The Classical Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1965, is only part of the larger narrative of the struggle for freedom for African Americans from Emancipation in 1863 to the rise of the Black Power Movement in 1966. Throughout over a century of fighting, black Americans struggled for economic, political, and social freedoms. The black freedom movement was a struggle for voting rights, education, fair housing practices, labor rights, and access to public accommodations lead by local leaders, and accomplished integrating public accommodations and educations as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The early black freedom struggle started with Emancipation in 1863, the actions during Reconstruction show the root of the Civil Rights Movement …show more content…
However, soon after the war, the south moved quickly to rebuild their power over black Americans by creating “Black Codes”, which forced black Americans into jobs with low paid labor. There was a brief period that spanned from 1866 to 1868 was Congress overturned black codes, sent federal troops to protect black Americans, passed the fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The success of building the first public school and creating social services did not last long. This period serves as a point of reflection to what could have been in the south. As the first reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan occurred to lead to a state of terror, in 1874 after being driven underground by the federal government after its founding in1865. This was the end of radical reconstruction as the KKK overpowered the federal troops. The withdrawal of Federal Troops was just the beginning of the South's reign of terror and the rise of mass lynching. A political turning point within the south was the rise of the White Supremacy Campaigns as they begin to spread throughout the south, as planters gained support from their poor white counterparts, changing the political battle from a …show more content…
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas to the March in Selma in 1965. The classical stage of the civil right moment is the most well-known era due to the famous acts activism including the Montgomery Bus Boycott and famous legal wins including the Brown v. Board decision, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Voting Rights Act of 1965. The classical phase of the civil rights movement began with the Supreme Court decision of hallmark case Brown v. Board of Education. The decision struck down segregated public schools, citing that separate is inherently unequal. This landmark Supreme Court decision caused outrage throughout the country. Yet, even though legally segregation among public schools has been struck down, this does not end segregation. Segregation continues in the south not only in-state public schools but also in public accommodation and transportation. Due to the continued discrimination in transportation in December 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycotts began after the arrest of Ms. Rosa Parks. Activist, Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus to a white passenger. After her refusal Ms. Parks was arrested and sparked the boycott of Montgomery’s local buses for over a year, only to be stopped by a Supreme Court
After a life of slavery and no rights, slaves became free. However, this caused problems. A group of people called the KKK caused harm to African Americans, using fear tactics to force certain actions upon them, sometimes ending in death. The reconstruction period, 1865-1877, was a time when the United States of America was trying to recover from the war. The United States was once again a united country, but during the war things got destroyed and the states were still divided with their beliefs. Many areas of the south were burned or wrecked, therefore they needed to be rebuilt. Also, many Southerners did not agree with the laws to make former slaves free. This caused the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan. Reconstruction was a success because
The South killed the reconstruction with violence and threats. There is evidence of a former white soldier pleading with Congress to help solve the KKK issues in the
After the Civil War in 1865, a period of reconstruction in which tried to better the economy began. Unfortunately, Reconstruction was viewed as not a success because of the black codes, blacks couldn’t still voice their opinions, and the Klu Klux Klan were sending threats.
The formal Congressional period of Reconstruction, from 1866 to 1877, was intended to readmit the former Rebel states into the Union, rebuild and reinvigorate communities ravaged by war, and eliminate the highly visible vestiges of Southern slave society. The events transpiring during these efforts made the whole affair largely ineffectual and reductive (“Reconstruction and Its Aftermath). In response, the South provided a marked resistance to the attempted establishment of civil rights and liberties for recently freed slaves, producing such scourges as the Ku Klux Klan, Grandfather Clause, and Jim Crow Laws. Beyond enforcing the rudimentary legislation that would grant basic agency to African Americans, Grant failed to institute long term and helpful efforts that would diminish the culture of racialized violence and white supremacy in the South. The Ku Klux Klan still exerted widescale political and local influence
The slaves were finally freed in this time period, but the whites kept treating them badly because they thought that the slaves forgot how to act human. The South killed reconstruction, they are mainly the reason it failed. The KKK went around killing any political figure they could, they mainly targeted carpetbaggers though. “It is my mournful duty to inform you that our friend John W. Stephens, State
The reconstruction was an era when African Americans tried to fit in and to rebuild the South. The reconstruction started in 1876. Some troops started to leave the South. The KKK was also starting to rebel against the government. The North took their focus of reconstruction and focused on scandals. This essay is trustworthy because I used primary sources. The South was the cause for the end of the reconstruction because the KKK was killing people, KKK was forcing people to vote democratic ticket, and South did nothing about the KKK.
