The Election Of A Black President

The right to vote for African American became difficult during the time because the northern didn’t want to consider the blacks as equal to the society. As Frederick Douglass, has once stated “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot.” African American fought their way to gain their right to vote is by coming together, free blacks and emancipated slaves, to create parades, petition drives to demand, and to organize their own “freedom ballots.” As a free African American, they except the same respect as the whites and nothing

As much as Reconstruction had initially tried to help the South, it was the sole goal of this movement to, “undo as much as possible of Reconstruction.” State facilities originally that were supposed to help everyone were closed down, and the gap between black and white expenditures on schooling increased. Due to the depression in the 1890’s this worsened the situation for black families trying to make a living in the South couldn’t keep up their farms or the places that their children would learn. “In 1900, no public high schools for blacks existed in the South. Black elementary schools, one observer reported, occupied buildings “as bad as stables””. New laws about segregation also affected blacks in more ways than just demoralization, it also showed what kind of jobs were considered good work for them. In the instance of segregation on railroads, “many blacks could be found in “whites only” railroad cars. But they entered as servants and nurses, not as paying customers entitled to equal treatment. The rise of lynching also affected the way blacks lived their lives, by controlling the way they vote, how they treated whites, and how they couldn’t rely on the justice system to address their grievances. An example of the reduced number of voters is best seen in Louisiana, where the number of voters dropped from 130, 000 to 1, 342, which is directly linked to the use of violence as a way to intimidate black voters. Blacks also had to be careful how they acted around white, since murder wasn’t a federal crime and was handled by the state, many blacks were lynched without fair trials and accused of crimes like raping white women, murder, and theft. A majority of the accused never when to trial. All in all blacks in the South were largely affected negatively as a result in policy changes, social factors, and widespread violence. This injustice carried on

Slavery was not a word that was unknown in the United States of America; the word was at the tip of almost everyone’s tongue, only it came with many names. After the civil war, slavery became more pronounced for the black people. The south then thought something ought to be done and passed laws called the black codes which begun the limitation of blacks’ rights and separated them from the whites; white supremacy began. Before, these laws would have been unnecessary because most of the black people were slaves and they were already segregated in public places like schools and theatres. In 1866, Congress did not like this and they responded to these laws by putting a stop to it. Republicans had managed to begin reconstruction on the society and understand the black community. But in 1877 things took a turn for the worse when the Democratic parties recovered control and stopped the progress of reconstruction. This in turn caused the reverse of all the progress made in the past few years to understand the black community; they lost their rights to hold political seats, vote and generally participate as though they were members of the community. Slowly but surely, the south started to restore their racially unfair laws. The aim of the laws? To ensure segregation and alienation of the black community. One of the main powers taken away was the right to vote and they did this by imposing poll taxes, having expensive fees to be paid at the voting booths and

There have been many indications that lead to conclude that African Americans vote differently than those of the Caucasian race. From past knowledge and own understanding, many black citizens have a tendency to vote democratic, especially in the recent presidential elections. On page three of a ProQuest Dissertation done by Leonard David Thomas, he states, “… that for blacks there has been a long term and consistent struggle (i.e. social movements)” (Thomas 2010). Based on self interpretation, these struggles may have a reason on the way they vote and identify as a race. In America, there have been many issues with slavery and racism, creating a “race-based” ideology platform with more democratic views, wanting the government to have less social order on their lives. Leonard David Thomas also explained, “Racial domination means that based on race, individual and group movement are controlled. For the controlled, full participation in society is restricted. Roles and activities are determined by stereotypes and norms that sort people of color into less powerful positions. In addition, dominated groups organize to oppose their domination. By interpreting the social system as radicalized, the focus must be on the social structure” (Thomas 2010). This statement explains that, since the African American race has been oppressed and made feel lesser in politics, usually creating them to be Democratic and more liberal, or even making them less likely to vote in elections

Blacks fought for the ideals of America in World War I but they did not receive any recognition for their hard work. Instead, they were still put under the “Jim Crow” laws which prohibited them from voting and segregated them from their superior races. This explains the decrease in percentage of eligible voters who vote from 1900 to 1920.

