Timeline of African-American history

Europeans arrived in what would become the present day United States of America on August 9, 1526.

During the American Revolution of 1776–1783, enslaved African Americans in the South escaped to British lines as they were promised freedom to fight with the British; additionally, many free blacks in the North fight with the colonists for the rebellion, and the Vermont Republic (a sovereign nation at the time) becomes the first future state to abolish slavery.

Later on, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, formally freeing slaves in the Confederate States of America.

After the American Civil War ended, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits slavery (except as punishment for crime), was passed in 1865.

In the mid-20th century, the civil rights movement occurred, and legalized racial segregation and discrimination was thus outlawed.