Timeline by Tiana Corpening

January 16, 1865 Forty Acres and a Mule

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 17:07:00 UTC

On this day General William Issued an order that redistributed roughly 400,000 confiscated acres of land in Georgia and South Carolina to newly freed Black families. This plan was also called Forty-Acres and a Mule. This plan came from the newly freed African Americans themselves because their goal was to eventually gain economic independence and self sufficiency. This directly impacted the Civil Rights Movement by highlighting the racial inequality Black Americans faced.

April 14, 1865 Lincoln's Assassination

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 22:04:47 UTC

Six days after the Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln was shot and assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. 41 days before Lincoln passed he passed his second inaugural address that made the north and south come to an agreement. Lincolns assassination negatively impacted the Civil Rights Movement during Reconstruction by weakening the protection of African American rights. He would have been the president who was most likely to push for strong civil rights protections.

March 2, 1867 Reconstruction Act of 1867

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 22:14:56 UTC

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 happened on this day. The bill divided former Confederate states except for Tennessee into 5 military districts. each state was required to write a new constitution which had to be approved by a majority of voters including African Americans in that state. Each state was also required to ratify the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution. This was to protect the rights of African Americans and their property.

February 23, 1870

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 22:22:55 UTC

On this. day an African Methodist Episcopal minister, became the first African American to serve in Congress. During Reconstruction 16 African Americans served in Congress and by 1870 three Black men held three congressional seats in South Carolina and a seat on the state Supreme Court. Over 600 Black men served in state legislators during the reconstruction period. This had an impact on the civil rights movement by showing that African Americans can be equal to White Americans and shows how far African Americans have come.

March 1, 1875 Civil Rights Act of 1875

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 22:32:29 UTC

This was the last major piece of major Reconstruction legislation, the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This guaranteed African Americans Equal treatment in public transportation, public accommodations, and jury service. This act only had a limited impact on the Civil Rights Movement due to the act being declared unconstitutional in 1883.

1877 End of Reconstruction

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 22:45:58 UTC

The Compromise of 1877 led to the withdrawal of federal troops from the south which ended Reconstruction.

1881 Tuskegee Institute

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 23:12:04 UTC

The Tuskegee University was founded by Booker T. Washington. It provided vocational education for African Americans. This University impacted the Civil Rights Movement by a lot and showed the potential of African Americans.

1883 Civil Rights Cases

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 23:18:37 UTC

The Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This lead to allowing private discrimination by businesses and individuals. This paved a way for Jim Crow Laws and legalized segregation. This undermined the civil rights movement by weakening federal protections for African Americans.

1895 Atlanta Compromise

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 23:27:39 UTC

Booker T. Washington delivered a speech on Black self reliance and vocational education in Atlanta. Many White Americans Liked the speech and what Booker T was proposing. But many black leaders eventually started to disagree with this and thought he was focusing too much on white supremacy and segregation. This impacted the civil rights movement by advocating for the strategy of economic self reliance for African Americans though some were against it.

1896 Plessy v. Ferguson

tcorp3658 — 2025-05-02 23:37:53 UTC

The supreme Court had a case involving Homer plessy a mixed raced man who went against segregation laws by sitting in a whites only train car. The court ruled the "separate but equal" facilities for black and white people do not violate the 14th amendment. This led to Jim Crow laws being legalized. This had a significant impact on the Civil rights movement and worsened the situation for many African Americans.