...African American's Journey Essay Below is a free essay on "African American's Journey" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. “African American’s Journey to Freedom” Charity Johnson HIS204: American History since 1865 Instructor: Leslie Ruff February 11, 2013 “African American’s Journey to Freedom” To some African Americans it may seem ironic that The United States of America is known as “the land of the free” considering that majority of their ancestors entered the US as slaves. African Americans were brought to North America via the middle passage which originated during the fifteenth century. They were enslaved for approximately 400 hundred years until the end of the Civil War in 1865. Although African Americans were enslaved in America, they were determine to survive and one day be freed in this great country. During The African American’s journey to freedom several significant events took place which was inclusive of but not limited to: The Civil Rights Movement of 1865-1877, Separate but Equal Legislation (Plessy vs. Ferguson court case) in 1896, The Harlem Renaissance of 1920, Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, The March on Washington Movement of 1963, and The Black Power Movement of the late 1960s and 1970. I will discuss the significance of these events in relation to the African American journey to freedom and how they have help shape American society today. THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF 1865-1877 Frequently when...
Words: 5251 - Pages: 22
...factors led to the expansion of the United States during the period after the Civil War, and what were the effects of expansion? Section 1: Short Answer Questions (30 points) Write multi-sentence responses for the prompts below. Be specific and give examples from the history we have learned. A. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution changes laws for the entire country. Three amendments changed laws especially for African Americans. Explain how each of the following amendments changed the law for African Americans. (10 points total) a. Thirteenth Amendment (3 points) The thirteenth amendment ended slavery and involuntary servitude except for punishment as a crime. It prevented African Americans from being forced back into slavery. b. Fourteenth Amendment (4 points) the fourteenth amendment addresses citizenship rights and and equal protection of the laws. It was proposed in response to issues that were related to former slaves. c. Fifteenth Amendment (3 points) The fifteenth amendment prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on color, religion, and race. B. Answer the following questions:(10 points) a. What challenges did the United States face in redefining the Union after the war? (1 pt). Briefly tell what these events were and analyze their importance in the Reconstruction era:(3 pts each) b.The assassination of Lincoln...
Words: 421 - Pages: 2
...• Robert Livingston • War of 1812- Military conflict between US and Britain following revolution about unresolved issues: trade restrictions, etc. • Tecumseh- Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy; opposed US in war of 1812. • John Quincy Adams- sixth president; whig. • Empire of Liberty- theme developed first by Thomas Jefferson to identify America's world responsibility to spread freedom across the globe. Jefferson saw America's mission in terms of setting an example, expansion into the west, and by intervention abroad. • Transportation Revolution- early 1800s, development of steamboats, canals, and railroads. Faster transport of people, products, and knowledge. • National Road- First major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. Connection between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and a gateway to the West for thousands of settlers. • Communication Revolution- Samuel Morse invented telegraph. • The Market Revolution- improvements in how goods were processed and fabricated as well as by a transformation of how labor was organized to process trade goods for consumption. • Porkopolis- Cincinnati was the country's chief hog packing center, and herds of pigs traveled the streets. • Labor theory of value- The value of a commodity is only related to the labor needed to produce or obtain that commodity and not to other factors of production • Second Party System- 2 party system • Democrats-...
Words: 2107 - Pages: 9
...Sem 1 (S2561969)! ! ! SU14-Alex Sanford! Points possible: 60! ! ! ! ! ! Unit Six Big Question: What were the social and political consequences of the Civil War? What factors led to the expansion of the United States during the period after the Civil War, and what were the effects of expansion?! Section 1: Short Answer Questions (30 points)! Write multi-sentence responses for the prompts below. Be specific and give examples from the history we have learned.! A. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution changes laws for the entire country. Three amendments changed laws especially for African Americans. Explain how each of the following amendments changed the law for African Americans. (10 points total)! ! a. Thirteenth Amendment (3 points)! ! ! The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It freed all African Americans and prevented them from being forced to return to slavery.! ! ! b. Fourteenth Amendment (4 points)! ! ! ! c. Fifteenth Amendment (3 points)! ! ! ! The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. All African Americans were now counted for purposes of representation.! The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's “race...
