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Sharecropping/Tenat Farming
After the American Civil War, souther plantation owners were chalenged to find help working the lands that slaves had farmed. Taking advantage of the former slaves' desire to own their own farms, plantation owners used arrangements called sharecropping and tenent farming. Both methods required the planters to divide their plantations into smaller parcels of land, which they continued down. -
Black Codes
laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866, after the Civil War. These laws had the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans' freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt. -
13th Amendent
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ended the institutuion of slavery. "Niether slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the Unites States, or any place subject to their constitution." The ratification came eight months after the end of the war, but it represented the culmination of the struggle against slavery. -
14th Amendment
Two years after the Civil War, the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided the South into five military district, where new state governments, based on universal manhood sufferage, were to be established. The 14th amendment resolved pre-Civil War questions of African American citizenship by stating that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States…are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside.” -
15th Amendment
prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Lynching
Lynching was a cruel form of justice for the people over history and during the Civil Rights era, many innocent African Americans were lynched and murdered because of racism. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A case in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregated, "equal but separate" public accommodations for blacks and whites did not violate the 14th amendment. This ruling made segregation legal.
Some railroad companies were on Plessy's side because they paid too much to maintain separate cars. -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. -
CORE
Congress of Racial Equality, and organization founded in 1942 that worked for black civil rights -
Lester Maddox
A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a segregationist, when he refused to serve black customers in his Atlanta restaurant, in defiance of the Civil Rights Act. -
Brown Vs. Board of Education
Supreme Court decision that overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision; led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court ruled that "separate but equal" schools for blacks were inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional. The decision energized the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. -
Emmett Till
A 14 year old boy who was murdered in Mississippi by 2 white men. His death became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. -
Rosa Parks
United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama and so triggered the national civil rights movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to pretest against segregated seating, took place from December 5, 1955 to December 20 1956. Four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to give her seat to a white man on a bus. She was arrested and fined. The boycott began on the day of Park's court hearing and lasted 381 days. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. -
Martin Luther King Jr.
U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader. A noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Betty Friedan
American feminist, activist and writer. Best known for starting the "Second Wave" of feminism through the writing of her book "The Feminine Mystique" - an account of housewives' lives in which they subordinated their own aspirations to the needs of men; bestseller was an inspiration for many women to join the women's rights movement. -
University of Alabama
Governor George C. Wallace refused to allow African-American students to register for classes at this all-white university, causing President Kennedy authorized the use of the National Guard to enforce educational integration. -
SCLC
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, encouraged actions that supported the Civil Rights Movement and was led by MLK Jr., was a success -
Little Rock Nine
A group of African American students that enrolled at a fromaly all-white central high school in Little Rock, Arkansas -
orval Faubus
He was the governor of Arkansas during the time of the Little Rock Crisis. He attempted to block the integration of the school by using the national guard, leading to a confrontation with the Eisenhower and ultimately integration of the school. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was introduced in Eisenhower’s presidency and was the act that kick-started thecivil rights legislative programme that was to include the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Eisenhower had not been known for his support of the civil rights movement. Rather than lead the country on the issue, he had to respond to problems such as in Little Rock. -
Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. In this time period, it was the protests (violent or non-violent) -
Desegregation
the abolishment of racial segregation, which happened due to the work of Civil Rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -
Sit-ins
On February 1, 1960, a new tactic was added to the peacefull activists stategy. Four African American college students walked up to a whites only lunch counter at the local WoolWorth's store in Greensboro, Noth Carolina and asked for coffe. When service was refused the students sat there patiently. Desptie threats and intimadation these students sat there till closing time. When others would beat them they would not defind themselves, they wanted this to be a nonviolent thing. Sit ins were began -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is an outcome of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education and employment. President Kennedy was the first to use the term "affirmative action" in an Executive Order that directed government contractors to take "affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." -
March on washington
In August 1963, civil rights leaders organized a massive rally in Washington to urge passage of President Kennedy's civil rights bill. The high point came when MLK Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech to more than 200,000 marchers in front of the Lincoln Memorial. -
George Wallace
He was the 45th governer of Alabama and was for segregation, He attempted to segregate black students multiple times, and was eventually the victim of an attempted murder, which left him paralyzed. -
Non-Violent Protests
he practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, or other methods, without using violence. -
Freedom Rides
civil rights campaign of the Congress of Racial Equality in which protesters traveled by bus through the South to desegregate bus stations; white violence against them prompted the Kennedy administration to protect them and become more involved in civil rights. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was born in the presidency of John F Kennedy who was elected president in 1960. His support of civil rights issue in previous years had been patchy – he had opposed Eisenhower’s1957 Act to keep in with the Democrats hierarchy as he had plans to run for president as well as Johnson. -
oting Rights Act 1965
nvalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks; as more blacks became politically active and elected black representatives, it rboguth jobs, contracts, and facilities and services for the black community, encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap -
The Black Panthers
Founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale was the self defense and violence against white people, began the black power movement throughout the 1960s and 1970s. -
Watts Riot
1965, The first large race riot since the end of World War II. In 1965, in the Watts section of Los Angeles, a riot broke out. This was the result of a white police officer striking a black bystander during a protest. This triggers a week of violence and anger revealing the resentment blacks felt toward treatment toward them. -
Hector P. Garcia
Born in Mexico in 1914, Garcia grew up in Mercedes, Texas. He earned undergraduate and medical degrees from The University of Texas and served in the Army with distinction in WW II. In 1946, Garcia opened a medical practice in Corpus Christi, where he witnessed the struggles of veterans and migrant workers.In 1948, Garcia founded the American GI Forum, orginizing veterans to fight for educational and medical benifits, and later, against poll taxes and school segregation. -
Stokely Carmichael
head of SNCC who preached "overtaking white Americans" and preached "Black Power"-pride in history and heritage; create society apart from white society -
Thurgood Marshall
American civil rights lawyer, first black justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall was a tireless advocate for the rights of minorities and the poor. -
Cesar Chavez
an American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. -
integration of Ole Miss
1962 incident where President Kennedy order federal marshals to protect James Meredith as he attempted to become the first African American student at the school -
Title IX
On this day in 1972, Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 is enacted into law. Title IX prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. It begins: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
