Black History Month's 400 year Timeline 1609-2k09...Take a peep!
Lets time capsule 400 years in da' past & check out the Timeline of key events in
African American History as regards to different fields & achievements (getting detailed into each events would be toooooo long & tedious which defeats the point of a quick glimpse Time capsule)
1619
August 20. Twenty Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, aboard a Dutch ship. They were the first blacks to be forcibly settled as involuntary laborers in the North American British Colonies.
1641
Massachusetts was the first colony to legalize slavery by statute.
1663
September 13. The first documented attempt at a rebellion by slaves took place in Gloucester County, Virginia.
1664
Maryland was the first state to try to discourage by law the marriage of white women to black men.
1688
February 18. The Quakers of Germantown, Pennsylvania, passed the first formal antislavery resolution.
1712
April 7. A slave insurrection occurred in New York City, resulting in the execution of 21 African Americans.
1739
September 9. The Cato revolt was the first serious disturbance among slaves. After killing more than 25 whites, most of the rebels, led by a slave named Cato, were rounded up as they tried to escape to Florida. More than 30 blacks were executed as participants.
1770
March 5. Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave, was among the five victims in the Boston Massacre. He is said to have been the first to fall.
1772
Jean Baptiste Point DuSable decided to build a trading post near Lake Michigan, thus becoming the first permanent resident of the settlement that became Chicago.
1775
April 19. Free blacks fight with the Minutemen in the initial skirmishes of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
June 17. Peter Salem and Salem Poor were two blacks commended for their service on the American side at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
1777
July 2. Vermont was the first state to abolish slavery.
November 1. The African Free School of New York City was opened.
December 31. George Washington reversed previous policy and allowed the recruitment of blacks as soldiers. Some 5,000 would participate on the American side before the end of the Revolution.
1787
April 12. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organized the Free African Society, a mutual self-help group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
July 13. The Continental Congress forbade slavery in the region northwest of the Ohio River by the Northwest Ordinance.
September. The Constitution of the United States allowed a male slave to count as three-fifths of a man in determining representation in the House of Representatives.
1791
Benjamin Banneker published the first almanac by a black.
1793
February 12. Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Law.
March 14. Eli Whitney obtained a patent for his cotton gin, a device that paved the way for the massive expansion of slavery in the South.
1794
June 10. Richard Allen founded the Bethel African Methodist Church in Philadelphia.
1797
August 30. A slave revolt near Richmond, Virginia, led by Gabriel Prosser and Jack Bowley, was first postponed and then betrayed. More than 40 blacks were eventually executed.
1804
January 5. The Ohio legislature passed "Black Laws" designed to restrict the legal rights of free blacks. These laws were part of the trend to increasingly severe restrictions on all blacks in both North and South before the Civil War.
1808
January 1. The federal law prohibiting the importation of African slaves went into effect. It was largely circumvented.
1816
April 9. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at the first independent black denomination in the United States.
1818
August 18. General Andrew Jackson defeated a force of Native Americans and African-Americans to end the First Seminole War.
1822
May 30. The Denmark Vesey conspiracy was betrayed in Charleston, South Carolina. It is claimed that some 5,000 blacks were prepared to rise in July.
1829
September. David Walker's militant antislavery pamphlet, An Appeal to the Colored People of the World, was in circulation in the South. This work was the first of its kind by a black.
September 20-24. The first National Negro Convention met in Philadelphia.
1831
August 21-22. The Nat Turner revolt ran its course in Southampton County, Virginia.
1839
July. The slaves carried on the Spanish ship, Amistad, took over the vessel and sailed it to Montauk on Long Island. They eventually won their freedom in a case taken to the Supreme Court.
1849
July. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. She would return South at least twenty times, leading over 300 slaves to freedom.
1854
January 1. Ashmum Institute, the precursor of Lincoln University, was chartered at Oxford, Pennsylvania.
1857
March 6. The Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court denied that blacks were citizens of the United States and denied the power of Congress to restrict slavery in any federal territory.
1861
August 23. James Stone of Ohio enlisted to become the first black to fight for the Union during the Civil War. He was very light skinned and was married to a white woman. His racial identity was revealed after his death in 1862.
1862
July 17. Congress allowed the enlistment of blacks in the Union Army. Some black units precede this date, but they were disbanded as unofficial. Some 186,000 blacks served; of these 38,000 died.
1863
January 1. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in states in rebellion against the United States.
1865
December 18. The Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery, was passed by Congress.
1866
Edward G. Walker and Charles L. Mitchell were the first blacks to sit in an American legislature, that of Massachusetts.