Words: 1102 - Pages: 5
...The African Americans: The Birth of Equality after 1865 Leonard Stinson HIS204: American History Since 1865 Instructor John Durr December 5th, 2011 The African Americans: The Birth of Equality after 1865 This was a time when America was trying to find herself. These were the years known as the Reconstruction Period from 1865-1877. During this time period, the African-American people became free from slavery but one can only imagine what free really is. While the nation search for ways to establish true meaning of equality, African-American people continued to struggle to find out just what equality means and to have the same rights and freedom as the white people in the nation. Whether as slaves or free people, the political and social status of African Americans has always been to obtain the ability to participate in the nation’s economy. While many historians believe that slavery and politics can be attributed to the Civil War, more than 600,000 Americans died and with the help of the Emancipation Proclamation to start the motion to free the slaves, America became even more a divided country in 1865 than the previous earlier years (Bowles, 2011). Although freedom in the post-Civil War years did not guarantee equality, African Americans continued to struggle from racism, segregation and discrimination for many years, but the birth of equality is beginning to grow and show that all men and women are created equal. The effort to integrate...
Words: 3595 - Pages: 15
...1800s-1900’s segregation was enforced to keep African Americans separated from whites. During this time African Americans had to deal with the symbols of what was called Jim Crow’s, (Whites Only and Colored Only) signs; which are found today in museums, old photographs, and documentaries. Now since an African American has been elected President of the United States, a person could say segregation seems as old-fashioned and distant as watching an old black and white television. Although, the major challenge is to explain the reasons for the legacy of segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights, that African Americans worked to end. The best way to describe the shape of the United States in the second half of the 19th century, “according to eminent historian Robert Wiebe, the answer was isolated island communities,” (Bowles, 2011, Section 1.1, Para 1). Wiebe used the symbol of the island because cities were very much separated and isolated from each other and had a weak system of communication between them. The time came, after the divisiveness and devastation of the Civil War, when the nation searched for order economically, politically, geographically, and racially. Although, emancipation came during the Civil War, nearly 4 million freed slaves struggled to make a home for themselves as citizens during a period known as Reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 to 1877. “Though Reconstruction was unable to end the social, economic, and political...
Words: 1203 - Pages: 5
...Bibliographic Essay on African American History Introduction In the essay “On the Evolution of Scholarship in Afro- American History” the eminent historian John Hope Franklin declared “Every generation has the opportunity to write its own history, and indeed it is obliged to do so.”1 The social and political revolutions of 1960s have made fulfilling such a responsibility less daunting than ever. Invaluable references, including Darlene Clark Hine, ed. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); Evelyn Brooks Higgingbotham, ed., Harvard Guide to African American History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001); Arvarh E. Strickland and Robert E. Weems, Jr., eds., The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001); and Randall M. Miller and John David Smith, eds., Dictionary of Afro- American Slavery (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988), provide informative narratives along with expansive bibliographies. General texts covering major historical events with attention to chronology include John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000), considered a classic; along with Joe William Trotter, Jr., The African American 1  Experience (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001); and, Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine, and Stanley Harrold, The...
