The Impact Of Jane Addams And Civil Rights

Jane Addams is recognized as a social and political pioneer for women in America. In her biography, which later revealed her experiences in Hull House, she demonstrates her altruistic personality, which nurtured the poor and pushed for social reforms. Although many of Addams ideas were considered radical for her time, she provided women with a socially acceptable way to participate in both political and social change. She defied the prototypical middle class women by integrating the line that separated private and political life. Within these walls of the settlement house, Addams redefined the idea of ?separate spheres,? and with relentless determination, she

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), women played a big part in not only keeping the crusade alive, but also played a big part in energizing the masses to continue the long and arduous struggle against the seemingly impenetrable institutions of power which disenfranchised African-Americans and regarded their humanity as nothing more than mere pieces of property owned by others. Women like Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Septima Clark and countless mothers, sisters, and daughters proved to be important

Jane Addams, a pioneering social worker, helped bring attention to the possibility of revolutionizing America’s attitude toward the poor. Not only does she remain a rich source of provocative social theory to this day, her accomplishments affected the philosophical, sociological, and political thought. Addams was an activist of courage and a thinker of originality. Jane Addams embodied the purest moral standards of society which were best demonstrated by her founding of the Hull-House and her societal contributions, culminating with the winning of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.

African Americans in the 1950s were racially discriminated and had to go through many obstacles, but this didn’t stop a person. For example, Rosa Parks needed to give up her seat for a white passenger, and she had to sit in the back of the bus or stand up. She refused to give up her seat. Consequently, she had no right to say NO, and caused her to get arrested. Little did she know that she had made an effect on African Americans. Black people had a right to do whatever they wanted just like the white, and it was made into huge deal. Rosa had to overcome an obstacle that turned out to be really positive. As a result, thanks to her all African americans were protected and had the same rights as any human being.

During the reconstruction era, civil rights were regarded as unconstitutional since it never covered all Americans and the Indians and the freed men were not given equal rights as true Americans. There was a lot of discrimination by the government towards the black Americans. The Civil Rights Movement put this into light and made amendments on social rights where all citizens were expected to be treated equally and policies were made to protect the rights of these black freed men (Johnson 1998: Clayborne 2003).

Like Martin Luther King Jr said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now". In the 1800's and mid 1900's there were several cases where it lacked equality to the blacks. The Civil Rights movement helped people understand that nobody is better or greater than somebody else because of their skin color. Three Supreme Court cases influenced the civil right movement by showing why everybody should be treated equal and should have the same rights that the whites had: Dred Scott v. Sanford, Brown v. Board of Education, and Loving v. Virginia.

Imagine a world in which all men weren 't created equal. A world where skin color, ethnic origin, gender, and sexuality was what defined a person rather than character. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood”(King). Through the decades of the 1940s-1960s, America built the foundation for civil rights, a movement in which minorities fought for equality. Groups that previously had been discriminated against began to defend themselves with greater strength and success. The civil rights movement inspired African Americans, Native Americans, women, queers, and Latinos to fight for equality. Although each social group faced their own unique challenges during the civil rights movement, each group shared a common connection through their struggles for equality.

Susan B. Anthony devoted her life to the rights of women’s labor, receiving equal pay, and leading the women’s suffrage movement. She grew up in a home where politics was frequently discussed. Her family supported an end to slavery as part of the abolitionist movement. In her early years, she was a teacher and became involved in the temperance movement as well as the anti-slavery movement. Because she was a woman, she was not allowed to voice her opinion. This became a motivator for her to become a woman’s suffrage leader. A skilled, talented woman made a difference when she joined forces with Stanton. As mentioned earlier, Stanton and Anthony opposed the fourteenth and fifteen amendments for not liberating women. As Mayo states, “she published The Revolution, a radical paper, edited by Stanton (1868-1870), and lectured for over six years to pay off its debt.” (Rights for Women, para.3) She was arrested for voting in 1872. “She led a woman’s protest at the 1876 Centennial delivering a "Declaration of Rights" written by Stanton and Matilda Gage. She wrote and published, with Stanton and Gage the History of Woman Suffrage (1881-1885)” (Mayo para. 5). Although she was arrested and it seemed like nothing came easy, she never gave up. Anthony was a hard working woman that rallied many in hopes of advancing women’s rights. “She gathered signatures on suffrage petitions at the state and national levels, undertook arduous state tours to organize suffrage campaigns in the states

Jane Addams was a major influence during the Progressive Era. As a progressive reformer she had attempted to eliminate the corruption of the government while trying to promote women’s suffrage. Throughout her life Jane Addams had assisted immigrants from all over the world, regardless of their color, and established the Hull House as a result of her efforts. Throughout her life, Jane had been noticed for her achievements and became an important figure for those around her. As a result she became the first female president of the National Conference of Social Work.

Anthony demanded women have a voice across multiple spheres and independence in their personal, economic, and political lives. She believed that suffrage was the ultimate expression of women truly being citizens. Her work inspired thousands of women to fight for suffrage through her social action, which eventually resulted in the 19th amendment. Without Susan B. Anthony’s many contributions, and the influences following her suffrage efforts, women would not have achieved the right to vote in 1920.

The civil rights protest was an important time for people all around the world for achieving equal rights. While there were many against this idea, others fully supported this and believed that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. There were many people that represented the civil rights movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and MalcoIm X. There were also cases that spawned from this that challenged the authority and showed a light of hope on equal rights for all. The cases that were essential in the civil rights movement were the cases of Dred Scott vs. Sandford, Plessy vs. Ferguson, and Brown vs. Board of Education.

Jane Addams was an upper class woman who thought it was her job to help others. Addams was an advocate of immigrants, the poor, women, and peace. In 1889, she created the hull house. The Hull house was created to help female immigrants become assimilated to the American life style by helping get them a job, learn the language, and receive an education. So it was no surprise that in in 1915, Jane Addams wrote the life-changing article “Why Women Should Vote”.

Jane Addams was a peace activist and was a distinguished intelligent woman in her times. She was not interested in getting married or having children, instead she committed to the poor and social reform. As she saw, her community needed many things, which is why she established a nursery, a kindergarten, dispensary, playground, gymnasium and a cooperative housing for women. However, those changes were not enough, soon she realized many things could not be done unless a change in laws was made, so she decided to challenge boss rule in immigrant neighborhoods of Hull-House and the indifference people had to the necessities of the poor in the state legislature. She and many other Hull-House residents supported legislation to stop child labor,

The Civil Rights Movement was a very important event in the African-American’s push for equality. Many major events happened throughout the movement that involved violence, criticism, and racism towards the blacks. African-American’s were being treated extremely unfairly and unequal to white people, almost like they were not human. Many individuals had a huge impact on this movement such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, and Emmit Till. The Civil Rights Movement was a very influential period in American history that impacted millions of lives.

The Civil Rights Movement, popular in the 1950s and 1960s, was a large group of people who fought for the equal rights of the African Americans. The people of the movement constantly protested the lack of equality in hopes to change the ideals of the white leaders. In efforts to suppress the protesting, whites passed several laws attempting to give blacks their full rights. Even then, white employers were reluctant to hire any man of color, which caused unemployment rates to skyrocket. Because of the high unemployment rates, the whites continued to view themselves as superior over every other race. After the blacks were legally “free,” they still faced a plethora of violent acts and segregation. This caused the Civil Rights Movement to