The road to equality for African Americans has always been a bumpy one and still continues to this day. Using hindsight, historians determined that the Civil War and Reconstruction were vital to the fight for equality in the United States, despite the steps that the states took to keep African Americans segregated from society through Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. With the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments being written into the Constitution during the Reconstruction period as a result of the Civil War, slaves were finally seen as people rather than property. Though the Reconstruction after the Civil War did not create a society where Black people weren't oppressed, this period in time still made significant progress toward creating a more equal society. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments made significant progress toward equality. The Thirteenth Amendment …show more content…
Black Codes and Jim Crow laws were created using loopholes in the Amendments. For example, the Thirteenth Amendment states that slavery is abolished "except as a punishment for crime" ("Constitution of the United States," art. 13, sec 1). As a result, laws were passed to enforce segregation and limit the freedom of African Americans. Breaking these laws resulted in forced labor, basically reinstating parts of the slavery system. Also, the right to vote was taken away from many African Americans. Poll taxes and literacy tests were instated, targeted at newly freed slaves because they did not have either the money or education to meet new guidelines. Poor and illiterate White Americans were not subjected to the same guidelines because they were protected by grandfather clauses. Black Codes and Jim Crow laws were a setback to a more equal society because they stripped African Americans of the rights they were just granted during
During 1865-1870, the years following the Civil War, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution were ratified. Within these Amendments, African-Americans gained the right to become US citizens in the Fourteenth Amendment and were granted the ability to vote through the Fifteenth Amendment. The ratifications of both of the Amendments marked a turning point in history, both in politics and society, by allowing them to officially have rights. After they were ratified, politics changed by giving African-Americans more representation in government, however socially, racism stayed the same by black codes being created while education changed through the Freedmen’s Bureau. Before the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
With equality, this includes freedom, democracy and equal rights to all people no matter what race, gender or class they fall on. Unfortunately, the rise of slavery made it apparent that the “all men are created equal” didn’t mean anything among African Americans based on their unequal treatments. Like we discussed in class, slavery created tension between the North and South especially when the Second Middle Passage took in effect. The Second Middle passage was a horrifying event and the slaves were treated like cargo on the ships for months on their way to America. It was important because millions of African Americans were forced to leave their families, transported on ships to get beaten, face physical and mental abuse and sold alive or dead.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights philosophy made more sense for the 1960’s. During the 1960’s the civil rights movement proved prominent. Through the 60’s thousands of leaders rose, but only two emerged above the rest. Those two were known as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both Martin and Malcom were very intelligent men but the two had totally different views on how blacks should go about gaining civil rights. Both proved to be pioneers of the movement, however it was Martins philosophy that reigned supreme.
After the end of slavery, African Americans were told they would be treated equally, but the Jim Crow laws were quickly developed to prevent equality. Following the end of the American Civil War, the Civil Rights Amendments were adopted to create
The transition of millions of slaves to free individuals was an enormous social change for America. In the South, this change took away some of the social status among the white men because those who owned slaves were considered higher class than those that didn’t, but without slaves, this status disappeared. Furthermore, the Europeans had to learn to live as one with African Americans and see them as equals, rather than as greatly inferior. Equality is something that is still being discussed in America today since there is still racist individuals and systematic racism, however, if it wasn’t for the Civil War occurring when it did, America would be even farther from equality than it is now. In addition, the North faced a social shock as well as they tried to integrate thousands of African Americans into their culture and
The beginning of the Civil Rights movement was the beginning of a new America. It cannot be pinpointed to a certain day, location, or person. Two young black men, however, have risen up to be the most recognizable faces of the new era: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm Little (X). These two men are polar opposites in many aspects. Martin Luther King Jr. was in the middle class, whereas Malcolm X was in poverty.
No one should be ashamed for the way they are born, but people bully people into believing it’s their fault for being a certain race, sexuality, gender, or something else others label human beings. Though there are many subjects of conversation on the topics of equality, race is one of the most influential disagreements in history. From the beginning of time African Americans have been discriminated against by being forced into labor, not having equal rights as white males, and not even being considered citizens of the United States. This is truly one of the darkest times in American history. Now, how were African Americans affected by the acts of society throughout the Colonial Period through Reconstruction?
In the period of reconstruction, there was a lack of racial equality and racism towards blacks. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, with the exception of allowing it as a punishment for a crime (“Thirteenth Amendment” 19). Although it abolished slavery, there was still a lack of equality towards blacks. The Black Codes were state laws in the south, that were implemented in 1866. These laws limited the rights of African Americans and were
Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help. New Amendments were added to give African Americans rights after the war, all giving them some equal rights to whites. The first of the three added was the Thirteenth Amendment, it gave African Americans freedom from slave owners, and stated that no one could be kept as a slave in the U.S..
Introduction Since the beginning of American history men have held the majority in education, and for a while they occupied it entirely. Slowly, the roles began to reverse in the direction of the other binary gender, where females were becoming the majority in education, or were at least testing and scoring better than their male counterparts. This fact carries over into African American students as well except the disparity between females and males who find success in high school has reached a point where it is adversely different. In summation, the problem at hand is “the educational achievement of young African American males is significantly less than their female counterparts” (Allard, 2008). This study will explore the “interrelationship”
The Declaration of Independence stated that “all men are created equal," however, African-American communities have struggled for centuries to exercise their rights. Even though the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery in the United States, Fourteenth Amendments (1868) strengthened the legal rights of newly freed slaves and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) gave newly freed slaves men the right to vote. State legislatures enacted laws that led to the legally mandated segregation of races, known as the Jim Crow Laws. During World War II, African Americans served bravely and with distinction despite discriminatory treatment, exclusion, and degradation at the hands of the United States Armed Forces.
African Americans for years fought their rights as citizens in the United States. Many others fought for their own rights as well including women and other minority races. While a historian believes that African Americans did nothing to fight for their freedom, I believe with full confidence that the African Americans were the most instrumental part in doing so, but I also believe that they received some help from Whites. To begin, the map in Document A shows where slavery was outlawed and how.
African Americans face a heavy burden of disadvantages, creating a reoccurring struggle for opportunities and equality. Society has evolved into a way to think that white individuals are above the black community. This creates an advantage in all situations to those who are not black individuals. Society has created a standard that some do not reach and creates issues in peoples lives. African Americans have disadvantages in socioeconomic status, which results in poorer outcomes in the area of work and damages physical and mental health.
When it came to civil rights, finding the right person to lead an entire population into freedom was a pretty important problem. The two most important leaders in the Civil Rights Movement were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and they were respected by a large portion of the black community in America. Although, when it came the troubling issues of segregation, both of schools and in everyday activities, and the violent approach to fight racism v.s. the non violent approach, Martin Luther King Jr. was a better person to lead black americans. The first reason why black americans needed Martin Luther King Jr. over Malcolm X was MLK’s view on segregation.
It was not until 1865 that slavery was abolished and African-Americans gained some of the civil rights they deserved. Blacks and whites were still segregated for many years after the abolishment of slavery. Women were not equal to men and in 1920 the 19th amendment was passed granting women the right to vote. It wasn’t until much later better steps were achieved, women and African-Americans wanted more rights to be considered equal. Women, “In addition to demanding equality in the workplace, women demanded full control over their bodies and their reproductive system” (Bentley and Ziegler).