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13th Amendment
This amendment officially abolished slavery. It did not, however, give African Americans any specific rights. This amendment only deals with slavery and involuntary servitude. -
Black Codes
Laws enforced in the South to restrain African Americans after they were freed. These laws were intended to restrict the freedoms of African Americans, and deny them of rights. They usually tried to force them to work in labor forces on low wages and in debt. These laws also included rules the removed their property and voting rights, and said that African Americans without a job can be arrested and made to work for free. These laws were in effect from 1965 to 1966. -
Sharecropping & Tenant Farming
This was a tactic exploited by land owners in the South that allowed them to continue working indentured servants, or basically slaves. Landowners would lend land to African American tenants in return for a share of the crops that they harvest. They would also usually rent out equipment for them to use, and the combination of these two things sometimes made it so that the tenants could never pay off their debts to the landowner. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This was a landmark Supreme Court decision that set a precedent for future cases. This specific case had to deal with the pre-set statute of "separate but equal" accommodations for people of different races. The official verdict was that said separate accommodations were constitutional, as long as they were equal. -
Hector P. Garcia
A Mexican American civil rights advocate and a veteran. He founded the American G.I. Forum, which encouraged the country to support Mexican American war veterans. Before this time, Mexican American veterans were being refused the necessary care to maintain life, or a good quality of life, after their time at war. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This was another landmark case which overturned the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. The separate accommodations of schools in Topeka, Kansas were found to be unequal. Thus, schools were made to integrate. First major victory for civil equality. -
Thurgood Marshall
One of the ruling Justices on the Brown v. Board case. Ruled in favor of integration in schools. Served as a Justice from 1967 to 1991. -
Rosa Parks
Participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She refused to give up her seat to a white man on the bus, and was arrested for it. Before Rosa did this, another girl had done this as well. The other girl was a pregnant teen though, so interest groups said Rosa should do it too, because she made for better publicity. -
Nonviolent Protest
Protests in which protestors would not respond to accusations, violent actions, etc. towards them. They would simply protest without stopping for any reason. This sometimes ended in arrests or protestors being assaulted, but protestors would never fight back. The first real nonviolent protest of the Civil Rights Movement was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Desegregation
The ultimate goal of the civil rights movement, for all races to be in the same place, held in the same respect. Once desegregation began in some places, it received huge backlash. For instance, after the Brown v Board of Education case ruled it unconstitutional to segregate schools, that school & its students protested, prevented the students from entering the school, and even attacked them. This court case was the first real step toward full desegregation. -
Lynching
An execution with no trial, delivering "frontier justice". African Americans were lynched for various reasons, and in various ways. The most common form of lynching was hanging. The most famous lynching was of Emmett Till, who was from Chicago and catcalled a white girl in the South, whose family beat, murdered, and dumped Emmett's body in the river. His body was legally unrecognizable, so her family got out of it, but it was known to be him by the ring he wore. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A protest against segregation in buses centered in Montgomery, but spread across the country as well. African Americans refused to ride the bus, giving buses very little business, because most of the people who rode buses were African American. In order to avoid buses, they would walk, carpool, get rides from people they worked for, and other things. -
Orville Faubus
Democratic (modern-day Republican) governor of Arkansas. Stood adamantly against desegregation and integration in public schools. He had state troopers, police, and others attempt to prevent African American children from entering the school. -
Civil Disobedience
A form of peaceful protest in which protestors simply disobey unfair laws. For instance, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat for a white man was a form of civil disobedience. Usually results in being arrested. -
Sit-Ins
A non-violent movement started by MLK. These protests involved simply sitting in places they weren't supposed to be on account of their race. For instance, they would sit at white-only bars, go to white-only churches, or go to white-only meetings. This caused huge pushback in those places, and they were usually dragged out, attacked, had food thrown at them, or worse. -
Cesar Chavez
Labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. He started as a Mexican American farm worker, and became well-known for his activist views. He became a major icon for organized labor and Hispanic rights, and coined the phrase, "Sí, se puede", meaning approximately, "Yes, it can be done." -
George Wallace
A stout segregationist, and a governor of Alabama from 1983-1987. Coined the phrase, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever." Regarded those in favor of integration as "pro-communists", who we must not surrender to. -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther gives the "I have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington on this day. He was a pastor, but spoke out as a civil rights activist. He was later assassinated outside his motel room. -
Lester Maddox
Another staunch segregationist, and governor of Georgia. He also owned a family restaurant, where he refused to serve African Americans. When they came to his door to protest, he had his employees drive them away with "Pickrick Drumsticks" (axe handles). He was sued, and eventually closed his store, rather than integrating. -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow was not an actual person, but a made-up character from a minstrel song. These "laws" were made-up rules, mostly unofficial, which promoted segregation, racism, and essentially slavery. These laws ranged from if an African American looks at a white girl, they can be beaten, to having to pass arbitrary, biased tests in order to vote. These laws were later officially abolished when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.
