Black History & Civil Rights Timeline

History, Haunts, & Hahas!
Feb 1
6 min read

Black History & Civil Rights Timeline

1500s–1700s: Early colonization, enslavement, resistance, and control

1526 (Aug.) — Ayllón’s colony attempt and enslaved Africans in the region

Spanish colonizer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón led an expedition that attempted to establish the settlement associated with San Miguel de Gualdape; accounts of the expedition include the presence of enslaved Africans. (The exact location is debated by historians; what matters here is the early arrival of Africans in Spanish colonial ventures along the southeastern coast.) (South Carolina Encyclopedia)

1619 (Aug.) — “20 and odd” Africans arrive at Point Comfort (Virginia)

English colonists acquired Africans taken from a slave ship, a pivotal moment in the growth of race-based slavery in English North America. (National Park Service)

1739 (Sept. 9) — Stono Rebellion (South Carolina Lowcountry)

A major uprising of enslaved people near the Stono River—one of the largest in the British mainland colonies. The backlash helped drive harsher slave laws. (The Library of Congress)

1740 (May 10) — South Carolina’s “Negro Act” / expanded slave code

In response to the Stono Rebellion, lawmakers tightened controls over enslaved people, codifying surveillance, restriction of movement, and punitive enforcement as foundations of slavery in the colony/state. (South Carolina Encyclopedia)

1700s–early 1800s: Charleston as a core site of slavery and its public markets

1780s — Slave sale advertising as a normalized public practice

Enslaved people were routinely advertised for sale in print, reflecting slavery’s integration into law and commerce. (National Archives)

1820s–1830s: Charleston repression, surveillance, and national antislavery crisis

1822 (June) — Attack on Charleston’s AME congregation (predecessor of today’s Emanuel AME)

White residents attacked/burned the predecessor congregation amid fears of insurrection, a reminder that Black worship and organizing were treated as threats by authorities. (UVA Engagement)

1822 (July 2) — Denmark Vesey conspiracy prosecutions and executions

Denmark Veseywas accused of planning a large revolt; he and many others were executed after secret proceedings. This event reshaped Charleston’s policing and surveillance of Black life for decades. (Wikipedia)

1835 (July) — Charleston “mail crisis” over abolitionist literature

In Charleston, a mob seized antislavery mail from the post office, escalating a national controversy over censorship, federal authority, and slavery’s political power. (JSTOR)

Civil War & Reconstruction: emancipation, citizenship, and backlash

1860 (Dec. 20) — South Carolina secedes

South Carolina became the first state to secede, with slavery at the center of the secession crisis. (National Park Service)

1861 (Apr. 12) — Attack on Fort Sumter (Charleston Harbor)

Confederate batteries fired onFort Sumter, widely marking the Civil War’s opening. (National Park Service)

1863 (Jan. 1) — Emancipation Proclamation

A wartime executive action that declared freedom for enslaved people in areas in rebellion and shifted the war’s moral/legal stakes. (National Archives)

1865 (Feb.) — Confederate evacuation of Charleston

Confederate forces evacuated Charleston as Union forces advanced; this transition marked a fundamental change in power and the beginning of a volatile “after” period for emancipation and Reconstruction. (National Park Service)

1865 (Mar. 3) — Freedmen’s Bureau established

Congress created the Bureau to assist formerly enslaved people—education, labor contracts, relief, and legal support—amid intense resistance across the South. (National Archives)

1865 (Apr. 19) — Nat Fuller’s “Emancipation Feast” (Charleston)

In Charleston, formerly enslaved chef Nat Fuller helped host a public feast celebrating emancipation—an important local marker of freedom and civic presence. (ldhi.library.cofc.edu)

1865 (Dec. 6) — 13th Amendment ratified

Abolished slavery (except as punishment for crime) nationwide. (National Archives)

1866 (Apr. 9) — Civil Rights Act of 1866

First major federal civil rights law after the Civil War, asserting national citizenship and equal benefit of laws—passed over President Johnson’s veto. (History, Art & Archives)

1866 (June 24) — Charleston Race Riot (near the Battery)

A violent confrontation near the Battery area left people injured and at least one death reported; it reflects how quickly emancipation-era hopes collided with organized and spontaneous white violence. (House Divided)

1868 (July 9) — 14th Amendment ratified

Guaranteed birthright citizenship and equal protection—core constitutional foundation for later civil rights litigation. (National Archives)

1870 (Feb. 3) — 15th Amendment ratified

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude—followed by a long era of evasions and suppression tactics. (National Archives)

1867–present — Black education institution-building in Charleston

The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture traces to Reconstruction-era schooling and community investment in education amid hostility and underfunding. (National Park Service)

