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During the Civil War, president Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, which freed all the slaves in the Conferate army. This caused many blacks to escape north and join the Union army. Transcript and original copies of the document
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The 13th amendment was ratified and abolished slavery.
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Gave African Americans the right to due process and equal protection under the law.
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African American males were given the right to vote
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that under the constitution public facilities for blacks and whites could be segregated. This was under the belief of "separate but equal."
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of black and white civil rights activists to fight for the rights of African Americans. NAACP Website
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Overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson court case and declared that separate public schools for black and white children were unequal.
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A wide scale bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama to protest the segregation in public transportation History Channel Website: Video
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Video Nine black students enrolled in an all white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. They were prevented from entering the school by order of the governor of Arkansas and by violent white protesters.
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A mass event, including blacks and whites, during which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The goal of the march was to show support for legislation that would outlaw discrimination, and to pressure congress to pass this legislation. The march helped in bringing about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "I Have a Dream" Speech
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It prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. LBJ Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964
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The black nationalist leader Malcolm X is assasinated. As a black nationalist, he believed in a separate nation for the African American population. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr., he advocated violence to achieve racial equality.
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Selma March In Selma, Alabama, black voters were being denied their voting rights. A series of peaceful marches occurred to support the voting rights of African Americans. The most infamous was Bloody Sunday. The marchers were stopped at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on their way to Montgomery and were brutally beaten by state troopers trying to prevent them from crossing. This horrific event received a lot of media attention, and caused many Americans to see the horrors of racism.
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This act banned literacy tests, poll taxes (paying to vote), and other illegal requirements that prevented blacks from voting. Selma movie clip
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He was an influential leader during the civil rights movement and believed in non-violent protest against discrimination. The Life of MLK
