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First African Slaves Arrive in Virginia
In 1619, the first Africans were brought to Virginia through transatlantic slave trade. -
Boston Massacre
Crispus Attucks was shot and killed, starting the Boston Massacre and becoming the first casualty of the American Revolution. This event was used by the Patriots to fuel the colonists' longing for independence. -
Stono Rebellion
Stono's Rebellion occurred in South Carolina and was the largest slave revolt to happen in the 13 colonies. At least 20 white people were murdered, along with at least 54 African Americans. -
Lucy Terry writes "Bar's Fight"
Lucy Terry was an enslaved person in 1746 who became the earliest known black American poet. She wrote about the last American Indian attack on her village in Deerfield, Massachusetts in her poem "Bar's Fight", which was not published until 1855. -
Phillis Wheatley publishes "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral"
Phillis Wheatley became the first African American woman to publish a book when she published her book of poems in 1773. -
Northwest Ordinance
Slavery is made illegal in the Northwest Territory. -
The First Fugitive Slave Law is Enacted
The Fugitive Slave Laws required runaway slaves to be returned to their masters, regardless of their location. -
Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin created the opportunity for large plantation owners to till more land at one time and therefore grow more cotton. This increased profit and the workload of Southern slaves. -
Gabriel's Rebellion
Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African-American blacksmith, organized a slave revolt with the intention of marching on Richmond, Virginia. However, their conspiracy was uncovered, and Prosser and a number of rebels were hanged. This event caused Virginia to tighten its slave laws. -
Congress Bans Importation of Slaves
In 1807, Congress created an Act that prohibited the importation of slaves into the United States. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of the Southern boundary of Missouri. -
Vesey's Rebellion
Denmark Vesey, an enslaved African-American carpenter, who purchased his freedom, planned a slave revolt with the intention of laying siege on Charleston, South Carolina. The plot was discovered, and Vesey and his 34 co-conspirators were hanged. -
Publication of "The Liberator"
WIlliam Lloyd Garrison began publishing "The Liberator" in 1831. "The Liberator" was a weekly paper that advocated for the complete abolition of slavery. From this, he became one of the most prominent and famous figures of the abolitionist movement. -
Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner, an enslaved African-American preacher, led the most significant slave uprising in American history. With his band of followers, he launched a brief, but bloody, rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. After the militia stopped the rebellion, Turner was hanged and Virginia strengthened its slave laws. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot, a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania, introduced the Wilmot Proviso, which attempted to ban slavery in the territory gained from the Mexican War. This proviso was blocked by Southerners, but continued to fuel the debate over slavery. -
"The North Star" is Published
"The North Star", an abolitionist newspaper published by Fredrick Douglass, was used to ridicule slavery and to fight for the emancipation of oppressed groups. -
Harriet Tubman Escapes from Slavery
After escaping from slavery, Harriet Tubman became one of the most effective and celebrated leaders of the Underground Railroad. -
Compromise of 1850
The continuous debate over whether the territory gained from Mexico in the Mexican War was decided by the Compromise of 1850. In this compromise, California was admitted as a free state, Utah and New Mexico territories were left to be decided by popular sovereignty, slave trade in Washington D.C. was prohibited, and stronger/stricter fugitive slave laws were established. -
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" stirred anti-slavery sentiments and helped weaken British sympathy for the South. It was one of the most influential works in America and is considered a contributing cause of the Civil War. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act is Passed
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed both states to observe popular sovereignty, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise. This act led to "Bleeding Kansas", where northern and southern views on slavery combined with violent results. -
Dred Scott Case Decision
In the Dred Scott court case, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress does not have the right to ban slavery in states, and essentially that slaves were not citizens. -
Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown and 21 of his followers captured the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in Virginia in an attempt to launch an armed slave revolt. 16 people were killed. -
Confederacy is Founded and the Civil War Begins
After the secession of Southern states from the Union, the Confederacy was founded and the Civil War began. -
President Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation
After the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the Confederate states "are, and henceforward shall be free." However, slavery did not officially end until the 13th amendment. -
Thirteenth Amendment is Ratified
The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery. -
Slavery Ends in Texas
After receiving the news that the Civil War had ended two months earlier, 250,000 slaves in Texas were finally freed and slavery in the U.S. was effectively ended. -
Black Codes are Passed
The Black Codes were a series of laws that restricted the freedom of African Americans in the South. -
Freedman's Bureau is Established
The Freedman's Bureau was established in 1865 to protect the rights of newly emancipated African Americans. -
Civil War Ends
On April 9th, 1865, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, ending the Civil War. -
Lincoln is Assassinated
On April 15th, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. This was only five days after the end of the Civil War. -
Ku Klux Klan is Formed
On December 24, 1865, the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization, was formed in Tennessee by ex-confederates. -
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Reconstruction Acts are Passed
The Reconstruction Acts divided the former Confederacy into five military districts and guaranteed the civil rights of freed slaves. -
Fourteenth Amendment is Ratified
The Fourteenth Amendment defines citizenship: Individuals born or naturalized in the United States are American citizens, including those born as slaves. This nullified the Dred Scott Case that ruled that blacks were not citizens. -
