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Civil Rights in America spanned more
than the years 1945 to 1968. However, it was after these years that
fundamentally important events took place regarding civil rights and they were
to gain a place in history. The Montgomery Bus
Boycott, the incident at Little
Rock High School, Martin
Luther King, the bombing of the church in Birmingham, Black
Power, the work done by presidents Truman and Johnson
in particular and the civil rights
acts all occurred after 1945 and proved vital in the advances made by
the civil rights movements.
|
1942 |
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
established. |
|
1946 |
The Supreme Court declared segregation on buses that
crossed state borders was illegal.
President Truman established a Committee on Civil
Rights. |
|
1948 |
Discrimination in the armed forces was banned. |
|
1952 |
This was the first year since 1881 without a
lynching. |
|
1954 |
The Supreme Court declared segregation in schools to
be unconstitutional.
The last all-black units in the armed forces were
disbanded. |
| 1955 |
Montgomery Bus Boycott began after the
arrest of Rosa Parks. |
|
1957 |
Dr Martin Luther King
became President of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference.
The Little Rock High School clash occurs and
Eisenhower had to use Federal troops to enforce the law.
Civil Rights Act
passed. |
|
1960 |
First student sit-ins against segregation at lunch
counters occurs.
SNCC formed - Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating
Committee.
Elijah Muhammad called
for the creation of a separate state for blacks. |
|
1961 |
The arrest of the Freedom Riders in the South. |
| 1962 |
James Meredith’s
attempt to attend Mississippi University was only successful as a result
of Federal troops being used. |
|
1963 |
NAACP leader - Medgar Evers - was
assassinated.
250,000 civil rights protesters marched in
Washington
Four black children were killed in the Birmingham
church bombing - the arrested white man was charged with the unlawful
possession of dynamite but not murder. Only some years later were the
guilty brought to trial for murder. |
|
1964 |
Riots in Harlem (New York), Chicago, Rochester +
Philadelphia.
A Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress.
Dr. Martin Luther King was awarded the Noble Peace
Prize. |
|
1965 |
Malcolm X was
assassinated.
A civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery was
lead by Dr Martin Luther King.
A Voting Rights Act was passed which in theory made
it illegal for anyone to restrict the right of anybody to vote.
A violent riot in Watts, Los Angeles, left 34 dead. |
|
1966 |
The idea of Black Power was introduced by
Stokely
Carmichael. |
|
1967 |
State laws forbidding inter-racial marriage were
declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall became the first Black American to
be appointed to the Supreme Court by Texan president Lyndon Johnson. |
|
1968
|
Martin Luther King was assassinated. The man
convicted of his murder - James Earl Ray - was sentenced to 99 years
prison but he denied having anything to do with the murder. At
the Mexico Olympics, a Black
Power protest was made at the medal ceremony for the men's 400 meters
by Tommy Smith and John
Carlos. |
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