1868
July 6. The South Carolina House became the first and only legislature to have a black majority, 87 blacks to 40 whites. Whites did continue to control the Senate and became a majority in the House in 1874.
July 28. The Fourteenth Amendment was passed. It made blacks citizens of the United States.
1870
March 30. The Fifteenth Amendment, which outlawed the denial of the right to vote, was ratified.
1875
March 1. Congress passed a Civil Rights Bill which banned discrimination in places of public accommodation. The Supreme Court overturned the bill in 1883. 1881.
Tennessee passed a law requiring segregation in railroad cars. By 1907 all Southern states had passed similar laws.
1895
September 18. Booker T. Washington delivered the "Atlanta Compromise" speech at the Cotton States International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia.
1896
May 18. In Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court give legal backing to the concept of separate but equal public facilities for blacks.
1905
July 11-13. W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter were among the leaders of the meeting from which sprung the Niagara Movement, the forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
1910
April. The National Urban League was established.
1912
September 27. W. C. Handy published "Memphis Blues."
1915
September 9. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.
1918
February 19-21. The First Pan-African Congress met in Paris, France, under the guidance of W. E. B. Du Bois.
1920
August 1-2. The national convention of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Society met in New York City. Garvey would be charged with mail fraud in 1923. He was convicted in 1925 and deported in 1927 after serving time in prison.
These are the years usually assigned to the Harlem Renaissance, which marks an epoch in black literature and art.
1925
May 8. A. Philip Randolph organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
1931
April 6. Nine young blacks were accused of raping two white women in a boxcar. They were tried for their lives in Scottsboro, Alabama, and hastily convicted. The case attracted national attention.
1936
August 9. Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.
1937
June 22. Joe Louis defeated James J. Braddock to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
1940
October 16. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., became the first black general in the United States Army.
1941
June 25. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in defense industries after pressure from blacks led by A. Philip Randolph.
1942
June. Some blacks and whites organized the Congress of Racial Equality in Chicago. They led a sit-in at a Chicago restaurant.
1944
April 24. The United Negro College Fund was founded.
October 2. The first working, production-ready model of a mechanical cotton picker was demonstrated on a farm near Clarksdate, Mississippi.
1947
April 19. Jackie Robinson became the first black to play major league baseball.
1950
September 22. Ralph J. Bunche won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in Palestine.
1952
After keeping statistics kept for 71 years, Tuskegee reported that this was first year with no lynchings.
1954
May 17. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court completed overturning legal school segregation at all levels.
1955
December 1. Rosa Parks refused to change seats in a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. On December 5 blacks began a boycott of the bus system which continued until shortly after December 13, 1956, when the United States Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation in the city.
1957
February 14. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed with Martin Luther King, Jr., as president.
August 29. Congress passed the Voting Rights Bill of 1957, the first major civil rights legislation in more than 75 years.
1960
February 1. Sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, initiated a wave of similar protests throughout the South.
April 15-17. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.
1963
April 3. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., blacks began a campaign against discrimination in Birmingham.
June-August. Civil rights protests took place in most major urban areas.
August 28. The March on Washington was the largest civil rights demonstration ever. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.
1964
January 23. The Twenty-fourth Amendment forbade the use of the poll tax to prevent voting.
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College, Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain, sat down at the lunch counter at the local F.W. Woolworth store and ordered coffee and cherry pie. This simple act was extremely bold for the times. These African-American students were acting in defiance of Jim Crow laws that permitted blacks to shop in the store but not to eat a meal there. The Greensboro sit-in is credited with re-igniting the civil rights movement in America, transforming the older generation's don't-rock-the-boat tactics to a more militant, protest-based platform.
Wilma Rudolph, First African American and American Woman to Win 3 Gold Medals in a singly Olympics, September 11, 1960.
Freedom Riders Fight Segregation Across South, 1961
Thirteen members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) set off on a bus ride from Washington D.C. to New Orleans on May 4, 1961. These civil rights activist were testing a 1960 Supreme Court ruling that expanded anti-discrimination laws covering interstate travel to include facilities used by travelers. The Freedom Riders bravely entered segregated terminals, waiting rooms, restrooms and restaurants. They were met with harassment, violence, and even arrest.
Birmingham Campaign and Church Bombing, 1963
The Birmingham Campaign was launched in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists were soon jailed, but it was the participation of the children that advanced the momentum of the Birmingham movement. They marched alongside the adults and were taken to jail with them as well. Because the 16th St. Baptist Church was close to the downtown area, it was an ideal location to hold rallies and meetings. On Sunday morning, Sept. 15, 1963, dynamite planted by the Ku Klux Klan, exploded in the building. Under the fallen debris, the bodies of four girls were found. Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley died because of the color of their skin.
with local and national figures of the time.