Fifteenth Amendment is Ratified
The Fifteenth Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote. -
Hiram Revels Becomes the First African American Senator
Hiram Revels of Mississippi was elected as the country's first African-American senator. During Reconstruction, 16 blacks served in Congress, and about 600 served in state legislatures. -
Reconstruction Ends
In 1877, the last troops in the South were withdrawn, and Reconstruction ended. After this, most federal attempts to provide basic civil rights for African Americans dissipated. -
Booker T. Washington Found the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama
The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, founded by Booker T. Washington, became one of the leading schools in higher education for African Americans. It stresses the practical application of knowledge, and in 1869, George Washington Carver gained his international reputation for his agricultural advances after teaching there as a director of the department of agricultural research. -
Plessy V. Ferguson Case Decision
The decision of Plessy v. Ferguson held that racial segregation is constitutional. This paved the way for the oppressive Jim Crow laws in the South. -
NAACP is Founded
The National Association for the Advancement of Color People (NAACP), founded by several prominent black and white intellectuals and led by W.E.B Du Bois, serves as the country's most influential African American civil rights organization. It dedicated itself to political equality and social justice. -
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Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance, stretching from the 1920s-1930s, was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that fostered a new African American cultural identity. -
Langston Hughes Publishes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
In 1921, Langston Hughes published his first poem in The Crisis, the official magazine of the NAACP, called "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". -
Jackie Robinson is Signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers
Jackie Robinson breaks the Major League Baseball's color barrier after being signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers by Branch Rickey. -
President Truman Issues Order Integrating U.S. Armed Forces
Although African Americans participated in every major United States war, it wasn't until after World War II that President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order that integrated the U.S. armed forces. -
Brown V. Board of Education Case Decision
The ruling of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas declared that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. -
Emmett Till is Murdered (Spurs Civil Rights Movement)
On August 28th, 1955, a young African American boy named Emmett Till was brutally murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. The two white men charged with the crime were acquitted by an all-white jury. They later boasted about committing the murder. The public outrage generated by this case helped to spur the Civil Rights Movement. -
Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger. In response to her arrest, Montgomery's black community launched a successful year-long bus boycott. This resulted in the desegregation of Montgomery's buses on December 21, 1956. -
Little Rock Nine is Formed
After nine black students were blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus, federal troops and the National Guard were called to intervene on behalf of the students, who became known as the "Little Rock Nine". Despite a year of violent threats, several of the "Little Rock Nine" students managed to graduate from Central High. -
Greensboro Four is Formed
Four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina formed the "Greensboro Four" after beginning a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Six months after this, the same "Greensboro Four" were served lunch at the same Woolworth's counter. The event triggered many nonviolent protests throughout the South. -
Freedom Riders are Formed
Over the spring and summer, students volunteered to take bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibited segregation in interstate travel facilities (including bus and railway stations). Naming themselves the "Freedom Riders", several of the groups were attacked by angry mobs along the way. This program was sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and involved more than 1,000 volunteers, black and white. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital, attended by about 250,000 people. Here, Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This march built the momentum for civil rights legislation. -
Bombing of Birmingham Church
On September 15th, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed, killing four young African American girls despite Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech in August of that year. -
Civil Rights Act is Signed
President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Receives the Nobel Peace Prize
Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement and dedication to achieving racial justice through nonviolent protest. -
"Bloody Sunday"
On "Bloody Sunday", state troopers violently attacked peaceful demonstrators led by Martin Luther King Jr. as they tried to cross the Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Fifty marchers were hospitalized after police used tear gas, whips, and clubs against them. This march is considered a catalyst for the creation of the voting rights act five months later. -
The Black Panthers are Founded
The Black Panthers, an organization founded with the intent of teaching black nationalism, socialism, and armed self defense, was formed by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. -
Thurgood Marshall Becomes the First Black Supreme Court Justice
On June 13th. 1967, President Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, making him the first black Supreme Court Justice. -
Martin Luther King is Assassinated
Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4th, 1968. -
Shirley Chisholm Runs for President
Shirley Chisholm became the first woman and major party African American to run for president in 1972. -
Videotaped Beating of Rodney King Causes First Race Riots in Decades
After a jury acquitted four white police officers for the videotaped beating of African American Rodney King, the first race-driven riots in decades erupted in South-Central Los Angeles. -
Colin Powell Becomes Secretary of State
George W. Bush appointed Colin Powell as Secretary of State in 2001, making him the first African American to become Secretary of State. -
Barack Obama Becomes the First African American President
Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States after defeating Republican candidate Senator John McCain. -
Bibliography
Google and History.com were used for this information.