the civil rights movement

The Civil Rights movement took place from the 1950’s-1970s in the United States, this is what the majority of Americans will discuss when we talk about it. However, the Civil Rights movement actually began as far back in American history as 1783; this was the year when Massachusetts legally outlawed slavery within its borders. In American history there have been important events that have occurred throughout:

·        1850 - Compromise of 1850 admits California into the union without slavery and ends slave trade in Washington, D.C.

·        1857 - Dred Scott Supreme Court decision rules that slaves do not become free when taken into a free state.

·        1863 - President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation freeing "all slaves in areas still in rebellion."

·        1865 - 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery is added to the Constitution.

·        1868 -14th Amendment allowing citizenship is added to Constitution.

·        1870 - 15th Amendment banning racial discrimination in voting is added to the Constitution.

·        1875 -Congress passes Civil Rights Act, granting equal rights in public places.

·        1896 - Supreme Court approves "separate but equal" segregation ruling.

·        1909 - National Congress on the Negro meets which leads to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.

·        1948 - President Truman issues an order outlawing segregation in U.S. military.

Most Americans in the United States think of their civil rights as those rights given to them as written in their Constitution:

·        Freedom of speech

·        Freedom of religion

·        The right to equal protection under the law

·        Freedom of the press

·        The right to due process of law