The following are short descriptions of major events which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
The Watts Truce was a peace agreement among rival Blood and Crips street gangs in Los Angeles, California, mainly in the neighborhood of Watts. The Watts Truce occurred days before the Rodney King Riots. This truce was a significant factor in the decline of street … Read MoreThe Watts Truce (1992)
On January 16, 1989, Miami police officer William Lozano shot and killed Clement Lloyd, an African American motorcyclist. Allen Blanchard, Lloyd’s passenger, was injured so severely that he died the next day. The shooting sparked riots in the Overtown and Liberty City sections of Miami, … Read MoreOvertown-Liberty City (Miami) Riot (1989)
The “March Against Fear” began on June 5, 1966, and was initiated by civil rights activist James Meredith. Four years earlier he had become the first African American student to integrate the University of Mississippi by enrolling there in 1962. Meredith decided to protest the … Read MoreJames Meredith’s March Against Fear (1966)
The California Gold Rush, from 1848 to 1860, began after gold was discovered by carpenter and sawmill operator James W. Marshall on January 24, 1848. After Marshall’s discovery, thousands of people came to the goldfields in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern … Read MoreAfrican Americans in the California Gold Rush (1848-1860)
On Friday, August 21, 1863, the Lawrence Massacre, also known as Quantrill’s Raid, took place. It was a battle between the Free Staters of Lawrence and the supporters of slavery living in Missouri. The result of this bloody confrontation was the death of about 190 … Read MoreThe Lawrence Massacre: Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, Kansas (1863)
The Compromise of 1850, enacted in September of that year, was a failed attempt to diffuse a tense political situation between free and slave states that had emerged after the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). As a result of Mexico’s defeat, that nation ceded a vast territory … Read MoreThe Compromise of 1850
Bleeding Kansas was a series of violent clashes between supporters and opponents of slavery over control of the new territory of Kansas. It is also known as “Bloody Kansas” and the Border War. The conflict intensified the ongoing debate over the future of slavery in … Read MoreBleeding Kansas (1854-1861)
By the end of the Civil War, African Americans made up nearly half of the population of Florida. As in other Southern states, most Blacks in Florida before the Civil War were enslaved people and none had the right to vote. The passage of the … Read MoreThe Florida Poll Tax (1889-1941)
Congressman John Conyers, a Black Democratic U.S. representative from Michigan, introduced the first legislation to establish the holiday on April 8, 1968, four days after Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. However, the bill honoring the life and work of the civil and … Read MoreEstablishing MLK Holiday (1983)
The Cicero Riot of 1951 occurred from July 11-12, 1951, when a mob of approximately 4,000 whites attacked an apartment building an African American family had recently moved into in Cicero, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The events leading up to the riot began in June … Read MoreThe Cicero Riot of 1951
