Civil Rights Timeline- (Key: Yellow-African Americans, Pink-Women, Red-Chicanos, Green-Native Americans)
By karla.perez
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13th Amendment (Yellow)
The government of President Lincoln abolished slavery in all states and territories of the United States. -
14th Amendment (Yellow)
Rights of citizenship, due process of law, and equal protection of the law. The 14th amendment has become one of the most used amendments in court to date regarding the equal protection clause. -
15th Amendment (Yellow)
Passed by Congress and it granted African Americans suffrage. It challenged traditional prejudice against African American involvement in political life. -
Tuskegee Institute Created (Yellow)
An institute founded by Booker T. Washington in Alabama that allowed African American students to gain academic and career skills. The skills learned at this institute were expected to be spread by the students through African American communities in the South. -
Plessy v. Ferguson (Yellow)
Homer Plessy resisted the Louisiana Separate Car Act that required him to sit in a black-only car on the train. He was ⅛ black and had bought a first-class ticket. The Supreme Court ruled separate train cars did not violate the 14th amendment because they fell under the “separate but equal” policy. This ruling made segregation legal. -
NAACP Created (Yellow)
Civil Rights organization founded by W.E.B Dubois to challenge segregation and Jim Crow laws. It focused on the improvement and development of colored people. It serves to remove all race-centered prejudice. -
19th Amendment (Pink)
Passed by Congress, it granted suffrage to women. It allowed women to gain more political freedom and involvement. It was also a turning point for gender roles because it redefined women in political life. -
Executive Order 9981 (Yellow)
Executive order passed by President Harry S. Truman that prohibited prejudice against race, color, religion, and national origin in the Armed Forces of the United States. It changed the composition of the military. -
Brown v. Board of Education (Yellow)
Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and it led to the integration of the American public school system. Its importance is that it overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of “separate but equal.” -
Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-56 (Yellow)
Nonviolent protest by African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama against the segregated public transport system. The majority of workers boycotted the bus and walked in protest for a year, which led to a court ruling stating that segregation in buses is unconstitutional. It also led to the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr., as a leader of the Civil Rights movement. -
Little Rock 9 (Yellow)
Central High School in Arkansas was the first school in the South to integrate African Americans. Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas stood against desegregation of schools but President Eisenhower intervened by sending troops to protect the students entering the school. -
Chicano Mural Movement (Red)
Artists used the walls of buildings in cities to depict Mexican-Amerian culture. These murals sought to raise awareness for the fight of social and political equality of Mexican-Americans that had been in America for generations. -
Freedom Riders (Yellow)
Civil Rights activists from the North that rode buses to the South to protest segregated bus terminals. They were attacked by white citizens from the South that formed in violent mobs. -
Cesar Chavez (Red)
Civil rights activist that defended Hispanic immigrant workers. He created the National Farm Workers Association, which sought to increase the income of immigrant workers and improve their working conditions. Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. -
March on Washington: "I Have a Dream Speech" (Yellow)
Speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In his speech, he called for the economic and civil rights of African Americans. He also emphasized the importance of ending racism with no violence in the U.S. -
24th Amendment (Yellow)
Banned states from requiring payment of a poll tax in federal elections. This outlawed the Jim Crow laws that limited the voting rights of African Americans in the South. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Yellow)
Law passed that banned discrimination by race, gender, religion, or national origin in public places. It also made employment discrimination and unequal voter registration illegal. It is the biggest achievement of the Civil Rights movement because it led to bigger social and economic mobility for all groups that were once segregated. -
March from Selma Alabama (Yellow)
Protests along the highway from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama that helped raise awareness of the voting injustices in the South towards African Americans. It led to Lyndon B. Johnson proposing a Voting Rights Act due to the violence demonstrated against the marchers. -
Black Panthers (Yellow)
Revolutionary group that utilized violent, self-defense, techniques to fight for black nationalism. One of its purposes was to monitor police officers to defeat police brutality against African Americans. The organization’s policy was opposed to the ideas of MLK. -
American Indian Movement (AIM) (Green)
Movement formed in urban areas that sought to fight problems of police brutality and poverty that affected American Indians. It also addressed civil rights and racism violations towards Native Americans.
