American Civil Rights Movement
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.
Timeline
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) established.
The Supreme Court declared segregation on buses that crossed state borders was illegal.
President Truman established a Committee on Civil Rights.
Discrimination in the armed forces was banned.
The Supreme Court declared segregation in schools to be unconstitutional.
Montgomery Bus Boycott began after the arrest of Rosa Parks.
The Little Rock High School clash occurs and Eisenhower had to use Federal troops to
enforce the law.
Civil Rights Act passed.
The arrest of the Freedom Riders in the South.
James Meredith’s attempt to attend Mississippi University was only successful as a result
of Federal troops being used.
NAACP leader – Medgar Evers – was assassinated.
Riots in Harlem (New York), Chicago, Rochester + Philadelphia.
Dr. Martin Luther King was awarded the Noble Peace Prize.
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.
1942
1946
1948
1954
1955
1957
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1967
State laws forbidding inter-racial marriage were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court.
1968
Thurgood Marshall became the first Black American to be appointed to the Supreme Court
by Texan president Lyndon Johnson.
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.