1. OUR NATION
CELEBRATES
BLACK HISTORY
MONTH

2. Black History Month
is celebrated
in February.
We are asked to remember the
many African-Americans in our
country who struggled for
“civil rights.”

3. The Fight for Freedom
1700’s
• During the 1700’s the
Black slave trade was
centered in New England
• Many states pass laws
prohibiting slaves from
voting, owning land, and
even learning to read.
• The abolitionist movement
begins.

4. Crispus Attucks
Did you know?
In 1770, Crispus
Attucks, a runaway
slave was the first
American killed in
the Boston
Massacre- a battle
between the
British and the
colonists.

5. In 1776- the Second Continental
Congress banned the importation
of slaves- but it continued
ILLEGALLY!

6. So- what was a slave to do?
Some, like Elizabeth “Mum Bett”
Freeman, sued. She successfully sued
for her freedom in 1780- stating that
the law said “ all men were created
equal”
Some, like Denmark Vesey,
organized a rebellion and
were killed.

7. So- what was a slave to do?
Still others simply escaped into the “free” states.
Henry Brown escaped slavery by climbing into a box and
shipping himself from Virginia to Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania

8. The Road to Rights
In 1863, when
President Lincoln
freed the slaves with
the Emancipation
Proclamation, many
states began to pass
laws limiting the rights
of black people.

9. Important figures of the
1800’s

10. Sojourner Truth
worked as a women’s
rights activist in
New York and other
states in the early
1800’s. She began
her work with groups
designed to assist all
women and was a
speaker all over the
country speaking for
women’s rights.

11. Harriet Tubman
was another slave
who worked to free
slaves. She ran
away and helped
other slaves escape
to freedom through
the Underground
Railroad.

12. Frederick Douglass started
his own newspaper called
the North Star, in which he
wrote against slavery.
Frederick Douglass
continued to travel around
the country giving speeches
about how he was a slave
and what it was like for him
growing up.
He tried to convince his
listeners to fight against
the evils of slavery.

13. Change without Violence
A growing number of people also used non-violence
protests to persuade other citizens that civil rights
were important to everyone. The most famous among
this group was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

14. Change without Violence
In 1960, four students from the North Carolina
Agriculture and Technical College sat-in at a Greensboro
restaurant where laws kept them from eating. That sit-in
sparked the formation of the Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee and many other protests.

15. Change without Violence
Soon African American’s
were riding in segregated
buses and defying other laws
they thought were bad.
Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in
the wrong part of the bus! She worked
with civil rights organizations to start
the Montgomery Bus Boycott and help
end segregation on buses
in the South.

16. Change without Violence
In 1963, more than 250,000 people marched on
Washington, D.C., to push for civil rights. Dr. King
gave his most famous speech at this event. Dr. King
later was assassinated in 1968.

17. The Sixties Struggle
The civil rights movement
of the 1960’s took many
forms. Some groups, like
the Black Panthers urged
blacks to rely on
themselves. Others, such
as Malcolm X advocated
equality by any means
necessary.

18. Enduring Impact
Everyone now recognizes the effect of the
African-American struggle for civil rights. It has
inspired similar efforts among Latinos, Native
Americans, the elderly, and women.