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The True End of Slavery
Union soldiers arrived in Galveston and declared the end of the Civil War, with General Granger reading aloud a special decree that ordered the freeing of some 200,000 slaves in the state. -
Schooling
Howard University's law school becomes the country's first black law school. Howard University has been labeled “the capstone of Negro education,” because of its central role in the African American educational experience. -
15th Amendment Passes
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed, guaranteeing the right to vote for all U.S. citizens. -
plessy vs ferguson
It was a legal case in which the Supreme Court decided that "separate but equal" facilities satisfied the guarantees of 14th Amendment, giving legal sanction to "Jim Crow" segregation laws. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ended legal racial segregation in public schools. -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts
African-American woman Rosa Parks's arrest after her refusal to move to the back of a bus triggers a citywide boycott of the bus system. -
Loving v. Virginia
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia declares that laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage are unconstitutional.