Because many of the black people had moved to cities, it made the number of blacks grow in certain areas, giving them the amount of power needed to elect officials. The blacks influence on the outcome of the political races were realized by the politicians, who began to support civil rights and oppose segregation. Blacks began to win

Blacks were treated as lower than whites and were stripped of the rights others had, which included voting. “…Blacks bent on remaining in America would naturally seek the right to vote and, equally as a matter of course…blacks contended that denying them equal franchise [suffrage] with whites contravened [contradicted] the principles of the Declaration of Independence.” (Doc. 2) African Americans had no civil rights, especially as slaves. In 1840, a rally in support of the Liberty Party took place in New York and they stood up for what was right. They told the statement of how all humans should have equal rights (including blacks) and those would deny the right would be going against the Declaration of Independence. During 1861- 1865, one of the bloodiest clashes in America took place, the Civil War. This was a battle between the North and the South. With the North’s victory, three amendments took almost immediate effect, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment. These resulted in the abolition of slavery, civil rights, and Black suffrage (Doc. 3). If the South were to win, these amendments would most likely not exist and would result in the opposite direction. Without the North’s efforts to win the war, there would have probably still have been racial issues with slavery, unequal civil rights, and also no voting privileges for the African

The past voting rights for African Americans have improved from 1870. The African American community had to fight and work very hard though to get these rights. They had to work though many things like jim crow laws to get their rights. They went from not being able to vote the first black president in American history. The history of the African American voting rights have changed a lot over the years but it was not easy.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association also made efforts during this time to encourage greater Negro voter registration. It was quoted “We have seen men shot down in the streets as they moved to exercise the basic right of suffrage. We have seen, only recently, more than a dozen men in Mississippi lose their lives when they attempt to register to vote …” “This alone should motivate every eligible man and woman to resolve now to vote in the coming presidential election.” These statements tie in with my survey question: Do you think African Americans take for granted the voting rights their ancestors fought so long for?, majority of survey takers, a good 55% either agreed strongly or moderately.

With the election of Andrew Jackson, for the first time in American history, a common man built his way up to earn the title of President of the United States. Jackson being of “low birth” had particular significance because he went from rags to riches. During his presidency his affinity for the common people did not change, thus Jackson tended to favor the rights of the common people over what was constitutionally correct. Andrew Jackson from such actions can be called the “father” of American democracy because he set the precedent that later presidents followed: where he campaigned and reached out to the people and set the notion that presidential policies ruled over Congress because the president was elected by the people. Although, most would argue against Jackson and his beliefs as president, it is evident that he always put the common people before himself as can be seen in his presidential runs, the spoils system, the vetoing of the second National Bank and the Indian Removal Act.

For a time immediately following the Civil War, the African-Americans and White Americans enjoyed a period of relative equally as every Confederate supporter was barred from running for any government post and civil jobs; an African-American could fill these jobs that mostly every White Southerner was barred from having, so some of the Southern States had African-American representatives to Congress. This didn’t last as the law that barred the “Southern Sympathizers” from holding those jobs was stricken down and all African-Americans that held such jobs were force out of office.

Race relations deteriorated, and the little black voting that did exist was quickly done away with. In the 1880s, very few African American were allowed to vote in the upper South and in other parts of the South, but black office holders and voting majorities vanished, because the KKK were a very intimidating group of White supremacist who’s main objective was to put fear in the African American by burning crosses in their yards and sometimes bombing their homes.

There many methods employed to disfranchise black voters. During the late 1970, southern Democrats created ways to weaken black political power through violence and intimidation. In this course of terror, black people were terrified and discouraged thus causing them to stop voting. Numerous white property owners would at times threaten or entice black sharecroppers and renters not to vote or vote in favor of their candidates. According to Hine, Hine, and Harrold (2014) Thomas E. Miller, a black congressional representative ran for reelection and won however, he was charged with illegal ballots and declared the loser.

From 1968 to 2008, this forty-year period starts with what is considered to be one of the darkest moments in African American history and ends with the ultimate triumph and fulfilment of a dream. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was the spiritual and political leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was gunned down and assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, TN (History.com). Those responsible assumed that this senseless act of violence would thwart and quell the efforts of African Americans in the quest for equality in the United States of America, however, this deed cemented the pursuit and determination of African Americans and many others to bring Dr. King’s dream to fruition. On November 4, 2008, the United States of American elected its first African American President, Barack Hussein Obama, as the nation’s forty-fourth president (ipl2). This week’s assignment is to write an essay on how the 2008 election affected African American History in America and contrast the essay ideas with the history of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the January/February 2017 edition of The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates takes a look at the last eight years of American history, a time when the Commander in Chief of the United States of America was an African American. The article, entitled “My President Was Black” focused on the implications of having an African American in office. Within the first subheading, which focused on the different styles of music that were being performed at the White House, my mind was off on a number of tangents. This article really showcased how much music can matter to an African American.