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Emancipation Proclamation Issued
The Emancipation Proclamation was a decree issued by Abraham Lincoln which stated that all slaves within Confederate states would be free. Due to this particular clause, the Proclamation had little direct impact on slavery itself at the time, but it received strong support from African Americans and Northerners, and provided a stepping stone to the 13th Amendment, which completely abolished slavery in the US. This was a primary step in the African American Civil Rights movement. -
13th Amendment Ratified
The 13th Amendment forbid slavery/forced labor except as a punishment for a crime in the US. Although it was ratified on 12/6 and officially became law on 12/18, racial prejudice was still very prominent, especially in the South, for years to come. The 13th Amendment did provide a foundation to African Americans, though - a foundation from which they could build up to obtain a Civil Rights and social status equivalent to that of whites. Later amendments would also pertain to Civil Rights issues. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th Amendment declared that anyone born in the US is a citizen, regardless of race, and is entitled to all Civil Rights. This not only provided Civil Rights to African Americans, but (in theory) protected those rights. Despite this fact, Civil Rights violations and racial discrimination were amok in the South, up through the 1960s. The 14th Amendment coincides with the similar 15th Amendment, which gives African Americans the right to vote. -
15th Amendment Ratified
In stating that all US citizens have the right to vote, the 15th Amendment saw a huge upswing in African American political power. Even though this was met with strong white opposition, 600+ African Americans were elected to political positions within a couple years' time. This influenced the composition of state legislatures, even in the South, and represented a positive step in the African American Civil Rights movement. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A setback to the African American Civil Rights movement was the Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Homer Plessy bought a train ticket, was jailed for sitting in the "whites-only" section, and claimed that segregation was a violation of the 14th Amendment. The ruling was that racial segregation was legal, and civilly, facilities would be "separate but equal" in quality (often not realistic). This verdict existed until the 1954 case, Brown v. Board of Education. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court case Brown v. Board declared that segregation in schools was unconstitutional.
This verdict ended the pretense that "separate" could be assured to be "equal" (Plessy v. Ferguson conclusion). This desegregation-of-schools-result of Brown v. Board started a path to more and more desegregation in the South, of both private and public facilities, and in showing a tangible result, also inspired future Civil Rights actions, many of which would be effective. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a teenage African American who was visiting family in Mississippi when he was murdered (for looking at a white woman the wrong way). A trial was held, and the murderers were found not guilty, even though evidence clearly showed they were - they even later admitted to it. This not only became an international focal point of Civil Rights abuse, but significantly increased awareness of the strong racial issues in the South. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started when Rosa Parks, an African American, was arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat. The goal of this boycott was to desegregate buses. Many African Americans were dedicated to this movement, walking x miles to avoid taking a bus. Since the majority of bus riders were black, the buses were financially hurt, and desegregation of buses was later granted. This showed that non-violence could be powerful, and many other non-violent protests would later follow. -
Greensboro Sit-Ins
Protesting lunch counter segregation, four African American college students "sat" in a Woolworth in Greensboro, NC and refused to leave until they were served (which they never were). More and more people quickly joined in, and lunch counters were desegregated that summer, due to a US Supreme Court decision. Woolworths had been losing profit while the sit-ins took place, making this another example of an effective non-violent, Civil-Rights-based protest that created a strong change in society. -
Freedom Rides
Segregation on buses had been declared unconstitutional, but the Freedom Rides set out to make a point - that just because something is law, does not mean it will be respected. The goal was to reach New Orleans from Maryland, by bus. The buses were met with strong resistance in the Deep South - mobs literally burned them - and could not reach New Orleans. Despite this, the Freedom Riders had proved a point, and received a good amount of publicity for their actions. -
March on Washington
A. Philip Randolph led the March on Washington, a demonstration in which protestors called for "jobs and freedom." Both religious leaders and singers, like Bob Dylan, were in attendance. The march was well known for being the time when Martin Luther King gave his powerful "I Have A Dream" speech. Despite this march, the Civil Rights bill was not immediately passed. -
Passage of 1964 Civil Rights Act
The 1964 Civil Rights Act further banned racial discrimination, mostly affecting voting, schools, and jobs. Originally conceived by Kennedy, LBJ later passed it after Kennedy's assassination. This act had a particularly strong impact in the South, being met with opposition both from whites for being too radical, and from blacks for being too conservative. Yet, this was a step forward in that it did further efforts in protecting individuals' Civil Rights. -
1965 Voting Rights Act
In response to the Selma March - a demonstration in which 25,000+ African Americans protested the difficulties of obtaining voting rights - LBJ passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This allowed federal officials to register voters who otherwise would not have been granted the right. Over 600,000 African Americans in the Deep South registered to vote in 1966, a significant societal change brought on by the act.
