African American Freedom Summary

The United States is a immigrant country, which faces varieties of problems. The African American problem is one of the most serious one. Racial segregation is a deep-rooted social problem, which reflects in every field in the United States. For example, education, labor market and criminal justice system. In the aspect of education, most of black children were not permitted to enter the school, because the white children studied there. In the aspect of labor market, the black people 's average wages were lower than the whites. They did the manual work. In the aspect of criminal justice system, the blacks were easily in jail. Badly, their sentences were also more serious than the whites. In general, the blacks live in the bottom of the American society. Martin Luther King delivered the famous speech I Have a Dream, ' ' I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ' ' (1) However, it was difficult for African American to get the freedom. The 1776 Declaration of Independence announced that everyone are equal and freedom.But black slavery still occurred in the southern states of America. Then the Civil War broke out, African American kept struggling for land and political rights.

In the town of Opelousas strict Black Codes enforce how African Americans can live in that certain town.

African Americans weren’t slaves in the North but were they really free? The free African Americans lived in New England, Mid-Atlantic states and the mid west. There were 31,000,000 people and 14% were African Americans. The question is did the free blacks in the North have political freedom, economic freedom, social freedom, and religious freedom? The free blacks in the North were not truly free.

The quote taken from James Forten is a perfect example of the effect that the American Revolution had on African American people. The American Revolution was the “Great Awakening” for African Americans, because it was the spark to the coming Civil War. African Americans used the ideology of the American Revolution to their advantage, and used the ideology to pursue freedom. Even though the American Revolution had a lasting effect on African Americans during this time period it was only moderately revolutionary in improving the lives of African Africans; because, African American were still slaves in most areas, had many of their natural right suppressed, and were seen unfit to handle freedom. The American Revolution gave African Americans ideas of natural rights, equality, and hope for freedom.

The era of eighteenth and ninetieth century was full of uncertainty and fear for many. It is the results of decisions that were taken during this period which not only helped in shaping the America today but also changed the outlook of many other countries. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there were many forces and institutions activate who were playing role in the freedom of blacks. Other than the international forces, the most influential institutions were activated for and against the Black freedom in America. It is the result of those events that America is now called the United States.

African Americans living in the North, as well as those in the South, faced multiple challenges. In 1860, tension grew between the North and South. Most southern states still held onto slavery, because their slaves were worth money, while the North was trying to abolish it. The North had many free African Americans, but the question is, were they actually free? Free Africans Americans in the North before the civil war were not actually free because, they had little to none political right, they were not allowed to associate with whites, and making a living, no matter what, was hard.

African Americans throughout the road to gain racial equality exercised many methods in order to attain such liberties. We start our exploration by viewing the most paramount methods to acquire racial equality; these methods included lobbying public officials through the court system and through peaceful public protests. We'll lastly address the violent methods used to gain racial equality but see how they were mostly unavailing.

The 1960s was a very hostile time for African Americans, especially in one particular state. In Mississippi, only 7% of the African American population was registered to vote, while other southern states had about 50%-60% of the black community participating in elections. Though preventing someone from voting based on their skin color was unconstitutional, many towns in Mississippi made it almost impossible for anyone of color to enter the voting booth. Many efforts to try to encourage voting in African Americans failed due to the fear of what would happen after the attempt. The possible consequences for those who pursued in the right to vote was having their name publicized in local newspapers, losing their job, or facing the threat of violence against

Not all blacks were slaves before the Civil War. Before the dark clouds cast upon the Civil War in the 1860’s, states above the Mason-Dixon Line, also called the Northern states, said that blacks could legally be free. Were blacks really free in the North? Free blacks in the North had limited freedom and many restrictions, in the areas of, political freedom the economy and education, as well as, social rights.

Freedom is defined as the power or right to speak, act or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Reconstruction is defined as the time period after the Civil War when the Confederacy was brought back into the United States. However, after the Civil War, African Americans were not free. Even though by law African Americans couldn’t be slaves the development of racism and segregation created a new fight for freedom and equality. Therefore, African American were not free during Reconstruction.

During the years of 1873-1923 was the worse for African American history. After 1877, blacks’ political rights were taken away through many occasions such as: fraud, intimidation, and murder. In 1890, legislators in Mississippi called a constitutional convention, implementing poll taxes, literacy requirements, and banned voting for people convicted of theft, perjury, arson, bribery, and burglary. Whites thought if they could put a limit to the educational achievements of Negroes, they could also stop their aspirations for Negro advancement.

The struggles of African Americans to establish their freedom is a big part of American history. From the time of slavery until recent days, changes have taken place to better the lives of many. Names such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Jackie Robinson are names forever recognized and remembered by every American black or white. Many of those people led the way and instituted themselves leaders in the movement which directed everything that is connected to the life of African Americans. The biography of Anne Moody Coming of Age in Mississippi chronicles the many events she lives while enduring the harshness of discrimination. Moody’s traces her life from the age of four to twenty three divided into

Post Emancipation was a great step in the african american history but it didn’t grant them true freedom, it only granted them freedom to work and live in houses but it didn't offer them social freedom. Two great leaders known for full freedom after the Emancipation were Booker T. Washington ,founder the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama (now known as Tuskegee University) which grew immensely and focused on training African Americans in agricultural pursuits, and W.E.B. Du Bois, co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and editor of its magazine. Both Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” and Du Bois’s “Of Our Spiritual Striving” discuss the idea of the prosperity and progress of African

The poor whites and free African Americans had many circumstances that put them outside of the dominant southern equations of white equals free and black equals slave. The poor white people had very limited opportunities of work. This is because many of the jobs the poor white people would do were taken by the slaves. Many times these jobs included being a farm laborer at harvest time and being tenant farmers. The poor white women and men both worked beside the slaves in the fields. At this time about 30-50 percent of all the southern whites were landless. The free African Americans were made up of about 250,000 free blacks. Even though these people were considered “free” they had no civil rights, besides owning their own land. The laws that

“I wouldn’t wish beauty on any woman who has not her own freedom, and who chooses not the hands that claim her” (Hill 4). This sentence struck me like lightning because ever since we were born, we were free; unfortunately, our actions took that away from us. However, black people, also called Negros, where never free, they might have thought that as long as they stay in the village they were free, but when it comes down to it they are not free. Lawrence Hill clearly showed the importance of being free, being recognized for who you are and to be called by your own name proves that you are not a slave with no identity any more. I will take about the many examples that Laurence Hill introduced in The Book of Negroes about the importance of naming,