The End of Slavery and the Civil Rights Movement

Following the end of the Civil War and adoption of the 13th Amendment, white southerners were not happy with the end of slavery and the prospect of living or working equally with blacks whom they considered inferior. To keep-up, the majority of states and local communities passed Jim Crow laws that required “separate but equal” status for African Americans. These laws sanctioned legal punishments for associating with the opposite race. Jim Crow Laws were established between 1874 and 1975, an idea practice condemned black citizens to substandard treatment and facilities. Education was segregated as were public facilities such as hotels and restaurants under Jim Crow Laws. In reality, Jim Crow laws led to treatment and accommodations that were almost

In the late 1800’s, a series of racial policies went into effect known as the Jim Crow Laws. These laws enforced separate but equal treatment among African Americans and Whites. Established by the use of separate facilities such as, schools, hotels, restaurants, restrooms and transportation, many of us know and understand Jim Crow Laws by one word, “Segregation”. Jim Crow Laws were upheld by the government during the Plessy vs. Ferguson case and were cemented through acts of terror by the people who opposed. Although slavery had been abolished, African Americans were still stripped of their civil rights, which is intended to protect citizens from discrimination by the government and people.

The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. “The most common types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep their black and white clientele separated.”(1) A vast majority of the Southern States agreed upon the Jim Crow Laws, which were slave states. That left some of the Northern States free states which didn’t pass the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws prevented African Americans from doing a lot of things that white americans could do.

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) was a landmark Supreme Court Case that overturned the separate but equal ideology established by the earlier Supreme Court Case Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896). The Plessy vs. Ferguson court case had a profound affect on the social interaction of racial groups in the late 19th to early 20th century causing tension between the two most prominent races within the United States, the Caucasians and the African Americans, which included Hispanics and other non-white citizens. The Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education eradicated legal racial discrimination given to the state government by the implementation of Jim Crow Law in schools and public settings leading to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement which fought to put an end to the white supremacy and give all people especially those of color equal rights and protection under a court of law and in the eyes of government.

The old Jim Crow was a system of segregation and discrimination that barred African Americans Americans from a status equal to that of white Americans; the original Jim Crow was laws created after slavery ended, which promoted racial discrimination in vast areas of African American lives such as public housing, employment, voting, and education. In 1865 the abolition of slavery was meant to bring about significant changes in American society specifically on the lives of African Americans. However, the newly freed slaves dealt with a fluctuation of liberty and oppression through the Jim Crow Laws after the

After the Civil War, the southern United States was in pieces. The land had been demolished, the economy was in the gutter, and plantation owners no longer had a source of cheap labor. In order to keep the newly freed African-Americans socially below white people, Jim Crow Laws were made. Jim Crow Laws were laws that segregated people of color and whites. These laws prevented African-Americans from using the same facilities as whites, completing daily tasks, and limited the exchange between African-Americans and whites. Jim Crow laws were in place for about 100 years. From the end of the Civil War, to the end of the Civil Rights Movement these laws had an effect on the

The Civil Rights movement of 1964 ended segregation in public places. This meant that a facility could not ban a person from entering the premises based on race, religion, sex, or national origin. The Brown-vs.-Board of Education was discussed by congress in Topeka, Kansas in 1962. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brown and decided to implement desegregation in schools all across the nation. This allowed African Americans to receive a higher education. African Americans could now go to any school of their choosing without being turned away because the color of their skin was darker than white children. This further lead the way for Barack Obama becoming

Jim Crow laws were set in place in 1876 for the legalization of segregation between African Americans and whites. The laws were based on the theory of white supremacy and were a reaction to Reconstruction. Laws such as these were harsh and unfair. These laws basically excluded African Americans from their rights as citizens of the United States. Many uprisings occurred, including the Plessy v. Ferguson case, extreme discrimination, and an unfair

Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and

The Civil Rights Movement brought many accomplishments to African Americans such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The key issues that African Americans fought for were voting rights, integration and racial equality. They were tired of the discrimination and humiliation they received as a result of the segregation laws imposed on them. “State laws mandated racial separation in schools, parks, playgrounds, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, theaters, restrooms and so on” (Blumberg 40). Lawsuits had been tried to gain rights such as the unsuccessful Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and the successful Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Although, the Brown v. Board of Education of

African Americans struggled for racial equality in the early 1950’s and 1960’s. After the Civil War, the federal government passed the 13th (prohibiting slavery), 14th (due process to all citizens), and 15th (the right to vote for all citizens) amendments, as well as The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 to protect the civil rights of black people. However, Jim Crow Laws were established between 1874 and 1975 to separate the white and black races in the American South. In theory, it was to create "separate but equal" treatment, but in practice Jim Crow Laws condemned black citizens. Although these laws were eventually deemed unconstitutional, severe racism and discrimination toward black people continued to dominate the culture of some parts of the south for seventy or eighty years. Although the Jim Crow laws do not exist anymore, America is still plagued by racism and African Americans are still being discriminated and treated unfairly in regards to employment, law enforcement, and hate crimes.

“Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to but himself,”- John Locke. Those who are born into America today are farther and farther removed from a dark chapter in U.S. History. In America, the second you are born you have the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This wasn’t always the case. The enslaving of African American’s was a way of life in America, especially in the Southern states. Black people were either forced or born into slavery. These people had these unalienable rights stripped from them and they were at the mercy of whomever they “belonged” to. This was the way of life in the Colonies for 100’s of years until something changed. Attitudes towards Great Britain were changing as the colonies neared an inevitable revolution. The great awakening and enlightened writers such as John Locke and Thomas Paine changed the attitudes of colonials in terms of their own freedoms and rights as people themselves and although this shift in thinking wouldn’t necessarily change the attitudes toward slavery right away, it would plant the seed for an eventual fight for the abolition of slavery.

The image I chose is one that shows black men embracing two white men at a black lives matter protest. The movement of black lives matter began when it seemed that black lives were the target for more public and murderous attacks by police officers around the country. Consequently, betraying the idea that black lives don't matter. It draws attention to the problems faced by african americans in this country and how our lives aren't equal to our fellow americans. This is a prime example of equality not being obtainable in the physical world. Slavery ended one hundred and fifty years ago and the civil rights movement followed after. Yet, trials dealt with in the past are now apart of the present day. William Blake’s The little black boy is a

In the 1820s, when other colonies in Latin America rebelled and finally gained independence from the control of Spain, Cubans remain loyalty to the Spanish colonizers. Partly because the Cuban settlers’ dependence on Spain for trade and the need for continuous protection from pirates and slave rebellion; partly because they feared the rising power of United States more than they disliked Spanish rule. At that time, Cuba continuously conveys sugar, coffee and tobacco to Europe and American. It is difficult for Cuban slave owners to give up the use of slaves, since slavery was the economic foundation for the farming and mining industry. Therefore, until 1880’s, Cuba achieved the total abolition of slavery. Although there was a strong link between slavery and profitability, as the economic and social conditions change overtime, the slavery, began to create a set of insoluble contradictions that made it irrational and dangerous for the exploiting class itself. This long process led to the fall of the nineteenth century slave system in Cuba, and finally, abolish.

The reason it was significant to end slavery was because slaves were sometimes harshly beaten to the point of being killed, or dying from the injuries. Furthermore, slaves had no freedom which went against the Declaration "all men are created equal . A slave is a human being classed as property and who is forced to work for nothing. So basically they are forced to do what they don’t want to do, they have no control of their life, they get treated like animals, they forced to split up from their family, they barely get any food and when they are transported there are no space to move. Another reason is slaves didn't have any right of education. The white owners didn’t want them to learn how to read or write because they believed that it might