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The first African American indentured servants arrive in the American colonies. Less than a decade later, the first slaves are brought into New Amsterdam
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The Stono Rebellion, one of the earliest slave revolts, occurs in Stono, South Carolina.
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Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865) is elected president, angering the southern states.
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The 14th Amendment is ratified, defining citizenship. This overturns the Dred Scot decision.
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The 15th Amendment is ratified, giving African Americans the right to vote
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The Civil War ends.
Lincoln is assassinated. Seventeen-year-old Augustus Saint Gaudens is so moved by the
sight of Lincoln’s body lying in state that he views it twice.
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting slavery, is ratified.
The era of Reconstruction begins -
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968) and others set up the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, a leading engine of the Civil Rights Movement. -
The Civil Rights Act is signed, prohibiting discrimination of all kinds.
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Barack Obama (1961 - ) becomes the first African American to win the U.S. presidential
race.
