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The Emancipation Proclamation was signed
This was signed by Abraham Lincoln, our nations 15th president. This document freed the salves. -
Reconstruction
This was a time when all of the slaves were free and they were trying to start their life again. During this time, many people debate whether African Americans were actually free. There are many valid reasons for both opinions. For example, seventeen African Americans were elected to congress, but they had to call their masters Mr. and Mrs. -
The 13th amendment was created
This amendment said that slavery was forbidden in the United States. This was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. The Senate passed this on April 8, 1964. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Plessy vs. Ferguson Video There was this new proposal called "Seperate but Equal." This meant that even though the blacks and whites were separated, they were still even/equal to each other. Homer Plessy refused to go in a segregated train car, and Judge John H. Ferguson declared that this did not go against the 14th amendment. -
The armed forces were integrated
President Truman announced that the army was integrated now. However, African Americans were not allowed to be head officers. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The supreme court decided that schools can not be segregated anymore. It took a lot of time and many people to complain for this to finally happen. -
Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat
Claudette Colvin was a young, teenage girl who refused to give up her seat to a white person. This incident came nine months before Rosa Park's famous arrest. -
Emmett Till was murdered
Emmett Till was fourteen when he went to a supermarket. While he was there, he either whistled at a white women or he said "hey baby." He was kidnapped and later on, his body was found in a river. -
Montgomrey Bus Boycott
Martin Luther King organized a boycott. This means that they all avoided the segregated buses to show a point. About a year later, the Supreme Court decided that separating buses was not ok. -
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat
Rosa Parks refused to get up for a white person. Many people say that she was old and tired, so that's why she didn't stand, but it was also that she was a strong civil rights activist. She even said that the reason she did not get up was that she was tired of giving in to white people. When she refused to get up, she was arrested. -
The Little Rock Nine
Carlotta Walls Q+ADaisy Bates found nine brave African American teenagers to go to Little Rock High School. On September 4th, Daisy Bates took them to school, and many people protested that they were there. Orval Faubus, the govenor at that time, ordered guards to block them from entering the school. They eventually were let in. -
A sit in
Four students began a sit in at a segregated restaurant. The workers did not serve them, but they remained at the counter anyway. Six months later, these four children were served. -
Ruby Bridges went to an all white school
Ruby Bridges was a six year old girl who went to an all white school. She was allowed to go to this school because she passed a test. She was one of six African American children to pass. US marshalls had to walk around with her and guard her because people were protesting that she was there. -
Martin Luther King's Famous Speech
Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. He was the final speaker there. One of his most famous quotes from that speech was, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." -
Bombing at Birmingham Church
The 16th street Baptist Church was bombed and four people were killed. Later on, a poem called "The Ballad of Birmingham" was published. In this poem, it describes a mother and daughter having a conversation before they never see each other again. -
Freedom Summer
This was a Mississippi summer project to try to register many African Americans to vote. -
Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize
He received this award for being a true, strong civil rights leader and never being violent in any protests. -
Bloody Sunday
A large group of African Americans decided they were going to march from Selma to Montgomrey. They planned on having a peaceful protest to show that they wanted a right to vote. However, many marchers were injured or killed by authorities, so this day was named Bloody Sunday. This disaster was shown on TV which publicly displayed the cruelness of the police. After seeing this, many people started to question what was being done to African Americans. -
They March Again
This was not their first attempt to march nonviolently. This time, it worked! Their trip was 5 days and 54 miles. -
Martin Luther King was assassinated
James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. He was planning this attack for a while. MLK was one of the major leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, and he made a tremendous impact on how African Americans are treated today.
