The African American Struggle For Equality

From being considered two-thirds of a person to fighting a war for freedom, African American’s have surmounted many obstacles that limited them in America and each year continue to move further away from the concept of “the other”. During the Rationalism Era, African Americans have no voice in society and take no part in the unification of the country, but instead are taken advantage of. They are not considered as humans during this period, but rather property, and are only used for economic and political gain for white males. During the Romantic Era, African American’s begin to voice their abolitionist views in hopes of spreading awareness of the cruelty of slavery. Although the effort was valiant, African Americans were still considered an inferior race, of which whom could not participate in society. During the civil war and emancipation era, Slaves are freed from their owners in the eyes of the law, but still have limited civil rights. Although not all slaves are freed immediately, it starts the recovering process for African American’s, which will evidently provide them a sustainable role in society. Throughout American history, African Americans have been marginalized in society and have represented “the other”, America’s racial values begin in the construction of the United States where African Americans are excluded and then as the country begins to split apart into the North and South, tensions of slavery rise and ultimately leading to the emancipation of slaves

The emancipation proclamation was what seemed like the beginning of freedom for African Americans. African Americans fought hard and valiantly in the American Civil war and with the Unions win freedom and peace for blacks seemed to be assured. As most people would quote," Freedom isn 't free." It almost always has a cost. Africans Americans since the origin of this country have literally laid down their lives for the cost of freedom and opportunity in the US. One of the most coveted freedom 's both past and present is the right to suffrage. My paper discusses the many factors leading to and the trials and tribulations involving black 's right to vote. In this paper, I will discuss the constitutional amendments as well as the landmark supreme court cases that affected both the lives and voting rights of African Americans during the time period of 1865 through 1900.

The history of slavery has majorly impacted contemporary society as well as the ways in which we live. Ever since slavery was abolished in the United States, equality has been spread amongst African Americans throughout the world. This was achieved by the African Americans themselves, with their strong effort in fighting for what they felt was right. Following their strong attempts, “A terrible price had to be paid, in a tragic, calamitous civil war, before the new democracy could be rid of that most undemocratic institution” (G. Loury, 2015). A huge part of this time period was the Civil Rights

The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson is a document written in 1776 that aimed to create equality among all persons on earth as well as grant everybody certain unalienable rights. Nearly 187 years after this document was written, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from inside the Birmingham jail addressing the inequality that African American people were facing in the South. Nearly all white people in the South during this time were interpreting the Declaration in different ways that supported the segregation of African Americans as well as white supremacy, where they took the phrase “separate but equal” out of context. Martin Luther King Jr. provides detailed events of unjust treatment based on race within his letter where he aims to re-interpret Jefferson’s principles of

It is nearly impossible to overstate the plight of American Americans throughout the course of United States’ history, and Passing helps to display the slow, grudging path that led towards freedom for African Americans. Initially introduced to the country as slaves, African Americans were stripped of all basic human rights. Believed to be less than human, African

In the creation of The Declaration of Independence, the delegates declared that the laws established by British Parliament limited their freedoms. The African-American peoples’ freedom, rights, and knowledge are being limited every day. Where were the delegates that were fighting for them? This very “battle” could have been avoided if the delegates were not preoccupied with opinions of economic gains of “free labor”. Southerners and their economy depend on slavery and therefore faithfully support the continued legal status of slavery. People of color are disadvantaged of having ordinary lives because of the voracity that has consumed

African Americans had to fight segregation, discriminatory violence, and voting restrictions (Washington). It is difficult for African Americans to feel empowered when odds seem to be working against them (Henry). Since they were not given a chance of succeeding in lower level education, they don’t have the funds to reach the level they aspired to reach (Washington). Through the discrimination that has persisted in the past equality is needed for African Americans to finally feel as they have a purpose in America.

