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Period: Jan 1, 1528 to
European explorers bring slaves to America
European explorers brought S. African slaves up to America and sold them off to landowners who used them to work in fields. But not all made it to the final destination, many died on the trip there. Slave trades ended in 1807 but slavery was still legal. -
Invention of the Cotton Gin
Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, the cotton gin separated cotton fibers from their seeds. It contributed to the growth of slavery in the Southern States and the civil war. -
Slavery Ends in England
Slavery was abolished in Great Britain by the Slavery Abolition act in 1833.The Slavery Abolition Act was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished slavery throughout the British Empire/Colonies. -
Amistad Trial
The Amistad trial was a court case in the United States that took place because of the rebellion in 1839 of Africans that were on board of the Spanish ship called “La Amistad”. The Africans were illegally sold into slavery in Cuba. They got to New York and the Africans were imprisoned but many people from the North States defended them because they wanted to abolish slavery. The court case freed the slaves and 35 of them were sent back to their home, the rest of them died before they got there. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 is made of five laws. Henry Clay came up with resolutions to compromise and stop the fighting between North and South. The Fugitive Slave Act was changed a little as part of the compromise and the slave trade in Washington DC was put an end to. Another important part was that California joined the union and the disagreement between Texas and New Mexico was settled. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act reinforced the previous law that gave policemen the right to seize and return to bondage slaves who had fled to free territory. -
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The Civil War
The American Civil War lasted from 1861-1865. The war started when President Abraham Lincoln, who was against slavery, was elected as president in 1860, where 7 states from the south wanted to withdraw membership of the union. After four years of fighting, 620,000 soldiers were dead and many, many people were hurt or injured. -
Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in the U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln created the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States after three year into the civil war. The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t end slavery in the country but it made a statement and changed the viewpoint for many people. The Proclamation also announced that black men were allowed to enter the Union military. -
Slavery ends in the United States
The 13th amendment abolishes slavery in the United States in 1865. February 1st 1865, President Lincoln approved the amendment that said "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -
U.S. ratifies 13th Amendment to the Constituion
Ammendement to the US Constitution that ended slavery in America. Freed all slaves in the country, North and South. -
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Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow Laws were simply the laws that seperated blacks from whites & kept people seperated by colors. -
Brown vs. Board of education - US Supreme Court Case
On May 17th 1954, Earl Warren gave a ruling in civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Separation of children in public schools was unauthorized and dividing the schools up into races became illegal. -
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Civil Right movement for African Americans in the U.S.
The African American civil rights movement is the outlawing of racist discrimination that allowed blacks in the United States to vote. It represents the freedom that they blacks got from the white and gave them racial dignity. -
Murder of Emmett Till
On August 28, 1955, Emmett Till was murdered for "flirting" on a white shopkeepers wife by the shopkeeper. He was beaten, his eye was gouged out, and a bullet in the head. Blacks and Whites alike were disgusted by the crime and this helped to overturn racism and segregation. -
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Freedom Riders
African Americans rode interstate transporation to ensure that anti-segregation laws were being followed an implemented. The Government said it made is look bad to the Russians which only fueled the cause. -
Martin Luther King Junior Assasinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was a black civil rights leader. He was assasinated on April 4th 1968 while he was standing on the balcony of his room at his hotel in Memphis. An escaped convict James Earl Ray was convicted but some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s own family believed him innocent.