Recent Event Highlights: Civil Rights Act, National Origins Act, Dred Scott v. Sanford, Mexican-American War, Publication of Democracy in America, Compromise Tariff and Force Bill, and 63 more...
Created by rmccool on Nov 10, 2010
Last updated: 04/06/11 at 04:55 AM
On November 20, 1969 a group of Indian college students claimed the island where the deserted federal prison of Alcatraz is located, in San Francisco Bay. The claimed it, saying that according to the terms of the 1868 Sioux treaty that gave Indians rights to unused federal property on Indian land. They demanded funds for a multifaced cultural educational center. American Indian Movement, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis was initially organized to work for Indian civil rights in citites. They worked to highlight and prevent police harassment and brutality, and played a big role in building a network of urban Indian centers and churches.
The Asian American Political Alliance was formed in California by Asian American college students. Its goal was to raise the social and political status of Asian Americans, very similarly to the black Civil Rights Movement. It tried to achieve this with tactics similar to Martin Luther King, Jr, in the form of non-violent protests.
The National Organization for Women was founded in 1966 and is the largest feminist organization in the United States. The purpose of NOW, stated by Betty Friedan was "to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men." The goal has been to bring about equlaity for all women, and work to eliminate discrimination and harassment in schools, the workplace, and other places in society. NOW works to secure abortion and birth control rights for women, and promote equality and justice in our society.
He was a Mexican American born in Arizona. He spent his life trying to improve the working conditions for farm laborers in California, most of whom were Mexican Americans. He led a strike in the Delano Valley vineyards of the San Joaquin valley in 1965. Like King he preached nonviolence and used religion in his message. He was a leader who made the plight of the Mexican Americans a political issue in America.
After the Voting Rights Acts was passed, white police officers got into several fights with blacks in Watts part of Los Angeles. This ignited one of the most destructive race riots in decades. For 6 days thousands of blacks looted shops, firebombed white owned businesses, and lashed out at white police officers and firefighters. This type of violent behavior spread across the country, and the Watts riots were the first large scale act of violent protesting.
This act gave voting rights to the entire black population in the US and prohibited the use of tests i.e the literacy tests . "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." This act came into effect after the civil rights act, giving blacks full citizenship to the US and marked segregation as illegal but did not give them the right to vote.
This act was passed by Congress i n1964 and banned racial discrimination and segregation in public areas. It outlawed bias in federally-funded programs and granted the federal government power to fight school segregation. It also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce the ban on job discrimination. This act did not address the right to vote, however, which only assured that the Civil Rights Movement would continue. Therefore, this act is one of the most significant laws passed in the US because it represented the beginnings of real social change.
In the Summer of 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Summer was organized to register as many blacks to vote as possible in Mississippi. In Mississippi blacks made up 42% of the population but only 5% were registered voters. Most of those who volunteered were white northerners who emphasized black self worth. Despite there efforts, these volunteers were harassed and even some were murdered by Mississippi law officials and Klan members. Even though they only ended up registering 1200 people, it was a huge step in the black civil rights movement because they were continuing to break down the Jim Crow foundations. Also, by 1972, there were many more black government officials in Mississippi than before.
This was a large political raly that was in support of civil and economic rights for African Americans. It was organized by several civil rights, labor, and religious organizations. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his well known "I Have A Dream" speech. This was said to have a great deal of help with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
CORE stands for the Congres of Racial Equality and was a U.S. Civil Rights organization. In 1961, they organized a freedom ride through the deep south to test the 1960 Supreme Court edict banning segregation in interstate transportation facilities. However mobs beat riders, burned buses and mauled protesters. After these rides, the president created the Interstate Commerce Commission to enfore the law. The rides forced Kennedy to act and take the fight for Civil Rights seriously.
