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Civil Rights Timeline 1860-1980
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Start of American Civil War
Southern states secede and form the Confederate States of America; Civil War begins. -
Emancipation of Slaves
President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation freeing "all slaves in areas still in rebellion." -
End of Civil War
Cherokee leader Stand Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender his forces. -
The 13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On December 18, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been adopted. -
The 14th Amendment
Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling by the Supreme Court (1857) that had held that blacks could not be citizens of the United States.Its Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken to ensure fairness. This clause has been used to make most of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states, as well as to recognize subs -
The 15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (for example, slavery). -
The Supreme Court approves the "separate but equal" segregation doctrine
For much of the sixty years preceding the Brown case, race relations in the U.S. had been dominated by racial segregation. This policy had been endorsed in 1896 by the United States Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that as long as the separate facilities for the separate races were equal, segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment ("no State shall... deny to any person... the equal protection of the laws."). -
Early NAACP Actions
National Negro CommitteeThe group decided to launch a campaign by issuing a "call" for a national conference on the civil and political rights of African-Americans on the centennial of Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 1909 -
formation of the National Negro Committee
Many responded to the “call” that eventually led to the formation of the National Negro Committee that held its first meeting in New York on May 31 and June 1, 1909. -
NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoplethe National Negro Committee and attendants, at its second conference, organized a permanent body known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). -
Ku Klux Klan.
In its first national demonstration the Ku Klux Klan marches on Washington, D.C. At its peak in the mid-1920s, the organization claimed to include about 15% of the nation's eligible population, approximately 4–5 million men. -
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) established.
Congress of Racial EqualityThe Congress of Racial Equality or CORE is a U.S. civil rights organization that played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. Membership in CORE is still stated to be open to "anyone who believes that 'all people are created equal' and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world.” -
Segregation on Buses
The Supreme Court declared segregation on buses that crossed state borders was illegal.President Truman established a Committee on Civil Rights. -
segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
Pressure to end racial segregation in the government grew among African Americans and progressives after the end of World War II. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the United States Armed Forces. -
N0 Lynching in 1952
LynchingThis The first year since 1881 without a lynching. -
The Supreme Court declared segregation in schools to be unconstitutional.
Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and the civil rights movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
bus boycottThe Montgomery Bus Boycott, a seminal episode in the U.S. civil rights movement, was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. The campaign lasted from December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person, to December 20, 1956, when a federal ruling, Browder v. Gayle, took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision t -
Martin Luther King SCLC president
The best-known member of the SCLC was Martin Luther King, who was president and chaired the organization until he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. he also helped found the SCLC on January 10, 1957 -
Civil Rights Act 1957
1957 Civil Rights ActThe Civil Rights Act of 1957 was introduced in Eisenhower’s presidency and was the act that kick-started the civil rights legislative programme that was to include the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Eisenhower had not been known for his support of the civil rights movement. Rather than lead the country on the issue, he had to respond to problems such as in Little Rock. He never publicly gave support to the civil rights movement believing that you could not force people to -
Little Rock High School
Little Rock High SchoolLRCHS was the focal point of the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957.[5] Nine African-American students, known as the Little Rock Nine, were denied entrance to the school in defiance of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering integration of public schools.[5] This provoked a showdown between the Governor Orval Faubus and President Dwight D. Eisenhower that gained international attention.[5]
On the morning of September 23, 1957, the nine African-American high school students faced an angr -
First student sit-ins against segregation at lunch counters occurs
Sit-InsThe Nashville sit-ins, which lasted from February 13 to May 10, 1960, were part of a nonviolent direct action campaign to end racial segregation at lunch counters in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The sit-in campaign, coordinated by the Nashville Student Movement and Nashville Christian Leadership Council, was notable for its early success and emphasis on disciplined nonviolence.
