African American History

a 1739 uprising of slaves in South Carolina, leading to the tightening of already harsh slave laws

a law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves; allowed for the arrest of escaped slaves in areas where slavery was illegal and required their return to slaveholders

A mechanical genius who invented the cotton gin, which was machine that separated the cotton from the seed. This greatly improved efficiency, and the South was able to clear more acres of cotton fields, which also increased the demand for slaves.

a system that helped enslaved African Americans follow a network of escape routes out of the South to freedom in the North

United States abolitionist born a slave on a plantation in Maryland and became a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad leading other slaves to freedom in the North

american abolitionist and writer, he escaped slavery and became the leading african american spokesperson and writer

Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book about a slave who is treated badly, in 1852. The book persuaded more people, particularly Northerners, to become anti-slavery.

An 1858 Supreme Court case in which a slave sued for his freedom but the court ruled against Scott because he wasn't a U.S.citizen

issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, it declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free

abolished slavery in the U.S.

Southern laws designed to restrict the rights of the newly freed black slaves

founded in the 1860s in the south; meant to control newly freed slaves through threats and violence

Leader of African American pioneers know as exodusters, who moved to the Great Plains after the Civil War.

The "separate but equal" segregation laws state and local laws enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965

a tax required before a person can vote

Help founded NAACP, thought African American should focus on economic change over political change

Supreme Court ruled that segregation public places facilities were legal as long as the facilites were equal

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867; this was a way to keep black people from voting

fought for African American rights. Helped to found Niagra Movement in 1905 to fight for and establish equal rights. This movement later led to the establishment of the NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to work for racial equality

movement of over 300,000 African American from the rural south into Northern cities between 1914 and 1920

Period during the 1920's when New York City's Harlem became an intellectual and cultural capital for African Americans; rebirth of art and culture

African-American actress, singer, opera performer, first black women to star in major motion picture; she moved to France

Leading African American jazz musician during the Harlem Renaissance; he was a talented trumpeter whose style influenced many later musicians.

A leading poet of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "My People"

he was one of New York's most successful bandleaders, resident at Harlem's Cotton Club

wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God; 20th century African-American writer; folklorist during the Harlem Renaissance

This African American athlete, born on an Alabama sharecropping farm, won three individual and one team gold medal in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. He became the first Olympian ever to win four gold medals. Adolf Hitler left the stadium to avoid congratulating him.

1930s black heavyweight boxing champion; model to ghettos of how a poor man could rise to fame and fortune

Famous African American artist; completed a famous painting showing the Great Migration

The first African American player in the major league of baseball. His actions helped to bring about other opportunities for African Americans.

Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, overturned Plessey v Ferguson; lead to the desegration of schools in 1954

United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national civil rights movement

America's greatest civil rights leader; his nonviolent protests gained national attention and resulted in government protection of African American rights; he was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, TN

1940s&50s; black jazz musician invented bebop, rejecting white expectations for black music; challenged traditions, spontaneous, FREE; inspired challenging of authority and encouraged people to stand up for civil rights

nonviolent protests in which a person sits and refuses to leave; it was a way to protest in a nonviolent way

Freedom Riders rode in interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the ruling of unsegregated public places

Black nationalist; disagreed with nonviolent resistence as a way to win rights for African Americans, he advocated for violent resistence

created legal basis for nondiscrimination in housing, education, public accommodations, federally assisted programs, and employment; prohibits discrimination based on: race or color, sex or religion, national original

United States prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942); became know as Muhammad Ali when he converted to Nation of Islam

American civil rights lawyer, first black justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall was a tireless advocate for the rights of minorities and the poor

United States professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth

United States civil rights leader who led a national anti-discrimination campaign and ran for presidential nomination (born in 1941)

United States general who was the first Black to serve as Chief of Staff noun

an African-American motorist driver who, in 1991 was stopped and then beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers

The first African American President of the United States