Several civil rights activists organized the 'freedom ride', where hundreds of negroes rode interstate busses through the deep south to see if the ruling of boynton v Virgina (rulling state busses de segregated) would actually be true. The freedom riders were brutaly beaten and provoked by the white population in the south that did not support desegregated busses. Although many civil rights activists were hurt during this freedom ride, it caught the attention of the media and white house.
Originally a non-violent mixed racial group of students who protested for civil rights through sit-ins and the Freedom Rides. However, it became an all black militant organization that stressed "black power" under their leader, Stokely Carmichael. This change brought about a new name, the Student National Coordinating Committee. This group provided nothern opposition to MLK, insisting that he be more confrontational.
It was formed by Matin Luther Kin, Jr. and a group of black ministers. Their main objective was to carry on non-violent protests after the Montgomery bus boycotss, against " the evils of second-class citizenship." The SCLC helped to organize boycotts and marches to help with the civil rights movement
Nine African American students were going to desegregate Central High, but they faced heavy resistance. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, sent in the National Guard to prevent the African American students from entering the school. In addition there was a very large white mob there to prevent the students from attending the school. Eisenhower took control of the situation and sent in troops to help the children enter the school. The angry mob of whites were televised, which showed the north the hatred of many racist southerners towards blacks.
This was a document signed by 100 southern politicians whose goal was to get the decision of Brown v. Board of Education reversed. Although they were not successful in reversing the decision of Brown v. Board of Education, they succeeded in prolonging the time that schools in the deep south were segregated.
In the year 1955, Rosa Parks was on a public bus in Montgomery, AL and refused to give up her seat to let a white person sit, which was the law in Montgomery at the time. As a result, she was arrested, but not in vain. Martin Luther King and other black activists afterward organized a boycott of Montgomery public buses. The boycott lasted the year of 1956, as blacks either walked or car-pooled to for transportation. At long last, the a bill was passed to integrate the buses. This triumph for King and his supporters resulted in future nonviolent protests in an attempt to earn blacks the civil rights they deserved.
http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/images/MontgomeryBus.gif (picture source)
This characterizes the relocation of thousands of Japanese-Americans to imprisonment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Americans were skeptical of Japanese-Americans' motives and felt that their connection to Japan could harm America's chances at war and cause internal strife. Most Japanese opposed this reasoning and felt that they were being racially profiled and discriminated against. Relocation of the Japanese and the opposition that came with it illustrated racial issues that continued throughout the 20th century.
This act was passed to curtail immigration from Poland, Russia, and Italy. It only allowed a certain number of immigrants from each of those countries. It also included a clause that banned immigration for Asians, mainly aimed at the Japanes because Chinese were already barred by the Chinese Exclusions Act. It shows the extreme xenophobia that Americans had.
A cultural movement supported by negroes, living in the neighborhood of Harlem, NY. This movement supported the flourishing of negroe artists and authors. The main topics of art, plays, books and poems were celebrating black culture and giving black hope to someday have equal rights. Many authors and artists from this era are still popular to this day.
In the first couple years of the 20th century, there was a growing concern over immigration. At first, it was mainly against the Japanese but then turned to the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. A literacy test was then imposed on those wishing to enter the United States, Wilson vetoed this twice, but Congress overode his veto in 1917. Congress also acted to deny suspected anarchists entry in to the United States. The final agreement was that immigration from a given nation was limited to three pecent of that nations population living in the United States as reported in the 1910 census. And, an overall maximum anual quotaof 357,000 was imposed.
Angel Island, which is right off the coast of San Fransisco, was used as an immigration center for Asian immigrants. Asian immigration was limited, because of the Chinese Exclusion Act and other laws. It was very hard for an Asian to enter the country; most spent weeks or months on the island, and many were sent back home. Angel island was another way to slow immigration from unfavorable countries.
The NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was created in order to help pursue equality in political, social, and economic domains for colored people. The NAACP played a large role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, organizing rallies and helping to boycott the buses of Montgomery, Alabama, after Rosa Parks's arrest.
