US Civil Rights: African Americans

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    aka the 13th amendment.
    - all slaves were formally freed and were no longer property
    - African Americans could legally marry, own property, and travel
  • KKK formation

    pattern:
    ↑ civil rights, ↑ KKK membership and activity.
    ↓ civil rights, ↓ KKK membership and activity.
  • '40 Acres and a Mule' introduced

    Largely unsuccessful due a lack of farming equipment available. 40,000 African Americans received this land.
  • Period: to

    Reconstruction

    aimed to bring the Southern states into the Union.
  • Civil Rights Act

    all Americans (apart from Natives) had their civil rights protected by the government.
  • Military Reconstruction Act

    Southern rebel states were to be divided into five military districts.
    - required to create a new state constitution that included equal rights for black Americans
  • 14th amendment passed

    citizenship was granted to all born in the US and had equal protection under the law.
  • 15th amendment passed

    voting rights of black men were to be protected.
  • Slaughterhouse Cases

    14th amendment protected federal citizenship and did not extend to civil rights granted by states.
    - stripped back what it protected to basic things that were likely already going to be protected by states anyways
    - states could impose discriminatory laws without violating the constitution
    - made the 14th amendment almost redundant
  • US vs Cruikshank

    the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government didn't have the constitutional power to prosecute individuals who attempted to impair the civil rights of other citizens.
    - began after a riot in which 70 African Americans were murdered by white Democrats who some were criminally charged.
  • Compromise of 1877

    resolved the presidential debate between Hayes (R) and Tilden (D)
    - Hayes could become president if he agreed to remove federal troops from the South and give Southerners home rule (more independence) ended the reconstruction era
    - signified the end of the Republicans' federal support for African American civil rights as they were no longer enforcing racial equality, letting Southern states rapidly disadvantage them.
  • Plessy vs Ferguson

    The SC ruled that racial segregation laws were constitutional so long as facilities were 'separate but equal'.
  • Mississippi vs Williams

    The SC ruled that voter registration requirements (like Poll tax and literacy tests) were not discriminatory because they applied to all voters. By de facto, they didn't; white people could bypass them leaving them as barriers to African Americans.
  • Niagara Movement formation

    They were a group of intellectuals who called for political change. However, their reach was limited due to a lack of funding and were poorly perceived because they were too confrontational.
  • Springfield Race Riots

    A white mob of 5,000 attacked Black Americans in Springfield. Very few were convicted due to all-white juries supporting white supremacy.
  • NAACP formation

    The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People aimed to ensure political and educational equality as well as eliminate racial prejudice.
  • US vs Guinn

    All Grandfather clauses were revoked after being deemed unconstitutional for violating the 15th amendment
  • Fair Housing Act

    prohibited discrimination during housing transactions.
    by de facto, AAs would successfully move into traditionally white areas - however, real estate agents would scare white owners with warnings of deflating house value and cause them to move away, making white and black Americans further separated and unofficially segregated.

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