Over the course of the campaign, sit-ins were staged at numerous stores in Nashville's central business district. Si -
SNCC
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) ( /ˈsnɪk/) was one of the organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in April 1960. SNCC grew into a large organization with many supporters in the North who helped raise funds to support SNCC's work in the South, allowing full-time SNCC workers to have a $10 per week salary. Many unpaid volunteers also worked with SNCC on projects in -
Feedom riders
Freedom RidersFreedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and following years to test the United States Supreme Court decisions Boynton v. Virginia (1960)[1] and Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1946).[2] The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961,[3] and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.[4]
Boynton outlawed racial segregation in the restaurants and waiting rooms in terminals serving buses t -
James Meredith’s attempt to attend Mississippi University
James MeredithJames Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights movement figure, a writer, and a political adviser. In 1962, he was the first African American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement. Motivated by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights and apply to the University of Mississippi.[1] His goal was to put pressure on the Kenn -
250,000 civil rights protesters marched in Washington
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NAACP leader - Medgar Evers - was assassinated
Medgar EversIn the early morning of June 12, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civil rights, Evers pulled into his driveway after returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. Emerging from his car and carrying NAACP T-shirts that read "Jim Crow Must Go," Evers was struck in the back with a bullet fired from an Enfield 1917 rifle; it ricocheted into his home. He staggered 9 meters (30 feet) before collapsing. He died at a local hospital 50 minutes -
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Birmingham Church BombingThe 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963 as an act of racially motivated terrorism. The explosion at the African-American church, which killed four girls, marked a turning point in the U.S. 1960s Civil Rights Movement and contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Dr. Martin Luther King was awarded the Noble Peace Prize
Campaigner for civil rights, "first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be waged without violence."[61] -
Civil Rights Act 1964
Civil Rights Act 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States[1] that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public ("public accommodations"). -
Hartlem Riots
Harlem Riots 1964The Harlem Riot of 1964 (New York City Race Riot [1]) was a racial confrontation between residents in several city boroughs and the New York City Police after an African American teenager was shot dead by an off-duty police officer on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. -
Malcolm X was assassinated.
On February 21, 1965, as Malcolm X prepared to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom, a disturbance broke out in the 400-person audience[160]—a man yelled, "Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!"[161][162] As Malcolm X and his bodyguards moved to quiet the disturbance,[163] a man seated in the front row rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun.[164] Two other men charged the stage and fired semi-automatic ha -
Rise Of Black Power
Black powerBlack Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies.[1] It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States.[2] The movement was prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, emphasizing racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture and promote black collective interests[3] and advance black values. "Black Power" expresses a range of poli -
Watts Riots
Watts RiotsThe Watts Riots [1] was a civil disturbance in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California from August 11 to August 15, 1965. The five-day riot resulted in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, 3,438 arrests, and over $40 million in property damage. It was the most severe riot in the city's history until the Los Angeles riots of 1992. -
Black Panther Party
Black Panther PartyThe Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American revolutionary leftist organization active in the United States from 1966 until 1982. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international notoriety through its involvement in the Black Power movement and U.S. politics of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's "provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity. -
American Indian Movement Formed
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty. AIM was founded in 1968 by Dennis Banks, George Mitchell, Herb Powless, Clyde Bellecourt, Harold Goodsky, Eddie Benton-Banai, and a number of others in Minneapolis' Native American community.[1] Russell Means, born Oglala Lakota, was an early leader in -
Race Riots In USA
President Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders in 1967. The commission's final report called for major reforms in employment and public assistance for black communities. It warned that the United States was moving toward separate white and black societies. In April 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, rioting broke out in cities across the country from frustration and despair. These included Cleveland, Baltimore, Washin -
Martin Luther King, Jr. assasination
Martin Luther King, Jr. assasinationThen, at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, a shot rang out as King stood on the motel's second floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder.[121][122] Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.[123] The events following the shooting have been disputed, as some people have accused Jackson of exaggerating his response. -
AIM activists occupy Alcatraz
As had civil rights and antiwar activists, AIM used the American press and media to present its message to the United States public. It created events to attract the press. If successful, news outlets would seek out AIM spokespersons for interviews. Rather than relying on traditional lobbying efforts, AIM took its message directly to the American public. Its leaders looked for opportunities to gain publicity. Sound bites such as the "AIM Song" became associated with the movement. -
Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education
Alexander v. Holmes County Board of EducationThe desegregation orders of Brown I and Brown II were not followed and schools in the South were desegregating slowly if at all.[6] During lower court battles over segregation, school districts would remain segregated until all appeals were exhausted.[8] The petitioners, represented by Jack Greenberg, asked that the Court order the original HEW plans implemented, and proposed that the Court shift the burden of proof, making desegregation the main objective of for them.[8] -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of EducationNorth Carolina was one of the more moderate Southern states, and its resistance to integration was weaker than some other areas. After Brown, it had ended segregation with a school assignment plan based on neighborhoods that was approved by the Court. However, when Charlotte consolidated school districts from the city itself and a surrounding area totaling 550 square miles (1,400 km2), the majority of black students (who lived in the central Charlotte) still attended mostly black schools as comp