Ellis Island was the first stop for immigrants coming to America from Europe. Many southern European and Western European immigrants came over to America during the early 1900s in search of making a better living. However, to be admitted into the country, they had to pass various tests, like health inspections. As a result, many people had to be deported as a result of failing the exam. Ellis Island was the first of many hardships for immigrants coming to America, as they were not treated like Americans but inferior people, as they would be in factories and mills.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/ellis-island/ellis-island.jpg (picture source)
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark Supreme Court decision made in 1896. The decision stated that racial segregation in prive business was constitutional, under the terms of "seperate, but equal". It was later overturned and ruled unconstitutional in education in the courtcase Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Plessy v. Ferguson was important because it allowed Southern states to pass and enforce Jim Crow laws, the main source of African American segregation and the eventual start of the Civil Rights movement.
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and served in office from October 2, 1953 to June 23, 1969. He is best known for the decisions of the Warren court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending school prayer, and requiring "one-man-one-vote." He made the Court a power center on a more even base with Congress and the presidency through four landmark decisions: Brown vs. Board of Education, Gideon vs. Wainwright, Reynolds vs. Sims, and Miranda vs. Arizona.
On December 28th, 1890, near wounded knee creek, The US 7th calvary intercepted a group of native Americans. The next day, the calvary went around to disarm the indians. When they went to an indian by the name of Black Coyote, he was unwilling to give up his gun because he was deaf. A scuffle occured, and then a gun shot was fired. This caused the 7th cavalry to open fire on the indian camp. Even the ones who were unarmed who fled were chased and shot down. By the end of the battle, atleast 150 men, women, and Children of the Lakota Sioux were dead. 20 members of the 17th cavalry received medal of honors for their jobs in the battle. These were highly controversial, especially amont the Native Americans. The battle was devestating to the Native Americans because it showed that they were no longer capable of fighting for their land. Also, It is said that this battle marked the last conflict between Native Americans and whites.
The Ghost Dance was a religious movement in 1890 of the Native Americans, a religious tradition used by Native Americans since prehistoric times. The Ghost Dance practice spread through Indian culture, reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. Their prophet, Jack Wilson, prophesied a peaceful end to expansion. The Ghost Dance brought together different aspects of each Native American religion, which in turn brought Native Americans closer together as a group.
Allowed the US government to suspend immigration, and this was applied to the Chinese. When this act was passed, it was intended to last 10 years. This act was well liked by most of America, and it allowed for Americans to get more labor jobs that the Chinese immigrants were taking.
This was a battle between Arapaho, Lakota, and Norhtern Cheyenne against the 7th Cavalry Unit of the US army. The battle was also called Cutler's Last Stand, because the Indians annihilated five companies, and killed the major leaders, including George Custer. Of the 700 US soldiers, 268 were killed and 55 more were wounded. This led to an even stronger hatred of the Native American by the Americans, would eventually lead to even worse battles with more casualties
This amendment was added to the US Constitution in 1870 and prohinited the denial of any citizen the right to vote, regardless of his race, but excluding women. It did not include the right for blacks to hold office however, and many states required payment of poll taxes, litereacy and property ownership in order to vote. Although blacks legally possessed the right to vote, many were still denied, which paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America has to do with citizenship and due process, in addition to more details about the process of electing representatives. It states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." This amendment declares all such persons to be citizens regardless of race.
