The impact from the war influenced public opinion on racism, however they couldn’t make de facto changes regarding segregation and so wasn’t the main reason for the improvement in effecting the position of African-Americans. President Truman aimed to tackle the issues of racism and segregation in the South, this is evident in the report ‘To Secure These Rights’ in which Truman established a committee to look into the experience of racial minorities in America. The report highlighted lynching, police brutality, voting rights, discrimination in various public sectors. Truman signed the Executive
The NAACP’s offices in the southern state were shut down to prevent any form of protests for civil rights in the south. CORE journey of reconciliation highlighted that while African Americans enjoyed de jure rights, they weren’t seeing what they got realistically. In 1947 there was limited amount of picketing visible by the civil rights campaigners, only small protests were seen and they had no aid in change. When the African Americans won the brown v. board they had been proud of the victory, but in hindsight the victory was only de jure meaning what they won wasn’t put into practice. The lack of picketing shows that the civil rights campaigners were subject to limited protest so they never did much towards helping.
The 15th amendment (1870) gave black men equal voting rights with white men. However they were threatened or physically stopped from voting. It was no good having rights which were not enforced. Yet inequality increased at the end of the 19th century and continued in the early 20th century through Southern states passing the ‘Jim Crow’ laws which increased segregation. WW1 did little in stopping the rising tide of segregation.
Prd3. How revolutionary was the American Revolution? The American Revolution was both revolutionary and not revolutionary, because for the most part things that the African American race was fighting for such as equal rights are still not how the government portrays them to be. Economically the war was revolutionary because still till this day the Americans are still protected or in relation with another country to help them out. Socially the war was not revolutionary because, there was still that one race that was not treated like they belonged and felt like they were taking up space.
How far do you agree that the years 1945-55 saw only limited progress in improving the status of African Americans? The years 1945-55 can be described as ‘seeds of change’ in improving the African American people’s position in society as their lives saw slight improvements however nothing drastic happened that changed their economic, political and social status immediately in America. Before 1945, during the second world war, conditions of life for black American’s was slightly improving in the northern states with there being less institutional racism and more equal job opportunities with acceptable pay for everyone. However in the south, conditions were very different; Jim Crow Laws meant that deep racial divides were being enforced throughout most states. Segregation was seen as lawful due to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case saying that ‘separate but equal’ was how they should live their lives.
How far do you agree with the statement that the position of black Americans changes little during the period 1945-1955? It may be argued that during the period 1945-55 the position of the black Americans changed unnoticeable, yet there had been certain factors that in longer term resulted in improving the position of white Americans in a big scale. The improvements consisted of army. Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948 and appointed the first black federal judge. This meant that the American workers left their jobs to join the army, which created many job opportunities for black Americans, which were needed especially in the defence industries, which now grew in importance as they had to make supplies for the Army such as guns and tanks.
After Lincoln’s re-election in November 1864 Lincoln pressed for the Congressional approval for the measure (the “Thirteenth Amendment”) and it was passed on 31st January 1865. Being free was not enough for former blacks however to be true citizens of the United States, they needed an organisation that would protect their rights, and so in March 1865 Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau, which set up public schools, provided aid to the poor, secured equal rights for white Unionists and blacks in the courts, negotiated labour contracts between freedmen and their former masters etc. “The death rate among freedmen was reduced, and sanitary conditions improved.” To see just what a leap this was, one has only to look back at the ante-bellum period, when Southern leaders were able to protect their sectional interests during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, preventing the insertion of any explicit anti-slavery position in the Constitution, and at the
After the war, there was still no liberty for blacks; in fact, the colonists disliked the idea of granting freedom to Blacks that they refused their offer to fight on the side of the patriots. George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army. Furthermore, many other rights, such as the right of, "no taxation without representation” was violated even after the war. Actually, after the war, the majority of the population still lacked representation, because voting was restricted to land owning, white males, which only made up a fraction of the population. "The Continental Congress, which governed the colonies through the war, was dominated by rich men.
Even to today, this is still happening, a superior race, we try to say that everyone is equal but no African Americans would believe this, but this is all starting to change now that the US have a African American president. Reconstruction In the Southern states, many African Americans demanded equality in 1865 - they felt they were unequal in economic, social, political and legal aspects. Durings 1865 Reconstruction Confederate style was
A lot of the states’ laws had to be overcome in order for the act to become effective such as Jim Crow laws. These laws made African Americans feel as though they were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow laws prevents blacks from voting due to illiteracy, social class, and/or poverty. It did take some muscle from the federal government, the attorney general’s office and executive orders from the president to make sure civil right laws were enacted. But it was all worth it.