Lives of African Americans Before and After the Civil War In the early stages of the United States, civilians and political leaders didn’t have an ethical understanding of how to treat African Americans. Their lives severely changed over the maturing years of the country, however, some parts of their lives stayed the same. They were freed from slavery and given rights and citizenship, but were still seen as inferior to others. Thankfully today, everyone is treated equally under the law and Americans live together in unity, not separated by color. The main reason the Civil War started was because of the debate over slavery. The North saw it as unethical and it needed to stop. The South heavily relied on slavery for their cotton plantations …show more content…
Unfortunately these amendments were not always enforced by states. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed as the reconstruction amendments. They outlawed slavery, provided citizenship to anyone born in the US including formerly enslaved people, made everyone equal under the law, and gave them the right to vote. These laws made a big impact on African Americans lives. Blacks were now able to vote and run for office, and since the majority of the south’s population were blacks, they held the majority of the positions in state legislatures. All of these things helped, but there were still inequalities so, “In 1875, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which guaranteed all persons equal access to public accommodations, including theaters, hotels, and transportation, and allowed anyone denied services on account of race to seek restitution in federal court,” (Reconstructing Citizenship). African Americans elected during the reconstruction helped to pass this act. Even after all of this, there were still people who opposed blacks being equal, so not everything in their lives …show more content…
In Texas, “The Codes outlined a status for African Americans not too much removed from their earlier condition as slaves. African Americans without jobs often were assigned to white guardians for work without pay,” (The 1890s: Black Codes). They had stiff fines for small things such as breaking curfew and weren’t allowed to enter free public spaces. The Jim Crow Laws segregated most public places and found ways to get around the reconstruction amendments. One example: “Literacy tests and poll taxes, administered with informal loopholes and trick questions, barred nearly all blacks from voting,” (Jim Crow Laws). Schools, restaurants, and other spaces were segregated because whites did not want to have to interact or live among blacks. This resulted in things such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. With all the changes made, the lives of African Americans weren't the same as the white American
African Americans were extremely influential in Wworld Wwar II. One of the main groups that played a huge role in the success of the war was known as the Rred Ttails or the 332nd. They were the most decorated of all African American air force groups. The red tails were also given recognition throughout the military and on the homefront for their success. African Americans played the biggest role out of all minorities in world war II and were impacted the most from this war, the pilots referred to as the red tails played a huge role in the take down of the Nazis.
Although slavery was abolished, this did not stop the discrimination and segregation they later faced. Jim Crow Laws were made shortly after slavery’s abolishment. These laws separated the people into two categories: whites and colors. There were bathrooms, schools, and restaurants for people of color to segregate them (“Civil Rights Movement”). This was devastating to the community.
By the start of the 21st century, minorities had picked up rights denied their relatives in the twentieth century. African Americans - During World War II, a huge number of African-Americans served in a still isolated US military, serving in transport and reinforced units in Europe, and performing great in fight, with the popular Tuskegee Airmen squadron as a case. Sadly, this interest did not pick up them much making progress toward social equality. African-Americans on the Home Front filled mechanical occupations abandoned by whites who had been drafted, and had vital influence underway for the war. We additionally see the development of an unmistakable, however little, dark white collar class in America after the war.
In the nine years following the Civil War, former Confederate states were embroiled in multiple changes to their way of life. Federal troops occupied the South in an effort to protect former slaves and to control the states until the economic and political situations stabilized. Southerners resented blacks, and, used violence and vigilantism in an attempt to return to their comfortable prewar society. Frustrations lead whites to band together in lawless groups. As the political and military avenues to save their way of life failed, these groups resorted to violence and terrorism.
African-Americans who violated the Jim Crow laws would be subjected to punishment. White men could physically beat up African-Americans without having to worry about punishment. Violence was a way of control for the laws. Black people could be lynched for drinking out of a white water fountain. Between 1875 and 1955 life was hard for African-Americans.
During the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans were banned from enlisting into the federal army due to President Lincoln's decision. The Union stated that the war was “a white man’s war” as Ohio congressman Chilton A. White described the American government was made “for white men to be administered, protected, defended and maintained by white men”. [Book] Some slaves fled the South and were called “contraband”, coined term by General Benjamin F. Butler ; they were put to work for the Union. Despite opposition from the president, African-Americans formed militia in hope to be called for service in many areas in the North. Some blacks felt they owed no allegiance to this county.
African Americans were facing inequality throughout
African Americans had to use different bathrooms than the whites, which could sometimes be really far away from their workplaces. African Americans and whites also had to sit in different places on busses and other forms of transportation. On busses the African Americans had to sit in the back while the whites got to sit towards the front. If there was not enough room on the bus for whites, the African Americans would have to give up their seats. Allowing African Americans to work in the same place and area as the whites is the first step in getting rid of segregation.
While black people in the north still faced discrimination as was stated earlier, they did have many advantages over those in the south. One of these was that they were not enslaved. It was illegal for someone to own slaves in half of the United States by 1850. The debate over slavery was a huge issue economically, socially and politically. This political tension between the north and south would eventually lead to the American civil war.
Since the beginning of slavery, African Americans have gone through and endured a lot within American history. Slavery went on for many years from 1776 to 1886, African Americans went through many ups and downs in this time frame. The Civil War ended in 1865, the reconstruction period, which was African Americans trying to live in a society where they were not slaves anymore. This period had many difficulties for African Amercians, where Whites still had the mindset that African Americans are still slaves. The Civil War happened to abolish slavery, why were African Americans still fighting for basic civil rights?
Segregation in the 1800’s was deliberatly dangerous such as the owner of the slaves would whipped and beat the African Americans severely. Whites gained popularity for being planters and slave owners. This is one of the reasons on how it attracted white people for buying slaves. Forcing African Americans becoming slaves was the worst era for all blacks. Many died when transferring the slaves to America by starvation, sea sick and/or mistreatment.
In history, African Americans have experienced countless amounts of discrimination, segregation, and inequality. Many leaders and activists who have made significant progress for African Americans in society. During the 1940's-1960's African Americans leaders formed powerful movements and peaceful protests that brought worldwide attention to the racial inequality African Americans faced. African Americans will face injustice issues joining War World I and World War II after the war were over they still faced discrimination in the United States. Strong activists after World War II forcing the rights of African Americans to have equality started progressing.
The status/treatment of African Americans can be seen through the 1930’s in Jim Crow laws, the Great depression, and people. The Jim Crow laws create conflict between African Americans and white Americans. The Great Depression also made it worse for them because they lost many things and money. Finally certain people affected them in good and bad ways. African Americans were very segregated from everyone in the 1930s.
There was a grim future awaiting African Americans segregation, lynching, race riots, and what W. E. B. Du Bois called “the problem of the color line.” (Takaki, 7) There was still discrimination awaiting and there was cruel segregation of schools, work, and housing making difficult times for African Americans to start their lives after slavery. Post-racial society does not exist when people have the same opportunity socially, economically, and political. We see today there are little diversity in politics and that we still see white people as good and powerful and blacks as criminals and
During this period of time African Americans were being treated without equality, since they were seen as a minority in the United States for their skin color. This led to have segregated public places all around America, because white people were seen as the dominant race, and could never imagen themselves cohabiting with other races, not even in their dreams. This type of problem was more likely to be visible in the south of the United States such as Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South and North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and as well as Texas. However, segregation did not stop the white people for making the African American people be more aware of the procedures that they need to learn and live day by day, any African American who cross a boundary of the segregation signs would be punish by death. This procedure was very outrages for the fact that Black people were being lynched, for only making eye contact with a