History Of The African-American Civil Rights Movement

Project Report: Oral History and the History of the Civil Rights Movement - Kim Lacy Rogers, The Journal of American History, Vol. 75, No. 2 (1988), pp. 567-576

African-American in the late 1800s and early in the 1900s were socially, politically and economically restricted from participating in the Southern state. Although, slaves were abolished in the 1865, even though they were free and escape the brutality in the South, their rights of human being were still taking away from them. They were given little right such as owning property in specific area. African-American could sue, be sued and testify in court only involving other African-Americans. They were given the right to get marry, however, they could not interact or have an relationship outside of race. They were not giving the right to vote, could not used or possessed alcohol or used firearm. African-American were economically at risk because

During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872). The ability to have absolute freedom is a common theme in these three documents. Freedom means more than just having the independence to make your own decisions and pursuing your own happiness. The hopes of Reconstruction were to create

Hearts of the oppressed will always cry out in desperation; waiting for anyone to swoop in and liberate them from their cruel reality. Few are capable of mustering up the gumption to throw their neck on the line in defense of the defenseless. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one such man. Trading in his comfortable life for one of danger and ridicule, King was catapulted to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement following the profound leadership he demonstrated during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. As a well-educated, African American pastor, he provided a unique perspective on the racial issues at hand. In contrast to the violent approach proposed by other Civil Rights leaders at the time, such as Malcolm X, Dr. King paved the long road to

Before the civil war African Americans were enslaved forced to work on plantations. They were treated harshly, and faced many different hardships. This would change after the civil war, because they were granted their freedom. They were no longer forced to work on plantations, but that does not mean they were treated any better. After the civil war African Americans were still treated poorly and faced persecution for many years. Even though African Americans were free they still did not get treated the way that they should be. I feel that relations between white people and African Americans remained the same even after slavery was abolished. I believe this because there were black codes in America, the kkk was formed, and African Americans were segregated from the white people.

Before the Civil War, like in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Black population was enslaved and raised to never question their place as property. The Civil War brought on the freedom of the Blacks with the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, granting the freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote for black men. Despite the permission of freedom, many laws were set to keep the Black population’s freedom borderline to what it had been before, and such laws caused court cases to form. With arguments for and against the rights for the former slaves, little progress was made in, but it did start a revolution for the century

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement. He graduated from a segregated high school at the age of fifteen and earned a bachelor degree at a segregated institution in Atlanta in 1948. King was known to be a strong civil rightist, and he was part of the committee known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. On August 28, 1963, King presented his well-known speech, “I Have a Dream,” during The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom for Africans’ civil and economic rights. His “I Had a Dream” speech was known as the most influential speech that has tremendously impacted the United States forever by its powerful rhetorics and the emotional connection to the audience. “In expressing [his own emotions] with such powerful eloquence, in connecting strongly with the emotions of his listeners, and in convincing them to empathize with others, Dr. King demonstrated emotional intelligence decades before the concept had a name”(“Dr. Martin”). He demanded to end racism throughout the entire United States. King utilized repetition, metaphors, diction and rhetorical devices, that provokes ethos and pathos, throughout his speech in order to connect with his audience as well as to motivate them to stand up and fight for their freedom they well-deserve.

This battle of Gettysburg was deemed to be the most important battle in the civil war as it took a major turn. The confederates were able to fight back and become victorious over the Union in a very important two day battle.

In 1865, Abraham Lincoln ended slavery in the United States. While the African Americans became free, they were still not equal. Horrible things were still happening to former slaves, even though the U.S. was trying to reconstruct the country. Reconstruction was a time where former slaves were being integrated into society. The same year slavery was abolished, The Black Codes were created. These laws oppressed black people and restricted their freedom. Because of the poor treating of African Americans and the Black Codes, The Reconstruction period was a failure.

The first African slaves arrived in the new world during the 1620’s and the institution of slavery lasted for 245 years until 1865. Slavery in North America lasted longer than the United States itself. For this reason, when Abraham Lincoln decided to emancipate slaves during the Civil War, then pass the 13th amendment he was putting an end to a social order that was the fabric of American society. The period Reconstruction after the end of the Civil War represented an upward battle for revolution, the “forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system”, due to the racism and prejudice that was entrenched in American society. However, the spread of education and tools for African Americans to fight oppression, the end

Upon beginning this assignment, my main issue was finding a historical site worth writing about. I did not want to be stuck with something typical or predictable. I wanted to try and find a site that was of significance to American Politics and to the community that it resided in. I have always held a strong interest in civil rights and the difficulties of the minorities to gain equality in America. I also knew from previous studies that the churches often held a great amount of influence in the progress of the African American people when fighting for that equality. I decided then, that my passion in the assignment could be best found in a New York City Landmark that held significance to the civil right struggle and was or was of some relation

Now before the Civil Rights Movement, some causes were going on. The first was discrimination, like the Jim Crow laws, having people be complete opposites with each other and be rude towards each other. Next was segregation everything was different like the, water fountains, sections of the bus, they even had different school, colored schools, and white schools. The last cause in my opinion, this is the most sad of them all the violence, the African Americans were getting their houses caught on fire by the mischievous whites, getting viciously beat by the whites sometimes even killed like getting run over by a car, sheriff 's releasing their demon dogs on African Americans as well.

In 1968 King would deliver his famous “I have a Dream Speech” in front of thousands in Washington Memorial. His speech was based off of a speech that Philip Randolph wrote in 1941 showing how prolonged the civil rights movement was. It was there at Washington Memorial where the advocate of Civil Rights was assassinated. Even after his death King’s speech is commemorated and lies as a basis for the American society. King taught the people that the color of their skin does not define them nor should they be limited by it. It was not until 1964 when the United States abolished segregation. This was a major move forward for the American nation that would eventually lead to many African Americans to hold positions in government office and eventually to have an African American

It takes a great deal of courage to fight for something that’s bigger than you.

The speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest demonstrations for freedom and equality in the history of the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American man who went through an age of being singled out by segregation, and it was only because of his color. The speech was given on August 28, 1963, on the Lincoln Memorial and it was the speech of all speeches to end all of racism and bring equality into America. The main idea of the speech was to emphasize the inequality of the colored people of the United States, and was to attempt to catch the countries attenion to attempt to recover the equality our nation needed. Martin Luther King Jr. described the need of this equality throughout the two paragraphs