African American History For The Past Century

In 1865, slavery was abolished, by the Thirteenth amendment. This Amendment brought humongous changes and a large number of problems. (Lecture 1) After the destruction of slavery, it left nearly four million African American with no property, little training, and few rights; which made the definition of freedom for African Americans the central question on the nation’s agenda. The big question of the time period was, “what was freedom for African Americans?” (Give me liberty! An American 550)

Slavery was abolished after the Civil War, but the Negro race still was not accepted as equals into American society. To attain a better understanding of the events and struggles faced during this period, one must take a look at its' literature. James Weldon Johnson does an excellent job of vividly depicting an accurate portrait of the adversities faced before the Civil Rights Movement by the black community in his novel “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.” One does not only read this book, but instead one takes a journey alongside a burdened mulatto man as he struggles to claim one race as his own.

The American Civil War was ending and African Americans gained freedom, freedom from slavery and to live life as common folk. However, being set ‘free’ was not enough for African Americans to really experience what freedom was really like. Respect and rights of citizenship are by themselves weak in the ability to survive without also obtaining economic power. This paper will examine the progression of African Americans after the Civil War of 1865.

America in 1857 was a “Nation on the Brink.” Relationships between the Northern and Southern states had been strained for decades. During the 1850 's, the situation exploded. The Compromise of 1850 served as a clear warning that the slavery issue—relatively dormant since the Missouri Compromise of 1820—had returned. African Americans existence in America has been a disaster ever since they have been here. Every avenue of their cultural, economic, literary, political, religious, and social values has been violated to no avail, and then only until the

African Americans have come a very long way from 1865; they have fought many battles to earn their place in America’s Society. From the ending of slavery African Americans have had various achievements from their suffering. Some fought, some spoke, some marched, some sat, some cried, some died, some even dreamed, but all of these things left a footprint in history. In this paper I will discuss some very important events in African American history beginning with the ending of slavery which has brought us to the America we all enjoy today.

The Rise of African- Americans From 1865 To 2012, Their Struggles To Become Free Americans

Over the years, the African American race has greatly evolved from having a lack of individual freedom to having their own sense of individuality. There have been many different events in America that has played some part in the evolution of the black race. After the Civil War, most of the races in America were seen to have separate freedom, but as the years progress African Americans were one of the many to stand up and obtain their individuality. In the process of obtaining individual freedom, there were many events that played important roles in this particular process. The African American race was seen to evolve during slavery, Civil Rights, and modern day. Each of these significant times, African Americans’ went from the struggle to becoming successful in the end.

The first people to want change besides the black Haitians were the mixed people because they according the video they were the first ones to ask for equality. Every time they were in the presence of a white person they had to stand up and call them by whatever title they chose to be called. The mixed-race people petitioned Frances new government in 1791 for the rights of citizenship; said petition asked for civil protection, and that angered the white population. They extend the equal rights to the small population to the small group of mixed race people that were born of two free parents. The governor of St. Domingue ignored what they were told; the masters felt betrayed. Boukman called the people to a place called Wakayama to perform a ceremony.

Throughout the past couple hundred years, countless battles have been fought in order to eliminate race as a social divider. Perhaps the most influential time frame for African-Americans in the United States would be from 1940-1970. During this time in America, Blacks everywhere were fighting against segregation and discrimination of their race. Consequently, the timeline of events that occurred during this time uncovers the numerous battles that African-American people fought in order to gain their freedom, and their rights as Americans. While these battles seemed everlasting, African-Americans were more persistent than ever in their actions, and because of that, they succeeded. As African-American writer Margaret Walker once said, “Handicapped as we have been by a racist system of dehumanizing slavery and segregation, our American history of nearly five hundred years reveals that our cultural and spiritual gifts brought from our African past are still intact”. The majority of America attempted to suppress African-Americans in the mid-twentieth century, but as a group, they grew stronger than ever. Icons such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and John F. Kennedy had extraordinary positive influences on the fight against segregation and discrimination in The United States of America. These great Americans pushed against the severe issues that African-Americans were facing, and refused to give up until changes were made. With pressures such as the Brown vs. Board of

In the early 19th and late 20th centuries, freedom among the African Americans has been a constant battle between his U.S born given rights and the limitations places on such rights by the states. Through the expansion and development of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the term freedom had been ironically used, for example through the 13th amendment where a former slave could be called a free man yet his freedom was limited and strictly outlined by the government. Slavery, though said to be abolished after 1865, had taken numerous new forms in society to continue the oppression of the colored race. For example, the idea of separate but equal that was once seen as constitutional. There is indubitably irony a between the government acceptance of slaves as freed American individuals and the deprivation of basic rights. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, freed Black individuals were increasing in government participation as soldiers and were served with a sense of inclusion in society through the adoption of amendments yet were constantly deprived of social acceptance by shunning blacks through segregation and disenfranchised through the regulation of the African American’s lives.

Researching this project concerning two of the most important persons of the 20th century has given me a greater insight to the struggles of African Americans in the United States and immense gratitude to the ancestors who paved the way for the freedoms we enjoy and take for granted today. Learning about the encumbrances that beset African Americans in the past illuminates some of the current struggles that confront our people today. Tactics used by the government against both Paul Robeson and Jack Johnson were templates used against future Blacks who did not conform to the inherent racist culture and were protagonists who railed against injustice. Laws governing all inhabitants within the confines of this country were affected by both of

Knowledge is a primary factor in the attainment of personal freedom. This includes not only scholarly education but also awareness of historical heritage and familial legacy. The fact that African-Americans were held in human bondage cannot

The first enslaved Africans arrived in the United States in the 17th Century. Africans shared their culture such as music and dances. As African –Americans we inherited those values. Many African- Americans do not believe we cannot trace ourselves back to African Ancestry. During slavery, it was known to not to know family history or where you were from. Slave owners did not want their slaves having close relationships with their mother or father, often trying to break them up. Slave owners wanted African Americans to believe they were nothing and were not a part of anything or anyone.

African-Americans’ thoughts on freedom was shaped by their ancestor and their experience as slaves and reflection of the society around them.

Many have thought that the end of the civil war was also the end of the suppression against Black Americans. However, real freedom hasn’t been present to them. Discriminations against Black Americans were transformed and still exist in other aspects. The life of a Black American was planned before he or she was born, not much freedom in their hands. Black American experience disadvantage and discrimination in many different institutions that all prove the existence of Neocolonialism. From housing to education, formal and informal social controls prevented them from equality and freedom. Moreover, Black youth was forced to be in the pipeline of incarceration from school, because of the lack of resources and attention to them. In this ongoing fight for Black Freedom, many influential Black leaders stepped up. One of them is one of the most important figures in the Black freedom struggle history, Ella Baker. This essay will first, explain key issues on Black Americans’ freedom in housing and school to prison pipeline, then identify Ella Baker’s theory in the Black Freedom Struggle, and finally define what freedom means.