Words: 6155 - Pages: 25
...Abstract In this essay you will learn about the civil war, reconstruction, the progressive era, the great depression, and the civil rights era. Also the American Anti-Slavery and Civil rights Timeline, 1854-1896 during the civil war era. Identify and describe two examples of the U.S. Authority Expansion between the beginning of the U.S. Civil War and the end of the Civil War Era? (1) The twelve years following the Civil War carried consequences for the nation’s future. Reconstruction helped set the pattern for future race relations and defined the federal government’s role in promoting equality. This section describes President Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plan to readmit the confederate states to the Union as well as the more stringent Congressional plan; it also describes the power struggle between President Andrew Johnson and congress, including the vote over the president’s impeachment. This section also identifies the groups that ruled the southern state governments from 1866-1877 and explains why Reconstruction ended in 1877. (2) Immediately following the war, all-white Southern legislatures passed black code which denied blacks the right purchase or rent land. These efforts to force former slaves to work on plantations led Congressional Republicans to seize control of Reconstruction from President Andrew Johnson, deny representatives from the former Confederate states their Congressional seats, and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and draft...
Words: 857 - Pages: 4
...African American Slavery In this essay I am explaining why the African American has more African-ness the Nigerian Americans. I will examine the origin and the different aspects of the African American culture. I will also examine how the African culture is so rich in the American world and changed many aspect of the everyday life in the new world. Slavery predates back to the 18th century from when African Americans were enslaved. People of color were bought, sold, and used to work on farms, and in the household of their white masters. The progression of African American culture has progressed by leaps and bounds since the1800’s. It took a long time for slaves to be given their freedom. Although they were free, the reconstruction plan was a starting point, which in turn allowed former slaves to become freedmen. Freedmen who were allowed to own land and become upstanding citizen just like their white counterparts. The freed slaves went on to become prominent business owners and family men. They were still some racists who were appalled that they were allowed to go free. Slaves were not allowed to learn how to read and therefore could not read the bible. It was a way for the salves masters to protect themselves from the slaves getting a silly notion of equality from the bible. Religion became a big issue within the African American community. Black churches were established to allow them to come, worship, and not be segregated from their white counterparts. Even...
Words: 343 - Pages: 2
...THE AMERICAN DREAM THE AMERICAN DREAM Section #1 a. The impact cultures in North America have on the United States is that each region adapted the traditions and/or beliefs of those who settled in that area by maintaining dance, music, and crafts. Many English settlers did not respect the Native American cultures, and were seen as uncivilized and/or savages. Basically there was a clash of cultures, with new ideas pushing away old ways and mayor cultures oppressing others. b. Immigration and migration shape the early United States, for example: The first person to be processed at Ellis Island was Annie Moore who arrived from Ireland on January 1, 1892. As the first immigrant Annie Moore was given a $10 gold piece. She soon was married and gave birth to eleven children. While Annie Moore was the first immigrant, she was definitely not alone. Some famous immigrants who arrived through Ellis Island included Charles Chaplin, Cary Grant, Harry Houdini, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is easy to see from this list how immigrants have changed the face of the United States. All of these famous people contributed to the United States, giving a bright future for innovative contributions to the young nation. c. The most important change in the United States ‘ involvement in foreign affairs from 1789 to 1877 was expansion of its territory. Marked by a treaty with France buying Louisiana territory doubling the United States, and other treaties...
