The Progression of Civil Rights in the USA Essay

The Constitution and its amendments define civil rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to petition, the freedom to assemble, and the right to vote regardless of race, color, and sex. The Constitution also provides citizens

Civil liberties are basic freedoms granted to individuals in the Bill of Rights. Individual freedom can survive only under a system of law by which both the supreme and the governed are bound. Such a system of fundamental laws, Civil rights are constitutional guarantees, which mean they are granted to individuals with the body of the Constitution in the form of amendments. Many civil rights were granted after the Constitution was written, but civil liberties were included in the Constitution since their adoption in the Bill of Rights in 1791.

According to law, civil rights are something that everyone is given. However, history has shown that this is not always the case. Everyday, Americans still go through discrimination because of their skin color. As a result of the KKK, the United States today is not as integrated as it should be.

Civil Rights In the U.S. most use the terms Civil Liberties and Civil Rights interchangeably; although they both protect the freedom of citizens they do this in different ways. 2 Civil Liberties are limitations placed on the government. These are things the government is restricted to do, by the constitution. Things that could interfere with personal freedom. 3 For example, the 1st amendment says that no law can be made establishing a set religion. (Course, 2015) Therefore no laws can be made pertaining to a set religion. Civil liberties can be seen as broader laws, placed against the government. 2 Whereas Civil Rights are almost like curbs

Once the civil war came to an end, of course this ended slavery and provided African Americans freedom, but it didn’t provide them security or equality. African Americans had to still be dependent on the white man for things that they weren’t able to just provide to themselves. At first, the states were supposed to be providing and protection the rights of individuals. But, by being able to have these amendments, they provide political equality and equal treatment for all American’s within the United States regardless of their

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Following the Civil War, former slave-holding states felt the need to restrict the rights of black people, creating black codes. Many of these laws required the free black person to obtain "special written permission of his employer" in order to do things such as requesting non-working days, coming near the local parish, or possessing a weapon. These codes really demonstrated the existent segregation and unequal rights between the whites and blacks after the war. Consequently, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, even with the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The Act stated that any person born in the United States of America was a legal American citizen, regardless of other factors such as race, and thus shall benefit from all laws equally. Furthermore, the drafting of the 14th and 15th Amendments surfaced. The 14th Amendment allowed for protection so that "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This was a huge step in the political and social values in the country. Johnson believed that "to force the right of suffrage out of the hands of white people and into the hands of blacks [was] an arbitrary violation." The 15th Amendment gave all men, regardless of race or other factors, the right to vote. The appearance of injustice through the form of black codes helped to spur the idea equal rights for

According to Patterson, “The Constitution’s failure to enumerate individual freedoms led to demands for the Bill of Rights. These first 10 amendments to the Constitution list a set of rights that the federal government is obliged to protect” (Patterson, 94). In the Bill of Rights, civil liberties specify the individual’s rights like freedom of speech, the right to a fair court trial, and other rights, which is protected by the government. 3 Patterson says, “Civil rights are a question of whether individual members of differing groups, such as racial, gender, and ethnic groups, are treated

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Being as though this amendment was created and now applied to all people African Americans began developing many new skills that whites didn’t possess. “President Ulysses S. Grant supported Radical Reconstruction and enforced the protection of African Americans in the South through the use of the Force Acts passed by Congress. Grant suppressed the Ku Klux Klan, but was unable to resolve the escalating tensions inside the Republican party between the Carpetbaggers and the Scalawags (native whites in the South).” African Americans started off with making sure all African Americans had an education so that they may be able to work job and make their own money and succeed on their own

Civil rights has been an important issue in American history, dating even before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it was one of the primary causes of the American Revolution, as seen with the famous phrase “no taxation without representation.” The Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment further sparked a heated debate during the Reconstruction Era over the civil protections of free blacks. These disputes led to additional legislation, such as the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment, to protect these citizens of the United States.

After the Civil War, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendment were added to our constitution in order to protect the civil rights of Americans. The thirteenth amendment ended slavery. The fourteenth tells us that all persons born here are natural citizens, as well as states the rights and protection of both citizens and non-citizens under the law. The fifteenth amendment protects a citizen’s right to vote. These were reinforced by the civil rights acts between 1865 and 1875. These acts allowed the President to enforce these acts with armed forces, criminal penalties to those who would interfere with the right to vote or any of these other rights, and penalties to those who would deny equal enjoyment to public accommodations. Unfortunately, many civil rights court cases, and barriers were put in place to undermine the legislation these amendments and acts were meant to create and the rights they were made to protect. This changed in 1954 when Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka stated that segregation of schools violates the equal protection act of the fourteenth amendment. This eventually led to several other civil rights movements during the 1950s and 60s. By this time, Congress was finally compelled to pass legislation to support the civil rights movement. This included the Civil rights act of 1964, which banned discrimination on the bases of color, race, religion, gender, and national origin. The Voting act of 1965, which outlawed tests discriminatory tests

On April 09, 1866, Andrew Johnson had vetoed the Civil Rights bill, but he had was overridden by the House. It was passed by the thirty-ninth Congress. The bill’s main purpose: everyone born in the United States was to be declared citizens of the United States, no matter what ethnicity, except American Indians. The House had wanted all people born here to be given an equal and fair opportunity of legal benefits. This bill was quite important concerning other races in the American workforce because it was the first major anti-discrimination employment ordinance. The bill originated from Senate Judiciary Chairman Lyman Trumbull of Illinois. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 essentially encourages nondiscrimination and protect all ethic groups. Despite not giving this benefit to Native Americans, this bill represents America taking a step closer to being a free and equal country that offers the same opportunities to

The term civil rights have been defined as all citizenship rights from actions and decisions taken by the government to create equal and guaranteed living circumstances for all citizens, In specific, the Constitution Amendments No. 13, 14, 15, 19, and 26. (Barbour 2014 p.133).

The Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's was arguably one of the most formative and influential periods in American history. Hundreds of thousands of civil rights activists utilized non violent resistance and civil disobedience to revolt against racial segregation and discrimination. The Civil Rights Movement began in the southern states but quickly rose to national prominence. It is of popular belief that the civil rights movement was organized by small groups of people, with notable leaders like—Martin Luther King, Jr, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, and even John F. Kennedy—driving the ship. That is partly correct. The Civil Rights Movement, in its truest form, was hundreds of thousands of people organizing events and protests,

The ruling of the Supreme Court in this case became law. It did not gain the Negros any more rights or equal opportunities. Still, it was the first step towards desegregation. It also made people realize that there was still injustice between the races. Justice John