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Dred Scott
1857: Dred Scott a slave in the US unsuccessfully sued for freedom. The courts’ decision against him was a catalyst for civil war. -
American Civil War
1861: April 12, 1861 the American Civil war began and lasted four years. It was a war between seven southern slave states that formed a confederacy against the administration who was opposing slavery. Resulted in the collapse of the confederacy and slavery was abolished. -
Slavery
1863: Slavery was abolished -
Abraham Lincoln
1865: April 14, 1865 united states president Abraham Lincoln was shot and assassinated. -
Women Right to Vote
1940: Women had the right to vote everywhere in Canada. -
Emmett Till
1955: Emmett Till an African American boy was murdered at 14 years after reportedly flirting with a white woman. It was a brutal murder and is standing as one of the most heinous, race-motivated crimes in American history. -
Rosa Parks
1955: Dec 1 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American woman refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white man. She was then arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black people to relinquish seats to white people when the bus was full. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955: sparked by the arrest of rosa parks a 13 month civil rights protest took place against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit ending with the US supreme court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional -
Affirmative Action
1961: March 6, 1961 the term affirmative action was introduced by president JFK. It was a policy created by the government to equalize education, politics and jobs for minorities. -
Medgar Evers
1963: June 12, 1963 Medgar Evers an African American civil rights activist was assassinated by a member of the White Citizen’s Council. -
March On Washington
1963: March on Washington took place on august 28, 1963 where more than 200 000 americans gathered in Washington for a rally to dramatize the right of black Americans to political and economical freedom. -
JFK
1963: on November 22, 1963 US president JFK was assassinated as he rode in the presidential limo in Dallas, Texas. -
Segregation
1964: segregation ended in the US -
Civil Rights Act
1964: the civil rights act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public -
Malcom X
1965: Feb 21, 1965 Malcom X an African American, human rights activist was assassinated as he was preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American unity in Manhattan. -
Martin Luther King Jr
1968: Martin Luther King Jr, the leader of African American civil rights was assissanated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee as he was standing on his hotel balcony. Violence and controversy followed, and many black people rioted across the states. -
Homosexuality decriminalized
1969: an amendment was passed and homosexuality was decrimanalized when Pierre Trudeau was the minister of justice. -
Delwin Vriend
1991: Delwin Vriend was open with his same sex relationship and was fired from Kings College because his sexual orientation was deemed incompatible. He was prevented from making a complaint under the Alberta Individual Rights Protection Act because the legislation did not include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. His case shaped labor and other civil rights and constitutional laws. -
Rodney King
1991: March 3, 1991 Rodney King was beaten by four Los Angeles police officers after a speed car chase. -
First Country to Legalize Same Sex Marriage
2001: Netherlands, the first country in the world to legalize same sex marriage -
Trayvon Martin
2012: Feb 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old African American boy was shot and killed by a security neighbourhood watch claiming he was feeling threatened and it was self defense. -
Holocaust
1933: The Holocaust was the systematic genocide of approx 6 million Jews during World War 2 led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. -
Same Sex Marriage
2005: July 20, 2005 same sex, marriage became legal in Canada
