American civil rights and race relations key date summaries

Civil rights and race relations in the USA 1850-2009 key date summary

1787 the new constitution in America- The new form of government that was made in the USA consisted of 3 branches of government in the federal government which was the executive branch which the American people voted for, congress the legislative branch which the American people also voted for sand the supreme court.

1861-5 the outbreak of civil war in America- When new land was acquired clashes began between the non-slave owning North who did not want the spread of slavery and the slave owning South. This caused frequent clashes between the North and the South. When the Republican Abraham Lincoln became president of the USA the South feared for the future of slavery. This prompted the South to make a new state called the confederacy therefore starting the civil war.

September 1862 the Emancipation Proclamation- said that slave’s form Confederate states that were occupied by Union forces would be freed. However it allowed slavery to continue in slave owning states.

1864 the 13^th Amendment- the 13^th amendment was passed by Abraham Lincoln and ended slavery. There were many reasons that the 13^th amendment was passed that included that slavery had been a moral issue for some time, it ensured that another civil war would not start and many black soldiers had fought for the Union during the civil war that it would be unfair to just return them to slavery. This was the starting point of African Americans getting civil rights in America; although it was only the first step without it then many African Americans would still be slaves.

1864 the development of share cropping- Many white southerners were not willing to accept ex slaves as there equals and were often trying to find ways to ensure that the end of slavery would not negatively affect their economy which was based in agriculture so developed sharecropping. Many African Americans were forced into signing work contracts in which a white landowner would provide the tools needed and then order the black workers to provide labour.

March 1865 the Freedman’s Bureau- this was designed to help black Americans by giving them food, clothes and medical care. This helped many freed slaves who were poor due to being trapped in the South. It also helped with education and employment.

1865 Andrew Johnson becomes president- Johnson had southern sympathies so was not as harsh on the South as he had hoped. Under his presidential reconstruction he allowed the South to re-establish their power.

1866 the formation of the KKK- This was an armed racist group that was established in most of the South that aimed to restore white supremacy. As black Americans began to get more rights the Klan grew rapidly. Their main targets were schools, churches and black officials as they posed a potential threat to white supremacy as they encouraged black people to vote.

1867-77 Radical Reconstruction- When congress met in 1865 they were dissatisfied…