The document discusses the civil rights movement in the United States from the 1860s to the 1960s. It provides key events and court cases that advanced civil rights, such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments ending slavery and granting citizenship and voting rights to African Americans. Major civil rights events and court cases included Brown v. Board of Education ending school segregation in 1954 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The movement involved both nonviolent protests like sit-ins and boycotts led by Martin Luther King Jr. as well as more militant groups like the Black Panthers who advocated armed self-defense.