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The Emancipation Proclamation
This document freed the slaves and was signed by Abraham Lincoln. -
13th Amendment
The 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The Senate passed it on April 6,1864 ,and the House of Representatives passed it on January 31, 1865. -
15th Amendment
This amendment states that anyone is allowed to vote no matter what race you are. Southern states ignored this amendment and it wasn't untill a century later people started to fight to gain their right. -
The time of Reconstruction
During the the time of reconstruction (1865-1877) , slaves were trying to create a new life since they were free. Many people debated whether they were truley free however, there are reasons to make both opinions valid. -
Integration of armed forces
President Truman signed an excutive order stataing that there should be equality in the armed forces. By the end of the Korean Conflict, almost all of the military was integrated. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board of Education was a supreme court court case where all 9 judges voted unanimously on the fact that segragration in schools and public areas was unconstitutional. Many people who were against this decision protested. -
Ruby Bridges goes to white school
Video
Ruby Bridges ingegrated to an all white school in first grade. There were US Marshalls surrounding her to protect her from the violent mobs. Everyday ,while walking to school, she would pray to G-d asking for a good day. -
Claudette Colvin refuses to give up her seat
Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white person. At the time, she was a young teenager who was pregnant. If this incident was publized, it would have led to too much negative atention. -
Emmet Till
Emmit Till went to go visit his family in the South during summer vaction. When he went to the grocery store he whisted at a white lady and her husband got upset. As a result, her husband and another white man beat him and dragged him into a lake. After they found him 4 days later, they had a trial ,with an all white jury, accusing the men of what they had done and they were found not guilty. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus boycott started on December 5,1955,and ended Decemeber 20, 1956. Martin Luther King Jr. started this boycott and it led to simialr boycotts in the south. The sumpreme court ordered the Montgomery to integrate its bus system since the boycotts were gettting out of hand. -
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat
Video
Just like Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person and got arrested. Most people think that the reason she didn't get up was because she was tired and old. She was a big civil rights activisit who was tired of being treated inferior to white people. -
The first sit-in
At the first sit in, four Afican American students walked into an all white lunch counter and tried ordering food. They were rejected,but stayed in their seats. They wanted to end the segragation in public places. -
Freedom Riders
A group of 13 African Americans civil rights activists started the freedom rides which were bus trips that protested against segregation. The Freedom Riders also tried to use white-only public places. -
Medgar Evers Assasination
Medgar Evers was an African American man who encouraged people to register to vote and recruited them into the civil rights movement. Also, he got many witnessess and evidence for Emmet Till's murder court case. He was shot in front of his house in Mississippi. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was a significant turning point for civil rights. More than 200,000 people gathered to stand up to what they beleive in. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous " I Have A Dream " speech there. -
Martin Luther King "I Have A Dream" speech
Video of Part of His Speech
Martin Luther King gave his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington during the March . One famous quote that he said was " I have a dream that my four 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 charcter." -
Birmingham Church Bombing
At around 10 am, many people were attending Sunday morning classes before the service at the church began. Someone had dropped a bomb on the east side of the building which left four young grils dead and many other people injured. Later on, a poem called " The Ballad of Birmingham" was published descibing a converstaion a mother and a daughter had before they never see each other again. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer, also known as the Mississippi summer project, was a time where people tried to register African Americans to vote without taking literacy tests. -
Bloody Sunday
Six hundred people tried marching from Selma to Montgomery, but policed stopped them. They attacked them by beating them andwith vicious dogs, tear gas and guns. -
Martin Luther King Jr. gets Assasinated
Martin Luther King was assasinated at the Loiranne Memorial in Memphis, Tennesse. He was a prominant civil rights leader who made a significant impact on civil rights , so he knew he was a target.