1890s–1930s: Jim Crow architecture of law and daily life

1896 (May 18) — Plessy v. Ferguson

The Supreme Court upheld “separate but equal,” giving federal legal cover to segregation regimes for decades. (Research Guides)

Late 1800s–early 1900s — Jim Crow segregation and disenfranchisement (South Carolina + Charleston)

South Carolina’s segregation regime became deeply embedded in public life, including separate public facilities and unequal schooling; this was enforced through law, custom, and violence. Charleston’s public spaces were segregated as part of this system. (South Carolina Encyclopedia)

1899 — Lavinia Baker lynching case mistrial (Charleston federal court)

A federal prosecution effort ended in mistrial/limited acquittals, illustrating how difficult accountability was in lynching-era violence. (National Park Service)

1919 (May 10) — Charleston Riot of 1919 (“Red Summer” era violence)

White sailors and others roamed downtown Charleston attacking Black residents, smashing property, and spilling blood—part of a nationwide wave of racial terror after World War I. (Charleston County Public Library)

1926 (Feb.) — Negro History Week established

Historian Carter G. Woodsonand the Association for the Study of African American Life and History launched Negro History Week, later evolving into Black History Month. (Zinn Education Project)

1940s–1960s: Charleston labor rights, direct action, and landmark federal law

1945 (Oct.) — Charleston Cigar Factory Strike

A major labor action involving largely Black women workers demanding fair pay and treatment—an essential civil rights story told through labor and economic justice. (Salisbury Post)

1954 (May 17) — Brown v. Board of Education

The Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, overturning Plessy’s logic in public education. (National Archives)

1960 (Apr. 1) — S.H. Kress lunch counter sit-in (Charleston)

Black students challenged segregated public accommodations through nonviolent direct action—part of a broader sit-in movement reshaping public life and law. (SoundCloud)

1963 (June 16) — Civil rights march in Charleston

Organized demonstrations in Charleston protested segregation and unequal treatment—local activism connected directly to national movement networks and strategies. (Charleston County Public Library)

1964 (July 2) — Civil Rights Act of 1964

Banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and federally funded programs—major statutory turning point. (The Library of Congress)

1965 (Aug. 6) — Voting Rights Act of 1965

A landmark federal enforcement law targeting racial discrimination in voting—especially the suppression tactics used after Reconstruction. (National Archives)

1968–1969 — Charleston hospital workers’ strike (MUSC/area hospitals)

Black hospital workers struck over pay, working conditions, and dignity; the strike drew national attention and movement support, linking civil rights to labor rights in a direct and local way. (Wikipedia)

1969 (May 11) — “Mother’s Day March” (Charleston)

A large march supported the hospital workers, demonstrating broad community organizing around economic justice and civil rights. (Medical University of South Carolina)

1970s–2000s: memory, policy, and representation

1976 (Feb.) — Federal recognition of Black History Month (modern observance)

National recognition and public encouragement to study Black history expanded the scale of the original Negro History Week idea. (Zinn Education Project)

2008 (Nov. 4) — Election of President Barack Obama

A major milestone in national political representation and public memory of civil rights struggles. (The Library of Congress)

2010s–2020s: modern racial violence, protest, and federal prosecutions

2015 (June 17) — Mother Emanuel / Charleston church shooting

Nine people were murdered during Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a devastating act of racist violence that reshaped local and national conversations about white supremacy, public safety, and historical memory. (The Library of Congress)

2020 (May 25) — Murder of George Floyd (national inflection point)

Triggered worldwide protests and renewed scrutiny of policing, racial inequality, and the legal system. (The Library of Congress)

2020 (May 30) — Charleston protests and federal charges for violence/arson

Federal prosecutors charged individuals for crimes committed during protests in South Carolina, including conduct in Charleston; this reflects how protests can include both peaceful demonstration and separate criminal acts addressed through prosecution. (Department of Justice)

2021 (July 8) — Sentencing in Charleston civil disorder case

A federal sentencing tied to May 30, 2020 events in downtown Charleston. (Department of Justice)

“What you do on the first day, you’ll do all year”

There is a historically grounded connection between New Year’s Day and coerced labor: in multiple places and periods, January 1 functioned as a common “hiring day,” when labor contracts turned over—an economic rhythm that, under slavery, could include hiring out enslaved people and separating families. A concise, credible phrasing appears in White House Historical Association’s discussion of Hiring Day: “New Year’s Day was hiring day for enslaved laborers.” (Salisbury Post)

The comparison is worth handling carefully in publication: Groundhog Day’s annual “forecast” is cultural folklore; Hiring Day reflects coerced labor systems and family separation. Putting them side-by-side can be meaningful as a commentary on how “calendar rituals” can carry radically different moral weight—but it’s best framed explicitly to avoid flattening the harm.