Major Historical Events

The Lewis and Clark expedition was a very interesting trip for the two men.  On their journey they faced quite a few challenges and even made a new friend named Sacajawea who they had to say goodbye to after she led them further on their expedition.  Lewis and Clark also made friends with a few Indian tribes that they ran into on their journey.  Conditions weren't always in their favor but they managed to stay sheltered and survive during the toughest of times.

Jackie Robinson broke through the racial barrier of baseball in 1947. By breaking the color barrier in baseball, the nation's preeminent sport, he courageously challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and the South.

Rosa Parks is another African American hero. During the time when segregation was a way of life in America and people with dark colored skin were not given the rights which white individuals enjoyed, she made a stand. Buses were segregated, whites in the front and blacks in the back. When there were not enough seats, a black person had to give up their seat to a white person. Rosa Parks decided that she did not want to sit in the back of the bus or give up her seat to a white person and she ended up going to jail for it. This was a break through for African Americans in that they realized they could peacefully stand up to their oppressors.

Martin Luther King Junior was another influential African American. He spoke out on the issues of segregation and discrimination. He led many marches and gave many speeches that supported a peaceful end to segregation. He was a martyr for the African American cause after he was shot and killed outside his motel room. 

Other important people and events which influenced African American life are as follows:

• Brown vs. Board of Education - end to segregation in education
• Harriet Tubman - led many slaves to freedom using the underground railroad
• Emancipation Proclamation - given by Abraham Lincoln which freed the slaves
• The Civil War - put a final end to slavery
• Nat Turner's Rebellion -  Slave rebellion
• Barack Obama - first black president of the United States
• Thurgood Marshall - first Supreme Court Justice of the United States
• William Lloyd Garrison - published the Liborator which advocated an end to all slavery
• Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution is ratified - prohibits slavery
• Fifteenth Amendment to the constitution is ratified - gives blacks the right to vote
• NAACP - committee which presses for end to segregation and more rights for blacks