It is written in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (USHistory.org) Certainly,  if this was written for all men, this should have included African-Americans as well. At the turn of the twentieth century racism and inequality were the norm. During this time, two prominent African-American men spoke to African-Americans on which approach they should take to be treated in the same manner of White Americans. Booker T. Washington was an influential African-American leader, reformer, and educator. He believed that African-Americans should concentrate

When compared to other minorities and women, African Americans have gone through the most unjust and horrendous treatment above all and have made the most progress in the struggle for civil rights. "Most Southerners rationalized the exploitation, brutality, injustice, and degradation of slaves with the "old assumptions of Anglo-Saxon superiority and innate African inferiority, white supremacy, and Negro subordination." (pg.435) The most important struggle that African Americans faced was slavery. Slavery began in 1619, when colonists brought Black Africans to the new world to harvest the tobacco crops in Jamestown. Slavery granted economic prosperity to thousands of white families. Being born an African American meant a 99 percent chance of being a slave and having your life controlled unfairly from birth to death. "Slaves were part of their owner 's properties just like a house, the fields, and the furniture." (pg.435) Slaves were denied education and the deprivation of education strengthened the "concept of the superior/inferior relationship by making the slave more dependent on his master." (pg.436) Slavery grew rapidly because of the cross-Atlantic slave trading industry. Owning a slave was economically attractive to the North 's textile industries and South 's agricultural interests. Many farmers and plantation owners morally opposed slavery, however, "economic reality prevented the abolition of the system, opting instead to ban the exportation of new slaves into the

Fighting for rights has always been a problem all over the world. During the Civil

As people now, today talk about slaves, African American suffrage, the struggles they went through as slaves, the racism during many years, the bad treating of African American people, from children all the way to adults, the deaths and all of the court cases that had to do with African Americans, we all talk about it much now and in comparison to the Native Americans struggles, I believe that this isn’t really fair or right in a way that, Native Americans should be recognize just as African Americans do, because their struggles were both really cruel, and unfair in the United States. I think that they both took a big part of our history to shape who we are now. As well as that they went through a lot, that in the world today in our schools

Equal rights for African-Americans is a complex topic has been and continues to be one of the most prominent issues in our country. Our nation’s history with this issue goes back to the very start. Without African-Americans, America would not be the same country it is today. With that said, they are also one of the most oppressed groups in America. Historically, African-Americans have not had the same access to many things Caucasians have enjoyed for years, despite their large representation in America. This is where many problems concerning African-American rights stem from. I plan to explore this in my essay today. What has led to these civil rights issues? What has been done to give African Americans more rights? What does the future of

America had been oppressed by England since the beginning of its creation and sought freedom from their rule. Americans fought and died for the sake of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those very principles helped to construct the Declaration of Independence, which declared liberty and equality to every man. As God as the enforcer of these natural rights, independence would be granted to America and the citizens that lived there. Nevertheless, the liberty and equality that is man’s birth right never fully extended to all men. African Americans citizens were not granted those rights that whites were given so easily. The same African Americans that fought alongside with the rebels for independence, would not be granted their own freedom

Although it is a common thought nowadays that equal rights should be existent among all races, it was not always this way especially towards the African American community. Because of prejudice and racism in America, African Americans struggled throughout history to obtain equal rights even though the Constitution promised rights for all men. Since African Americans first entered the United States they have been treated as less than equal than that of a white man. There were multiple movements which helped change the way African Americans were seen in the United States and helped establish the right for African Americans to vote. Early in the United States history African Americans by law were listed as second-class citizens.

In the late 1700’s, the founding fathers of the United States were drafting up the documents that Americans would reference for hundreds of years to come. The Declaration of Independence was written in order to declare independence from the control of Great Britain, bringing democracy for the United States. The Declaration of the United States reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness-.” The intention was to provide freedom for U.S. citizens to have ‘unalienable rights’. What the document does not specify is the inclusion of African Americans, who have been previously enslaved. Kerber explains, “As its founding moments, the United States simultaneously dedicated itself to freedom and strengthened its system of racialized slavery.” None of the documents clearly say, “all men are created equal except Black people,” on the other hand, the document did not create an inclusive environment for the Black population. Though the Declaration