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Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14 year-old boy visiting Money, Mississippi with his cousin. He travelled from Chicago to see his great uncle. Till was brutally murdered. His body was discovered four days later in a river. He was so badly beat that the only way one could identify him was by a ring he was wearing. The two white men who was accussed of murdering Emmett were trialed for five days and later found not guilty. Till was murdered because he "hit" on a white woman while leaving a store. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was sparked by unequal sitting conditions on buses in the South. Blacks were forced to sit in the back while whites sat in the front. The movement started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the front of the bus. Blacks refused to take the bus and resorted to either walking or car pooling during the 11-month time period of the boycott. The outcome of this event was that the Supreme Court decided that the bus rules in Montgomery were unconstitutional. -
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
The SCLC was founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was led by African American clergy men from the South. The SCLC's heaviest support was from middle-class blacks. Its goals were to shift focus on civil rights movement to the South. The strategies that SCLC used were adopted from Gandhi. It consisted of boycotts, pamphlets, marches, civil disobedience, non-violence training, and non-violent provocation. -
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The Little Rock Crisis
After the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, nine black teenagers would attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce the decision. Govenor Faubus decided to not allow integrated schools so he could get reelected. This was not accpeted by President Ike. A mob broke out at the school and Ike sent in military to protect the students. This event motivated blacks to move forward with the movement. -
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
This civil rights organization broke away from the SCLC. It was encouraged by Ella Baker after sit-ins. The SCLC was originally led by Robert Moses and Ann Moody. SNCC was an interracial organization. Its goals were to get young African Americans active in the struggle and to shift focus from church leadership. The strategies used were giving young people a chance to make committees, and more willing to resort to extreme measures of non-violent protests and civil disobedience. -
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The NAACP was founded by W.E.B Dubois. It was an interracial organization. It mostly consisted of middle-to-upper-class members. The NAACP's goals were to promote equality, remove obstaces to voting, secure full legal equality, and end lynching. The strategies were used is court cases, and fought for passing of laws in Congress. -
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Kennedy's Presidency
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The New Frontier
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The First Lunch Counter Sit-in
Sit-ins was a non-violent approach to ending segregation and discrimination in the South. It was sparked by blacks not getting served at lunch counters. Major people involved in the creation and performing sit-ins were Diane Nash, John Lewis. In Greensboro North Carolina four black men sat down at a lunch counter and refused to leave until they were served. Mobs of whites started beating up them up. The blacks acted non-violently but were still arrested by the police. -
Kennedy-Nixon Debate
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1960 Election
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Peace Corps
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Alliance for Progress
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Warren Court Rules on Rights of the Accused
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Bay of Pigs Invasion
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Freedom Rides
The Freedom Ride was a trip planned from Washing D.C. through the deep South. It was composed of mix-race groups of non-violent volunteers. Robert Kennedy's administation was worried for the safety of the riders and would send Federal troops if the state couldn't maintain law and order. When the riders reached Mississippi , they encountered police but no violence. However, they were arrested in Jackson and sentenced to the maximum Security Parchman Penitentiary for trespassing. -
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Berlin Crisis
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Berlin Crisis
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The Albany Movement
The movement targeted banning all segregation in Albany, Georgia. Blacks were gathering and chanting songs. Dr. King Jr. came to help get support from the people. Tension between groups began to rise especially between the SNCC and the SCLC. Major arrests took place during the movement including Martin Luther King Jr. The outcome of this event was that MLK Jr left as well as SCLC members with the town being just as segregated as before. -
The Other America Published
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John Glenn Orbits Earth
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Baker v. Carr
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Engle v. Vitale
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Cuban Missile Crisis
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The Birmingham Confrontation
This confrontation was sparked by bombing attempts against blacks and segregation in Birmingham. The SCLC planned to desegregate some stores and show black southern racism is wrong. MLK Jr. led a huge demonstration with loud singing. The newspaper portrayed MLK Jr. as stirring up trouble. He made his thoughts and opinions clear by writing a letter targetting other white clergymen. This promoted the demonstration greatly as well as children being arrested and the use of dogs/water hozes. -
The 16th Street Church Bombing
On an eraly Sunday morning before a sermon, a church that was originally the meeting point for kids before the Birmingham Confrontation was bombed. Four girls were killed between the ages of 9 and 13. Fifteen people were injured. The black community resisted non-violence once again but they are going to go after the right to vote in Alabama. -
Equal Pay Act Passed
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The March on Washington
The March on Washington was said to be the biggest civil rights event ever. Its goal was to get Kennedy's Civil Rights Bill passed by showing support. 200,000 people travelled from Washington D.C. to march to the Lincoln Memorial. MLK Jr. performed his famous "I Had a Dream Speech" here. The outcome of this event was that the Bill that was proposed later became known as the Civil Rights Acr of 1964 led by President Johnson. -
Kennedy Assassination
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Lyndon B. Johnson Sworn in
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Warren Commission Formed
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Economic Opportunity Act Passed
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Great Society Proposed
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Freedom Summer
The problem that Freedom Summer targeted was that some counties in Mississippi where blacks outnumbered whites 4 to 1 but unable to vote. SNCC encouraged people to go out to vote. Some were sent to plantations and were even murdered just by attempting to vote. Three men from New York lending their aid in this movement went missing after going to a burned down church. The men were found buried together and the blacks were determined to get the right to vote. 60,000 were granted the right to vote. -
1964 Election
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The Selma March
A march was formed facing the issue of black voting rights in Selma. Blacks started lining up at the court house to register to vote. Tension rose between SNCC and SCLC. Malcolm X said his "Bullet Speech" before hand agreeing with MLK Jr. The campaign escalated when violence broke out in a close town. 600 people met to participate in the march but on the other side of the bridge, troopers beat marchers. This event was known as Bloody Sunday. Johnson asked for a comprehensive voting rights bill. -
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Watts Riots
Blacks in Los Angeles, California broke out into riots targeting businesses. It occured throughout the summer of 1965. 34 people lost their lives and there was $20,000,000 worth in damages. This was one of the major civil rights events that happened outside of the South. -
Medicare and Medicaid Passed
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The 1964 Democratic National Convention
The convention took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The problem that blacks targeted was that the democratic party of Mississippi was all white. Thousands of blacks came to the convention. President Johnson was worried that the number of blacks was going to stir trouple and Goldwater would win the election. After pledging their case, African Americans were offered two seats for voting delegates but the blacks turned down the offer. This gained national support for black voting rights.