The Ku Klux Klan was a white terror group that emerged in the South during Reconstruction and was composed of southern whites who refused to accept racial equality. Members of the Klan were generally anglo-saxon protestants and fought against increased rights for blacks that policies like the 14th and 15th admendments provided them. To do so, they used force and violence. The Klan was responsible for multiple lynchings of blacks and eventually scared blacks out of taking advantage of their newfound rights. As a result, blacks still did not have racial equality, even though they were free. They were also not represented in the government because the klan also scared them from voting. As a result, they were stuck in the South's racists ways for decades to come.
http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/kkk1.jpg (picture source)
Congressional Reconstruction began in 1866 when Congress took over reconstruction from President Johnson. Congress began their Reconstruction attempts by not allowing representatives from former confederate states to sit in Congress. This allowed them to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and then they wrote the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which gave citizenship rights to African Americans. The 14th Amendment also lowered the number of representatives from southern states who did not allow African Americans to vote from participating in Congress. In 1870, Congressional reconstruction progressed with the ratification of the 15th Amendment. The amendment gave voting rights to black men. Congress also overrode president Johnson’s veto and passed an act to divide the South into military districts as well as placing former Confederate states under martial law in 1867. Congressional Reconstruction created the 14th Amendment, and they ratified the 15th Amendment which had great effects on the modern civil rights movement. In cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, the 14th amendment was a major focal point in the decision. Also, African American voting rights had major implications on black southerners as well as movements such as the Mississippi Freedom Summer.
After abolishing slavery with the 13th Amendment, Andrew Johnson hoped to restore the Confederate states to the Union. Before doing so it was necessary that they accepted the 13th Amendment, pledge loyalty to the Union, and discard their ordinances of succession as well as their Confederate debt. Johnson upset the Rebublican Party by vetoing the first Civil Rights bill as well as an extention of the Freedman's Bureau. He also forced black families off of the US Army land that they had been living on, and approved the Black Codes that the southern states established to assure that former slaves continued to be dependent on plantation owners.
Sherman's March was the march of the Union commision under the command of General William Sherman through the South. Sherman used the philosophy of total war and went on a march from Atlanta to Savannah, and then up into the Carolinas, destroying everything the Confederates could utilize for war in his path. Sherman's army decided to abandon Union supply lines and live off the land by pillaging the towns it passed along the journey. Sherman succeeded in both crushing the moral of the South and its ability to economically support its war efforts. Since railroads and farms were in ruins, Confederate supplies ran thin, decreasing their odds for a victory.
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Constructed during the Civil War, this project was funded by 30-year U.S. government bonds and extensive land grants of government-owned land. These were authorized by the Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864. The railraod provided a necessary link between the East in the West, which allowed for trade, commerce, and travel, that had been previously unavailable.
The emancipation proclomation guarunteed that all slaves who lived under confederate controlled land would be free after January 1. This proclomation did not apply to any of the border states or union states. This is significant because it freed all slaves in the south, but was controversial because it did not outlaw slavery in the entire country.
The emancipation proclamation guaranteed that all slaves who lived under confederate controlled land would be free after January 1. This proclamation did not apply to any of the border states or union states. This is significant because it freed all slaves in the south, but was controversial because it did not outlaw slavery in the entire country.
The Battle of Antietam took place in Maryland between the Union and the Confederate Army during the Civil War in September or 1862. The Battle of Antietam was the most brutal battle in the Civil War with approximately 23,000 deaths. The South tried to move into Northern territory in Maryland, but the North withstood their attack and pushed them back into Virginia. The Battle of Antietam was important because with the Northern victory, it enabled Lincoln to make the anticipated Emancipation Proclaimation to the country.
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln nationally suspended the right to the writ of Habeas Corpus, as he saw it necessary in protecting the American people. Habeas Corpus is the law that every person is innocent until proven guilty. The nation was in a time of rebellion, however, and as outlined by the Constitution, the writ may be suspended during rebellion for the good of the people. Many disagreed with Lincoln's action as they interpreted the Constitution differently and believed the suspension to be in violation of his executive powers. They feared he possessed too much power, but Lincoln's intentions were solely to preserve the Union, which he did.
South Carolina demanded that the US Army abandon Fort Sumter since is was on South Carolina property and they no longer considered themselves part of the Union. The Union, of course, refused to do such a thing so a battle ensued until the Fort was surrendered. There were no casualties and losses on either side. This is significant because it is what started the Civil War. After this attack occurred, on both sides, there was an uprising in the desire for more military action.
