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Period: to
Civil War
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Emancipation Proclamation
Word about the Emancipation Proclamation didn't reach all slaves until June 19, 1865.
“I never in my life felt more certain that I was doing right. My whole heart is in it.”
- Abraham Lincoln on Emancipation Proclamation -
13th Amandmant
The 13th Amendmant said that slavery has officially been outlawed in the United States. It was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, but it was signed on December 6, 1865.
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
- 13th Amendmant -
14th Amandmant
The 14th Amendmant granted African Americans equal rights and citizenship.
“all persons born or naturalized in the United States"..."life, liberty or property, without due process of law"... "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
- 14th Amendmant -
15th Amandmant
The 15th Amendmant was passed by congress on Febuary 26, 1869, but it was signed on Febuary 3, 1870. It granted African Americans the right to vote.
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
- 15th Amendmant -
Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow laws wanted segregation and unfortuantly, it lasted for 87 years before it was stopped by the Civil RIghts Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), and the Fair Housing Act (1968). -
Jim Crow Laws - Buses
A big part of the Jim Crow laws which was most frustrating to African Americans was that all bus stations had to have separate ticket windows, separate waiting rooms, and separate areas on the bus for whites and blacks -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
April 13, 1896 was the court date that Homer Plessy and Ferguson argued about the Jim Crow Laws in the South. Homer Plessy protested segregation many times because he hated the Jim Crow laws so much, After the court case, the Supreme Court came to a verdict that segregation doesn't mean that the African Americans were worse than whites. The judge said that they are just separate but equal. They were separate, but were they really equal? -
President Truman Takes a Stand
President Truman made an Executive Order, number 9981, that the army must be integrated.
"WHEREAS it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services of the United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who serve in our country's defense:"
- Exeutive Order 9981 -
Armed Forces
Even the army was segregated. President Harry S. Truman didn't seem to do anything about it at this time, and the Tuskegee Airmen was made, It was an all black airforce during WWII. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
One African American girl named Linda Brown, lived five blocks away from an all white school. Obviously, she couldn't go to that school, and had to take a much longer route to get to her school which involved her crossing a railroad. Her parents were angered by this and filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education. 5 other cases were held about segregated schools, which led to court desegregating schools. Some public schools even shut down because they didn't want blacks in their schools. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till and his family are visiting family in the South. In Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy, whistles at a white woman, who is the stores owner's wife, The woman thinks he's flirting with her. After Emmett leaves, she tells her husband and her husband says he wants to whip Emmett. So, Bryant, the store owner, and two other African Americans and four whites take Emmett into a barn, and whip him. Then, they shoot him in the head and throw him in a river. -
Rosa Parks Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, an African American woman was sitting in the "colored" section of the bus. A white man didn't have a seat so he went over to tell Rosa Parks to get up. She refuesed to get up as an act of rebellion. She was arrested and sent to jail. After many of these bus boycotts, the buses were finally desegregated on December 21, 1956. -
Little Rock Nine
Daisy Bates, an African American woman, wanted to take a stand to make schools integrated. Therefore, she got nine brave African American girls and boys to go to an all white school. There were protestors spitting and causing pain to the students as they entered school. President Eisenhower hears about this and sends the National Guard to escort the students to get into the school. -
The Freedom Riders
The first "freedom ride" was on May 4, 1961. Seven African Americans and six whites, who were called "freedom riders", wanted to test out if the buses and rail station were really integrated now because in 1960, the Supreme Court decided that segregation in these places was unconstitutional. One man said about the freedom riders:
"The Freedom Riders were remarkable, fearless Americans. They were extraordinary, ordinary people . . . young people who took the reins of history and wouldn't let go.” -
March On Washington
About 200,000 people,black and white, came together to march for equal rights from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, This is where Martin Luther King Jr, aid his famous "I Have a Dream" Speech
"I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."
- Martin Luther King Jr -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was propsed by President John F. Kennedy. This act finally integrated public places and most importantly, made it possible for African Americans to get the same job as a white person, no matter the race, color, religion, gender, or where you came from. -
Civil Rights Workers Missing
Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney came to Mississippi for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). The three men heard that the Methodist Church was bombed, so they went to investigate. As the were driving back from the church, the police stooped them, and put them in jail, until they were bailed out seven hours later. The bodies of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were found in the earthen dam in Mississippi. -
Bloody Sunday
This march, known as "Bloody Sunday", had 525 - 600 people marching led by John Lewis, in support of equal voting rights. They planned on marching from Selma to Montgomery, which is 50 miles. They were stopped by state troopers, who asked them to turn around and go back to their homes, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Still, the marchers refused so the troopers had no choice but to attack with tear gas, whips, and clubs. This terrifying day left over fifty people hospitalized. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This voting rights act made it possible for African Americans in the South to vote. The people who ran the voting used to be able to give the African Americans a literacy test, poll taxes, etc, as an excuse for the African Americans not to be able to vote. Because of this voting rights act, those things were made illegal.
No voting qualifications or prerequisite to voting, or standard,
practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge th -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assasinated
As Martin Luther King Jr. is stading outside of his hotel, he is shot and killed by James Earl Ray, a racist and criminal. Martin Luther King Jr. was and always will be, one of the most couragous and inspirng leaders, America has ever had. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and he pursued it no matter how big or dangerous the obstacles were. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
President Lyndon B. Johnson made the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This act made it illegal to discriminate African Americans in sale, rental, and discrimination in selling or renting a house. Even though the African Americans lost their leader, Martin Luther King Jr, they were still accomplishing their mission to gain equal rights as a race. -
Bibliography
https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html
http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=9
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxv
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/anniversaries/desegblurb.htm
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/till/emmetttillchrono.html
http://www.uen.org/freedomrides/downloads/Freedom_Rides_Quotes.pdf
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-acthttp://
