African Americans in America Essay

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

During the time of reconstruction, the 13th amendment abolished slavery. It was one of the influential amendments passed in the constitution. It officially abolished and prohibited slavery and forced an ending to slavery all over the South. The Southern states that

It also allowed black men to join the Union Army and Navy, “enabling the liberated to become liberators.” (The Emancipation Proclamation) The big change in slavery and the fight for equality did not come until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865. With this event, it was declared that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” (13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution) Although this Amendment did give slaves their freedom, it did not guarantee them the same rights nor the same treatment that other citizens of the United States had and took for granted. This was especially seen in the states that “enacted ‘black codes’ that were intended to limit the civil rights of the newly free slaves.” (Civil Rights) These “black codes” and the obvious difference in treatment were a large issue, and they were later addressed in the Constitution with the introduction of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868 and it made large changes for black individuals. This Amendment “granted citizenship to ‘all persons born or naturalized in the United States,’ which included former slaves recently freed.” (14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) It also “forbids states from denying

The 13th Amendment banned slavery in 1865, but many white Southerners never considered coloured people to be equal or even citizens of the United States. Slavery was replaced by racial segregation. Laws and regulations were supposed to exclude blacks from the rest of society.

Congress passed the 13th amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude 8 months after the end of war. African-American communities began organizing Equal Rights Leagues throughout the South and held conventions protesting discriminatory treatment. Since then they have passed the 14th and 15th amendment. These two amendments helped to deal with the continued post-Civil War issues. The 14th amendment passed on July 9, 1868, defined citizenship. The 15th amendment passed on February 3, 1870, and prohibited denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Meanwhile, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865 by Congress. This amendment officially ended slavery by saying, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (13th Amendment). It took eight months after the Civil War to finally add this to the

On February 1, 1865 the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery was added to the United States Constitution. In April of the same year, the Civil War ended and America began its struggle to recover from the war. While slavery had been abolished, freed slaves had a long road ahead of them. Prejudice and discrimination still had a major hold on society all throughout the United States. The federal government could have done much more than it did to help former slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War.

The Senate actually passed the amendment in 1864, yet the House of Representatives did not. Through Abraham Lincoln’s efforts with the Republican party, the House eventually decided to pass the amendment with a vote of 119 to 56 in January, 1865. This established the Thirteenth Amendment as part of the U.S. Constitution, only needing ratification by three-fourths of the states. It was officially adopted on December 6, 1865 and was a Constitutional amendment. Of the remaining states, all but three had ratified it by 1870. Delaware ratified it in 1901, while Kentucky and Mississippi did not ratify it until the second half of the 20th century. Kentucky ratified the Thirteenth Amendment in 1976 and Mississippi did not ratify it until 1995 (History Net, n.d.). The inclusion of the Thirteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution meant that this particular issue was widespread and was also very controversial. It put an end to one of the bloodiest American conflicts and also established boundaries that America was to be a free country where everyone is meant to be equal. The abolition of slavery was necessary to patch a divided country and to free those who had been forced to spend their lives working for the gain of others, simply because of their skin color. Its inclusion in the

Before President Lincoln and Congress propose anything regarding the slavery, in 1861, Congress passed the thirteen amendment that stated that they would not get involved with the states regarding slavery nor be associated with it. States started to not let Blacks have their freedom, which made them upset and mad. Luckily, this horrendous situation stopped because the thirteen amendment was not successful and only had “two states ratified it,” and Abraham Lincoln became President and step in to make change for the Blacks. In 1863, the country started to shift their belief and opinion about slavery when President Lincoln “issued the Emancipation Proclamation” in January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that all slaves should be release, and set free. It was not successful because the proclamation “didn’t extend emancipation to … states ... of the Confederacy that [were] already … under Union control.” Even though it was not successful as President Lincoln had hoped so, he did not give up. In January 31, 1865, “Congress passed a new thirteen amendment.” In order for this new amendment to go in the Constitution, it has to be ratify by the states in the United

13th and 14th Amendment The 13th Amendment: abolished slavery and the 14th amendment freed slaves and they became U.S. citizens. Three republican ideas to reconstruct were conservative, moderate, and radical. They were ideas that were suggested to free slaves, make some adjustments to the south and give suffrage to black males. Today those ideas were put into action.

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1865 and abolished slavery and all forms of indentured servitude, but did allow slavery to continue as a means of punishment under the law. The 13th amendment was not ratified until eight months after the Civil War ended. It took three years after President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation for this amendment to become law.

Shenton, James P. The Reconstruction: A Documentary History of the South after the War: 1865

In 1865, slavery was abolished throughout the United States, with the vote of the Thirteenth Amendment ("Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly recognized convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction") and the fourteenth (this ensures the right of suffrage to all citizens of the United States of America), and fifteenth amendments ("The right voting U.S. citizens will be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude") were voted in 1868 and

On the date of January 1st, 1863, A law was created to free slaves in rebellion states, and they were aloud to join the army and fight for what’s right. On the date of April 8th, 1864 the Senate passed the 13th amendment and February 1st, 1865 Abe Lincoln passed the amendment and slavery was now abolished and a law.