It’s no doubt that America was not the most favorable place during this time period for most, if not all African Americans. But without all the events that occurred then, we might not be where we are today. I’m not trying to justify what they did was right. But if we think about it, without the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, things might have never of changed. African Americans could still be treated like slaves and not treated like human beings.
The term African-American is more geared to those who are generations removed from the home land but are still heavily influenced by the culture of their ancestors for a lack of a better term the “blacks” of America. Ignorant to their history many blacks of the 21-century try to dispel their heritage and try to only become American. Referring to themselves as only such with no ties to anywhere past what is now. This mind set is conducive to what was trying to be accomplished by whites for centuries the relinquishment of everything known before slavery. “in a situation of the colonizer and the colonized the question of consciousness become a site of intense struggle” (Thiong’o, 109) As discussed in class being ripped from everything you know into a new world is the most traumatizing experience and those who gave their lives in hopes of a better future, a future where if they can’t make it home at least they claim their own stake in this new land; these ancestors will look in turmoil as they realize that
Despite this, had it not been for slavery, there would have been no initial divide between North and South which created economic disparity and led to Southern paranoia over Northern expansionism which led to war, thus the most important factor. The most important factor for the outbreak of the American Civil War was slavery because it caused the initial divides between the North and South. The first divisions were as the USA was undergoing Western Expansion with the issue over whether the new states, such as California and New Mexico should be brought in as Slave states or Free states. The failure to reach a decision over whether new states would be Slave states or Free states meant there was inevitably a conflict that can be seen through to the tensions in Kansas in 1857. The fact that a minor civil war occurred simply over the issue of slavery clearly depicts that slavery was an essential factor in the outbreak of the Civil War.
Examples included voting rights and citizenship, and the founders passed this to the states to decide. According to Bowles, 2011, American History 1865 to present End of Isolation, though slavery was the underlying reason for the war, another central debate was the rights of states versus the powers of the federal government. While Republicans were strongly in favor of a stronger federal government, Johnson opposed this direction and wanted states to have more power, includ¬ing the southern states. Which basically meant, more blacks in the government ; Johnson disapproved. As Johnson and Congress wres¬tled with these issues, their clash came to somewhat of a head with a disagreement over the Freedman’s Bureau.
With the changing of culture and passing of time, the fallout that was (and sometimes still is) hardest to cope with in the United States was racism. As time progressed and things would move from more primitive to more sophisticated design and ideas, slavery did the same. Slavery my have just been the most primitive form of racism, and as it was abolished the idea of another race being subordinate to another didn’t seem to dissipate. Instead it would seem that the “abolitionist movement” became the “civil rights movement”. Instead of the government allowing slavery, it looked like it found a loop hole to not treat people of color equally for anything whether it was sports, school or public facilities blacks were still treated as inferior.
If America didn’t stand against slavery, then the slaves themselves would have eventually done so. As said before, we don’t like what we don’t understand. Fighting with “each other” as opposed to fighting with who we then knew as “them” had
Although Thoreau was not the first to introduce these ideas, he may have been the first to bring it to the attention of many Americans. They both effectively illustrate their philosophy that civil disobedience is a necessity. As I said before, Thoreau was writing during the transcendentalism era in America during the mid 1800s. The main issue behind “Civil Disobedience” is slavery that is taking place in America. By this time, slavery is a very hotly debated issue in America, even eventually leading to the Civil War.
Others however believed that Obama’s inauguration would serve no real change and possibly promote further hostility from the large number of white supremacist groups across the nation (a majority of which located in the south) creating further rifts between cultures. Supporters of the argument that a black president has helped the USA overcome racial divisions would argue that it has led to the appointment of a more racially diverse cabinet. This shows
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation of slaves defined a profound moment in history. It was not the end but the beginning for all African Americans. However, this well thought out plan did not free slaves, but it was a great place to start. Abraham Lincoln who is known as the great emancipator knew that he wanted to save the union, but in doing so he had to find a way to end slavery which is the farthest from what he really wanted to do. Looking back at the time before Lincoln was even president it was known that he had many other ideas when it came to African Americans.
In fact, the common idea that the Civil War was fought over slavery is in great part a falicy. While being a portion of what was fought over, the abolition of slavery which was not a moral dilemma in society at the time seem small when compared to things like expansion westward and cession of the southern states from the Union, forming their own constitution, printing currency and even electing their own president, were much bigger issues, which without ironing out, would have made the US much smaller and arguably weaker than it is