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History of the United States (1945–1964) Martin Luther King, Jr. leads civil rights protestors during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of major social and political changes in the United States.
- Jim Crow Laws
- World War II and Civil Rights
- Rosa Parks
- Little Rock Nine
- Civil Rights Act of 1957
- Sit-In at Woolworth's Lunch Counter
- Freedom Riders
- March on Washington
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Bloody Sunday
During Reconstruction, Black people took on leadership roles like never before. They held public office and sought legislative changes for equality and the right to vote. In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave Black people equal protection under the law. In 1870, the 15th Amendmentgranted Black American men the right to vote. Still, m...
Prior to World War II, most Black people worked as low-wage farmers, factory workers, domestics or servants. By the early 1940s, war-related work was booming, but most Black Americans weren’t given better-paying jobs. They were also discouraged from joining the military. After thousands of Black people threatened to march on Washington to demand eq...
On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parksfound a seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus after work. Segregation laws at the time stated Black passengers must sit in designated seats at the back of the bus, and Parks complied. When a white man got on the bus and couldn’t find a seat in the white section at the front of the bus, the bus dr...
In 1954, the civil rights movement gained momentum when the United States Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. In 1957, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas asked for volunteers from all-Black high schools to attend the formerly segregated school. On September 4, 1957, nine Bla...
Even though all Americans had gained the right to vote, many southern states made it difficult for Black citizens. They often required prospective voters of color to take literacy tests that were confusing, misleading and nearly impossible to pass. Wanting to show a commitment to the civil rights movement and minimize racial tensions in the South, ...
Despite making some gains, Black Americans still experienced blatant prejudice in their daily lives. On February 1, 1960, four college students took a stand against segregation in Greensboro, North Carolina when they refused to leave a Woolworth’s lunch counter without being served. Over the next several days, hundreds of people joined their cause ...
On May 4, 1961, 13 “Freedom Riders”—seven Black and six white activists–mounted a Greyhound bus in Washington, D.C., embarking on a bus tour of the American south to protest segregated bus terminals. They were testing the 1960 decision by the Supreme Court in Boynton v. Virginiathat declared the segregation of interstate transportation facilities u...
Arguably one of the most famous events of the civil rights movement took place on August 28, 1963: the March on Washington. It was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustinand Martin Luther King Jr. More than 200,000 people of all races congregated in Washington, D. C. for the peaceful march with the m...
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964—legislation initiated by President John F. Kennedy before his assassination—into law on July 2 of that year. King and other civil rights activists witnessed the signing. The law guaranteed equal employment for all, limited the use of voter literacy tests and allowed federal authorities...
On March 7, 1965, the civil rights movement in Alabama took an especially violent turn as 600 peaceful demonstrators participated in the Selma to Montgomery marchto protest the killing of Black civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson by a white police officer and to encourage legislation to enforce the 15th amendment. As the protesters neared the ...
- 1960. The decade opened with a presidential election that included the first televised debates between the two candidates: John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
- 1961. On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps, a federal agency designed to give Americans an opportunity to serve their country and the world through volunteer community-based projects.
- 1962. The biggest event of 1962 was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Through this event, the United States was on edge for 13 days (October 16–28) during a confrontation with the Soviet Union.
- 1963. The news of this year made an indelible mark on the nation with the assassination of JFK on November 22 in Dallas while he was visiting on a campaign trip.
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Apr 6, 2024 · April 6, 2024. Creativity. The 1960s were a defining decade for social movements, not just in the United States but also in Canada and parts of Western Europe. You might be familiar with the iconic images of peace signs and protest marches, emblems of a time when individuals and groups stood up en masse against the status quo.
e. The 1960s (pronounced "nineteen-sixties", shortened to the " '60s " or the " Sixties ") was a decade that began on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. [1] While the achievements of humans being launched into space, orbiting Earth, and walking on the Moon extended exploration, the Sixties are known as the "countercultural decade ...
Mar 9, 2010 · March 9, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. It was a decade of extremes, of transformational change and bizarre contrasts: flower children and assassins, idealism and alienation, rebellion and backlash. For many...
Timeline 1960s. The Timeline highlights significant developments in the history of financial regulation against U.S. and world events. Choose a decade to start, scroll down to read more. Learn more about building the Timeline. 1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s; 2010s
