a key event in the Civil Rights Movement. -
TKAMB Witten Date
CitationWhat: A Novel written by Harper Lee. She was born in Alabama and based some of the book on her father, a lawer and state legislator He was also a strong segregationalsit until the late 1950's. Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. -
March on Washington
CitationWho: Martin Luther King Jr. What: one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. Over 200,000 people (black and white) marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr.delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony during the march. This march had a strong impact on President Kennedy and futureCivil Rights legislation. -
Assassination of Malcom X
CitationWho: Malcom X
What: He was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks and at one time wanted a separate Black Nation. He eventually dropped his militant stance and championed civil rights through peaceful means. He was murdered in New York City. -
Death of Martin Luther King, jr
CitationWho: Martin Luther King, jr
What: On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. Riots broke out in over 100 cities.