Words: 3352 - Pages: 14
...factors led to the expansion of the United States during the period after the Civil War, and what were the effects of expansion? Section 1: Short Answer Questions (30 points) Write multi-sentence responses for the prompts below. Be specific and give examples from the history we have learned. A. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution changes laws for the entire country. Three amendments changed laws especially for African Americans. Explain how each of the following amendments changed the law for African Americans. (10 points total) a. Thirteenth Amendment (3 points) b. Fourteenth Amendment (4 points) c. Fifteenth Amendment (3 points) B. Answer the following questions:(10 points) a. What challenges did the United States face in redefining the Union after the war? (1 pt). Briefly tell what these events were and analyze their importance in the Reconstruction era:(3 pts each) b.The assassination of Lincoln – c.The rise of the Ku Klux Klan – d.The impeachment of Andrew Johnson – C. After the Civil War, the final struggle over western lands between whites and native Americans took place. Use 1-2 sentences to define the following terms that have to do with the American West after 1870. ( 2 pts each) a. The Homestead...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
...Unit I: Essay Exam: Reconstruction & Rise of Industry US History Since 1877 Professor Valdenia Winn February 14, 2013 According to Dictionary.com, radical means: 1. Of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference. 2. Thoroughgoing or extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms. Historians identified Congressional Reconstruction as “radical” because of how the South tried to elude the Thirteenth Amendment. Because of these extreme circumstances the federal government had to intervene, which at that point made it radical to most historians. The root of the problem was slavery and the problem solver was the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment prohibited slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment established national citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the United States. It also prohibited the states from depriving citizens of their civil rights or equal protection under the law as well as reduced state representation in the House of Representatives by the percentage of adult male citizens denied the vote. The Fifteenth Amendment forbade states to deny citizens the right to vote on the grounds of race, color, or “previous condition of servitude”. Another problem solver was the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was there to aid former slaves get on their feet and supervise “all relief and educational activities relating to refugees and...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...Ryals Contemporary U.S. History Professor Terry Hammons October 23rd 2012 Abstract This paper is going to incorporate the key elements that contributed to the early revolution within American History. We are going to discuss the Presidential and the Congressional Reconstruction which occurred between 1865 to 1867, and how it laid the foundation to the dramatic changes of governmental ordinances and political ethics. Following that, we will discuss the ratification of the 15th amendment, enactment of the “Jim Crow” laws, Civil Rights Act, Wounded Knee, and the Spanish American War. This essay will attempt to illustrate the events that wrought change to the Americas, the key fueling factors in the momentum of change. The Presidential Reconstruction began with Andrew Johnson’s impeachment. Johnson possessed a background that mirrored Abraham Lincoln’s. Johnson was raised in poverty, which fueled his drive for prosperity and aided in his development into a businessman. Johnson was also a very qualified candidate for the presidency and boasted a politically accomplished resume.(Jenkins, 2003) Unfortunately, Johnson’s extreme disdain for the slavery lead to his demise, this was often translated into the belief that his plans for American restoration and reconstruction would be extremely detrimental to southerners, even worse then Abraham Lincoln’s plans. Republican extremist fought for him to incorporate Black suffrage, but Johnson viewed this unfavorable...
Words: 1993 - Pages: 8
...Alice Walker’s essay, In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens, Walker claims that African American woman’s various skills and talents were never discovered and lost due to slavery and the forced way of life they had to live in. These women were controlled and suffered in every aspect of punishment every day of their lives, including forced brutal labor and pregnancies. Walker collects a series of experiences from African Americans in order to support her argument. Walker presents strong evidence to her claim by describing Jean Toomer’s evaluation of the Reconstruction South, who was a poet in the early 1920’s. Toomer observed black women to be unique due to their spirituality, beauty, and power, even though they were sexually abused and forced to lose their lives. Women had no choice and basically lived in an enclosed box, no way out. By observing Toomer, Walker was able to understand how hard it was to be a woman at this scary unfortunate time. I agree with Walker’s feelings and felt that way as well reading this, an absolute devastation; and I could not imagine being an African American woman in that situation. These African American women could not fully express themselves and were held back from anything they wanted or could have due to society. Mothers and grandmothers at that time thought all of this would be better or be different tomorrow; little did they know, they were wrong. Walker uses Phillis Wheatly as an example to establish that African American women were...
Words: 551 - Pages: 3
...the American slavery era; this division has fueled African-American cultural movements, societal achievements, and economic systems. Light skinned blacks have undoubtedly maintained the hypothetical lead, receiving the upper hand in American slavery and the post Reconstruction era. However, dark skinned blacks made slight gains from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. In order to further assert white dominance, slaveholders annihilated African ethnic identities. Slaves were instead classified them as tools to be used by whites in any way whites saw fit. Consequently, racial miscegenation between Caucasians and African slaves became a common component of slave culture. In order to obstruct...
Words: 947 - Pages: 4