South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20th, 1860, in reaction to Lincoln's election. Soon six other states joined South Carolina to create the Confederate States of America. The Confederation was formed because of the strong differences between the North and South, which were mostly based around slavery. The formation of the Confederacy led to the Civil War, which resulted in the destruction of slavery.
The election that was prior to the Civil war the Lincoln had successfully won. Many of the main topics to debate were slavery, and new territory ownership between the north and the south. After this election, the civil war began and Lincoln was caught in between the North and the South.
Was a political party in the United States established in 1860, and made up of prior conservative Whigs. The main issue addressed was that the Whigs did not want the union to fall apart over the slavery conflict. Members of the Know-Nothing party also joined with the Whigs. They wanted to rally support for the Union and the Constitution without regard to sectional issues. They were formed right before the election of 1860, nominating John Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice President. The party recognized “no political principle but the Constitution of the country, the union of the states and the enforcement of laws.”
This was an attempt by abolistionist John Brown to start an armed slave revolt by seizing the US Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to supply the rebellion. Once the slaves and Brown had sufficient supplies, they were able to pillage the town of Harpers Ferry, and start killing the white inhabitants of the area. Brown and the slaves held Harpers Ferry for the better part of 2 days, but Colonel Robert E. Lee was able to successfully quell the uprising. This is significant because the slave owners in the south became scared of other slave rebellions happening in the south.
The Lecompton Constitution was formed in 1857 by the pro-slavery party elected in Kansas. The Constitution was based on the question of whether Kansas should enter the Union as a Free or Slave State. It proposed the protection of the rights of the slave holders already living in Kansas to their slave property. It also proposed that Kansas would enter the Union as a Slave state. However there was a fraud election to bring the party into office so whenever Kansas asked to be a Slave state, Washington decided for them to be free.
Dred Scott was a slave who was taken north by his master. Scott claimed that he was free because of the time he lived in Illinois and the Wisconsin territory, which were free because of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri compromise, respectively. The Supreme Court decided that they could not intervene because Dred Scott is not a citizen. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not free slaves brought into the north because of the Fifth Amendment. This allowed slavery all over the union, and gave much more power to southern slave owners, who were no longer as reliant on northerners.
Dred Scott was a slave who was taken north by his master. Scott claimed that he was free because of the time he lived in Illinois and the Wisconsin territory, which were free because of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri compromise, respectively. The Supreme Court decided that they could not intervene because Dred Scott is not a citizen. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not free slaves brought into the north because of the Fifth Amendment. This allowed slavery all over the union, and gave much more power to southern slave owners, who were no longer as reliant on northerners.
On May 17th, an abolitionist Senator by the name of Charles Sumner gave a very opinionated speech called “The Crime Against Kansas” in which he expressed his frustration towards slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In the speech, Sumner made fun of a man by the name of Andrew Butler for being handicapped. Butler was also the uncle of Preston Brooks. This sparked the Sumner-Brooks incident which was an attack made by Preston Brooks on Charles Sumner on the house floor just a few days after Sumner’s speech because Preston Brook’s wanted to stand up for his uncle and the South. Brooks hit Sumner multiple times in the head with his cane which caused severe bleeding. Preston Brooks attack on Charles Sumner represented how the South was willing to stand up for themselves against Northern attacks from people such as Sumner. In the South, Brooks was a hero for what he did. This event helped build the political tension between the North and South and eventually to the Civil War.
Bleeding Kansas is a term used to describe the aftermath of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Following the passage of the act, it remained questionable whether the two states, Kansas and Nebraska, would be free or slave states. This formed the basis for the feud, primarily in Kansas. At one point, two separate and opposing governments existed in the state, which became the reason for violent outbreaks and killings that characterize the time period. This aftermath, as well as several other factors, escalated the slavery debate and led to the start of the Civil War.
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