1868 - 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave blacks equal protection under the law.
1870 - 15th Amendment granted blacks the right to vote
Late 1900s: Jim Crow Laws
to marginalize blacks in South and separate them from whites. Blacks couldn’t use the same public facilities as whites, live in many of the same towns or go to the same schools. Interracial marriage was illegal, and most blacks couldn’t vote because they were unable to pass voter literacy tests.
1954 - Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.
1955 - Rosa Parks
1957 - Little Rock Nine
1957 - Civil Rights Act -> federal prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone from voting + voting fraud commission
1960 - Woolworth's lunch counter
The entire incident was televised and became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Some activists wanted to retaliate with violence, but King pushed for nonviolent protests and eventually gained federal protection for another march.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
When President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965, he took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 several steps further. The new law banned all voter literacy tests and provided federal examiners in certain voting jurisdictions.
It also allowed the attorney general to contest state and local poll taxes. As a result, poll taxes were later declared unconstitutional in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections in 1966.
Civil Rights Leaders Assassinated
The civil rights movement had tragic consequences for two of its leaders in the late 1960s. On February 21, 1965, former Nation of Islam leader and Organization of Afro-American Unity founder Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally.
On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on his hotel room’s balcony. Emotionally-charged looting and riots followed, putting even more pressure on the Johnson administration to push through additional civil rights laws.
Fair Housing Act of 1968
The Fair Housing Act became law on April 11, 1968, just days after King’s assassination. It prevented housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion. It was also the last legislation enacted during the civil rights era.
The civil rights movement was an empowering yet precarious time for blacks in America. The efforts of civil rights activists and countless protestors of all races brought about legislation to end segregation, black voter suppression and discriminatory employment and housing practices.
Sources
A Brief History of Jim Crow. Constitutional Rights Foundation.
Civil Rights Act of 1957. Civil Rights Digital Library.
Document for June 25th: Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry. National Archives.
Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In. African American Odyssey.
Little Rock School Desegregation (1957). The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Stanford.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Stanford.
Rosa Marie Parks Biography. Rosa and Raymond Parks.
Selma, Alabama, (Bloody Sunday March 7, 1965). BlackPast.org.
The Civil Rights Movement (1919-1960s). National Humanities Center.
The Little Rock Nine. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.
Turning Point: World War II. Virginia Historical Society.
PHOTO GALLERIES
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Citation Information
Article Title
Civil Rights Movement
Author
History.com Editors
Website Name
HISTORY
URL
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
Access Date
October 9, 2018
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
August 28, 2018
Original Published Date
October 27, 2009
BY HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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