While residing in jail, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" which later appeared in The Atlantic Monthly (under the title "The Negro Is Your Brother"), ...addressing a national audience that did not recognize his full rights of equality as a citizen and human being. A copy of the letter is available in the MSU Libraries Special Collections.
Equal Pay Act of 1963
prohibits sex-based pay differentials on jobs.
August 28, 1963 : Martin Luther King Jr. Delivers "I Have a Dream" in Washington, D.C.
Thanks to the Power of TV and radio, Martin Luther King Jr's speech at the end of the March on Washington was broadcast around the world.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Source : Our Documents . gov : 100 Milestone Documents of American History
Malcolm X Assassinated, 1965
On Februry 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated while speaking at a rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Malcolm X was a charismatic speaker and disciplined leader who quickly rose to prominence through his association with the Nation of Islam.
Bloody Sunday, 1965
The Historic Selma to Montgomery marchers started on March 7, 1965. More than 600 hundred marchers led by the SNCC and SCLC gathered in Selma to march in solidarity. Coupled with the original aim of the protest, marchers also wanted to call attention to the denial of their voting rights. With the 1964 Civil Rights Act passing, King and other leaders hoped the gathering would speed along the opportunity for fairness. Led by current Georgia congressman John Lewis (then-chairman of the SNCC) and Rev. Hosea Williams of the SCLC, the marchers were undeterred until they reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge that crosses the Alabama River heading in to Montgomery. Police gathered and formed a wall
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. Source : Our Documents . gov : 100 Milestone Documents of American History
1965 Executive Order 11246
affirmative action requirements of government contractors and subcontractors.
Thurgood Marshall, 1967
First Black appointed to the United States Supreme Court, August 30, 1967. Spent his entire life battling for civil rights, winning 29 out of 32 Supreme Court Cases before ever serving on the Supreme Court. Source : Thurgood Marshall Biographical Sketch, part of the PBS : The Supreme Court : Expanding Civil Rights web page.
Loving versus Virginia, 1967
banned anti-miscegenation laws (race-based restrictions on marriage).
Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated, 1968
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot outside of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King's assassination precipitated marches and rallies across America and riots erupted in over 100 cities. In the melee, 46 people were killed and 20,000 arrested. From April 5 - 11, there were 50,000 federal and state troops called in to keep order. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 an official day of mourning. King was 38 years old at the time of his death.
I Have A Dream. Audio from a speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963. Audio courtesy of the Internet Archive.
"Montgomery Story" Comic Book A print copy of Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story (1957) is available in the MSU Library Special Collections unit.
Arthur Ashe Wins First Tennis Title, August 25, 1968.
Graduating as valedictorian from his high school, Arthur Ashe turned pro at the age of 26. He went on to win the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, and became the first African American tennis player to be ranked number one.
Shirley Chisholm, 1968 and 1972
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. A Democrat, she represented the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
In 1972 she became the first African-American woman to run for president with a major political party. Aware that she would not win the nomination, Chisholm explained her motivation for entering the race," The next time a woman of whatever color, or a dark-skinned person of whatever sex aspires to be president, the way should be a little smoother because I helped pave it."
First African-American Astronaut in Space, 1983
On August 30, 1983, the space shuttle Challenger blasted off in the dark from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the first African-American astronaut to go into space. Forty-year-old Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr., a mission specialist, tested the Challenger's mechanical arm, helped launch weather and communications satellites, and performed experiments in electrophoresis
First African-American Miss America, 1983
On September 17, 1983, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first African-American Miss America was crowned. At age of 20, Vanessa Williams of New York had won American's foremost beauty pageant.
Civil Rights Act of 1991
adds provisions to Title VII protections, including right to jury trial.
First Female African-American Astronaut in Space, 1992
On September 12, 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman to go into space.
Colin Powell, 2001
First African American U.S. Secretary of State. For more infomation, see BlackPast.org biographic sketch
Oprah Winfrey Becomes First African American Female Billionaire, February 27, 2003.
Condoleezza Rice, 2005
First African American Woman Secretary of State.
Obama Election, 2008, and Presidency, 2009-2016
It's been an interesting, difficult, tumultuous, productive, deadly, eye-awakening struggle for the last 400 years. The next 4 centuries...well only time will tell..GOD willing
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