Black History

Missouri Compromise

A bill passed in March 1820 that allowed Maine to enter as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, maintaining an even balance of slave and free states.

Dred Scott Case

A landmark case in 1857 where the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin; signed by President Lyndon Johnson.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by President Lincoln that declared all slaves in Confederate states free.

Reconstruction Era

Time period from 1865 to 1877 after the Civil War aimed at reintegrating freed slaves and rebuilding the South.

Sharecroppers

Tenant farmers who worked land in exchange for a share of the crops, often leading to a cycle of poverty.

Jim Crow Era

Period characterized by legalized racial segregation in the United States, enforced by Jim Crow laws.

Bloody Sunday

A violent attack on peaceful protesters in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, that catalyzed the Voting Rights Act.

Black Codes

Laws passed post-Civil War to restrict the rights of former slaves and maintain white supremacy.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

Lynching

Illegal executions by a racially motivated mob, often used to intimidate African Americans and suppress their rights.

Grandfather Clause

A voting restriction that exempted individuals from literacy tests and poll taxes based on their ancestors' voting rights.

Plessy v. Ferguson

A Supreme Court case that established the 'separate but equal' doctrine and upheld racial segregation.

Brown v. Board of Education

A Supreme Court ruling that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Poll Tax

A fee required to vote, which served as a barrier for African Americans and impoverished individuals.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist hate group formed in 1866 that used intimidation and violence to maintain white dominance.

Andrew Johnson

Vice President who became President after Lincoln's assassination; opposed civil rights measures and faced impeachment.

Charles Houston

A civil rights attorney known as 'the man who killed Jim Crow' for his efforts against segregation.