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The Montgomery Bus Boycott
This boycott happened in honor of Rosa Parks. It lasted over a year, and it greatly affected the bus companies because most people who rode the bus were African Americans. This is an important event because it showed how stubborn African Americans were going to be and how they were going to fight for what they believed in, no matter how long it took. -
Little Rock Crisis
For Nearly 3 weeks the Guard prevented the Little Rock Nine from entering Little Rock Central High under the orders of Govener Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower finally had to pull in Federal troops to protect the nine African American students so they could enter the high school. This is an important event because it showed the rest of America how bad it was down south and how badly these kids were bullied. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers
Evers was head of the NAACP organization in Mississippi. He was shot in his front yard by a Ku Klux Klan member by the name of De La Beckwith. This is important because the NAACP was the organization that fought for Civil Rights the most, and being the head of that organization, it showed how unhappy people were with the new changes. -
March on Washington
The purpose of this march was to protest for jobs and freedom and took place in Washington, D.C. There were about 250,000 people who participated, making it the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital. This was also when Martin Luther King made his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream". This is an important event because it promoted the Civil Rights Movement in a huge way since it was the largest demonstartion and was one of the first demonstrations to have extensive tv coverage. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the nation's benchmark civil rights legislation. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.The passage of the act ended the application of "Jim Crow" laws. -
Selma March
Martin King announced a 4 day march from Selma to Montgomery to protest police brutality. Governer George Wallace issued an order prohibiting the march, and on the way out of Selma, just across Edmund Pettus Bridge, ploice fired tear gas at the marchers and attacked then with clubs, chains, and electric cattle rods. This is an important event because it showed exactly what the marchers were protesting and showed the world how brutal it was for African Americans in the south. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The passing of this act is an important event because it outlawed the discrimniatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
Martin King was assassinated in a hotel room by a man named James Earl Ray from the street in Memphis, Tennessee. This is an important event because Martin's death will cause a split in ideas within the Civil Rights Movement because there is no longer a leader. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
Also known as the Fair Housing Act, was passed by congress in an effort to impose a solution to the unlawful discrimination in Housing based on race, color, sex, national origin, or religion. This is important because it allowed for African Americans to rent or own any house they could afford instead of being segregated to live in ghettos.