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Uncle Tom's Cabin was published
Uncle Tom's Cabin was an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that helped lay the basis for the Civil War. Stowe wrote the novel as a response to the 1850 passage of the second Fugitive Slave Act and was partly inspired by the slave narrative, "The Life of Josiah Henson..." -
The Sacking of Lawrence in Bleeding Kansas
The Sacking Of Lawrence began when a group of pro-slavery activists attacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas, which was formed by people who were against slavery. A posse of 800 southerners led by Sheriff Jones hoped to disarm the citizens, wreck the town's anti-slavery presses, and destroy the Free State Hotel. -
Ida B. Wells publishes her pamphlet Southern Horrors
(no specific date was given) Ida B. Wells was one of the most outspoken African Americans of lynching. Because she verbalized her position against lynching in her Memphis newspaper, The Free Speech, a mob destroyed the newspaper’s office while Wells was out of town. In the pamphlet, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, Wells draws on this example plus many others dealing with lynching. -
Supreme Court Case, Plessy vs. Ferguson
The Supreme Coutr case, Plessy vs. Ferguson confirmed the dicrtine "seperate but equal." This case deals with laws concerning racial segrecation. This case ruled, 7 to 1, that racial segregation was legal as long as facilities were made for both races. The case arouse from an event similar to the Rosa Parks bus boycott. Homer Plessy, a man who was one eighth african descent, refused to move from the white section of a railroad car. -
The Great Migration
(1916-1940) The Great Migration was the movement of over 6 million African Americans to he northeast, midwest, and west. After moving from the racist pressures of the south to the northern states more African Americans were able to find to time to tap into creativity. The Great Migration drained off most of the rural black population of the South, and, for a time, froze African American population growth in parts of the region. -
East St. Louis Riot
(May and June) The East St. Louis Riot was a race and labor based riot that took place on the banks of the Mississippi River. It has been described as one of the worst race riots in U.S. history. In simplest terms, the riot started because the world war caused a breach in jobs and the colored people were migrating north to seek for work. Some whites feared they would be booted out of their jobs by their new competition. Tensions between the groups escalated, and the attack on the blacks began. -
The Red Summer
The Red Summer refers to the many race riots of th summer of 1919. These riots occurred in more than 3 dozen cities and in most instances, whites attacked African Americans. The majority of the riots were in Chicago,Washington, and Arkansas.Many factories encountered serious labor shortages because white men were enlisting in World War I. White workers resented the presence of African-Americans, who were now competition for employment. These blacks came mostly from the Great Migration. -
Billie Holiday first performs "Strange Fruit" in New York
"Strange Fruit" is a song most famously performed by Billie Holiday. It protests racism and lynchings of African Americans. It was first written as a poem by Abel Meeropol, a white, jewish school teacher. Holiday first performed the song at Cafe Society, New York's frist integrated night club, in 1939. -
Felton Turner was attacked with initials KKK on his chest
Felton Turner was an african american whos survival from a vicsious attack helped raise awarness to the African-American community in Houston about the many injustices committed. The man was kidnapped at gunpoint and transported five blocks away. During the ride, Turner was hit with a chain about 30 times, then watched the men carve two sets of "KKK" into his chest, in recognition to the Ku Klux Klan. he was then hanged in a nearby tree. -
Selma to Montgomery march a.k.a. Bloody Sunday
"Bloddy Sunday" was one of the major events that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The march was an attempt to walk for 54 miles along the highway from Selma to the Alabama state capitol of Montgomery. The peoples' purpose for this was to relieve the trauma and anger caused by the killing of Voting Rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. The 600 marchers, protesting the death of Jackson, were attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas. -
First Interracial Kiss on American Television
"Plato's Stepchildren" is a third season episode of the original science fiction television series Star Trek.The kiss between Kirk (William Shatner) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) is the first interracial kiss portrayed on US television between a white and a black. -
Bombing of the MOVE house
MOVE was a black liberation group who focused on the "back-to-nature" life style and preached against technology. Since its founding, it was in perennial conflict with the Philidelphia Police Department. In 1985 the group made national news when police dropped a bomb on the house in an attempt to end the group. The explosion killed 11 people, including five children and the group's leader, John Africa. -
Rosa Rarks dies
Rosa Parks dies at the age of 92. She was famous for starting the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. She now lays in Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.
