essay on civil right movement in america
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The Civil Rights Movement was a time dedicated to activism for equal rights and treatment of African- Americans in the United States. During this period, many people rallied for social, legal and political changes to prohibit discrimination and end segregation. Many important events involving discrimination against African- Americans led up to the era known as the Civil Rights Movement. The enslavement of Africans is perhaps the biggest example of inhumanity in United States history. The abolishment of slavery did not change the issues that allowed discrimination to continue. Many great leaders came about from the Civil Rights movements such as, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, President John Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson. It takes the courage and dedication of people to get positive changes in a country.
The affects from the slavery era brought upon the civil rights movement. As soon as the United States was discovered people used African- American’s for forced labor. According to Jacobs, “During the four centuries of the Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 11 million Africans were transported to North and South America.” The vast majority of these people were brought to North and South America against their will. They were often abused both mentally and physically and they were even separated from their families. The reason why most slaves could not stay with their families is because slaves had no say in where they lived or who they worked for. If someone would abuse them, there was nowhere they could go for help because they had no rights. It was even illegal for them to learn how to read and write. The reason for this is people knew if they had an education there was a better chance at a revolt. Slavery did not exist in the northern Part of the United States and Canada; as a result, many slaves would often try to escape to the north were they had a better chance of living a humane life. The people who were against slavery would sometimes try to help African- American’s escape slave life. The Underground Railroad is a prime example of people helping African- Americans escape to the north. According to Brooks, “The Underground Railroad had no track and no locomotives; it was, instead, a system set up by opponents of slavery in the antebellum United States to help slaves escape to free states, Canada, and other locations, around 75,000 slaves were freed.” People knew the government would not change policies if they just stood around. People took action regardless of the fact that if they got caught helping African- Americans escape to freedom, they could have been sent to jail or even killed. Not only was slavery inhumane, but think of all the great minds we lost because of slavery. If slavery did not exist I would bet everything I have that we would be a more advanced society.
The United States Civil War was the framework of giving freedom to African- Americans. The American Civil War was the result of decades of tensions between the north and south. According to Hickman, “After the1860 election over the next several months eleven southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America.” President Lincoln wanted to preserve the union; as a result, the civil war began. The first two years of the war it looked like the south was going to win. The battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 changed the tables. In April of 1865 the south surrendered; thus, making the north victorious. This war led to many social changes in the United States. The 13th amendment was established in order to abolish slavery in the United States. Also, the 14th amendment extended legal protection regardless of race. Furthermore, the 15th amendment abolished all racial restrictions on voting. Many states found loopholes not to enforce the 14th and 15th amendments. President Lincoln was assassinated on April 15 1865; thus Vice President Andrew Johnson became president. President Johnson favored the south; as a result, he did not do much if states went against the amendments. Johnson was such a bad leader congress attempted to impeach him, but were unsuccessful. One can argue that if President Lincoln was not assassinated the country would not have gone through as much turmoil and African-Americans might have gotten civil rights much sooner.