After large strikes were held, organizations were made to advocate for the workers. Until white supremacists had enough and began to riot and use violence to control black workers and voters. This was the end of the reconstruction era in 1877. The Ku Klux Klan had ravaged and changed life in America, destroying anyone in their path to white domination. Blacks were no longer protected by the government, they had lost their rights to violence.
In the Civil War in 1865, many slaves got their freedom but were still being controlled by the whites and government. Black codes were being passed by Southern states to control the labor and behavior of former slaves and African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan became a structure for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to bring the South together to be part of the Union. The success and failures of Reconstruction negatively impacted the political, social, and economic lives of newly freed African Americans in the south. It impacted them in a negative way politically because the government wasn’t fair with the newly freed African Americans. Many families were getting separated
From the beginning of the Civil War all the way up to the end of Reconstruction, the United States endured a similar type of revolution than it had dealt with in the previous years. In this time, many social and constitutional advancements brought about great change and discord in the country. However, some of these constitutional developments ended up causing conflict such as the civil rights bills and Emancipation Proclamation, in addition to the social developments such as the Black Codes, Ku Klux Klan, and the Freedman’s Bureau. All together, these important events helped put the country into a revolution.
After Lincoln’s shocking assassination, Vice President, Andrew Johnson took over and tried to make a quick fix on the problems that the United States faced. Andrew Johnson came up with the Black Codes, which basically prohibited African-Americans from really being free. This ultimately kept African-Americans as slaves under an assumed “sharecropper” label. After a substantial amount of tension and resistance from the Radical Republicans, President Johnson fired Secretary of State, E. Stanton, who was part of the Radical Republicans. Johnson barely escaped impeachment due to violating the Tenure of Office Act, by one vote for this shenanigan. After his presidency ended, Ulysses Grant became the 18th president. Under his presidency, President Grant declared Martial Law, in an attempt to put an end to the KKK. This did quiet down the terroristic group up until about 1920. Although there was an attempt to reconstruct the United States, it was mostly a “band aide’ type of fix. The groundwork was laid, but enormous cracks started to appear in the foundation. These cracks eventually led to what is commonly
The Reconstruction was an intricate time in America that helped freed slaves look for a second chance at life. But when the idea was found smoldering in flames, the question rose up through the ashes, who dealt the final blow? It was regarded as one of the most ironic events in history because, as it happens, the same year the “great plan” for America fell, it was the 100th anniversary the prestigious country was born. Reconstruction was diminished by someone, and that someone, was the south. The terrorist organization, Ku Klux Klan, otherwise known as the KKK was specifically organized to destroy the thought of reconstruction, in fact, they targeted government officials, and just about every living Southerner…. Supported it.
With President Johnson’s leniency towards the South, it seemed as though the land that was promised to newly freed blacks, were being given back to former slave owners. Not only did it seem like former Confederate members were facing no punishment for their actions, but blacks were not receiving any compensation for their years of enslavement (not that anything could compensate for the years of torture and dehumanization they endured). Laws passed by Southern states who were readmitted back into the Union were discriminatory towards blacks. Along with the KKK who are responsible for the killing of many blacks from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. This prevented blacks from being able to integrate into society after the abolishment of slavery. Once the Reconstruction period ended, Southern Democrats took office and enacted Jim Crow laws, which was the start of racial segregation that left many disadvantages for African Americans. After Reconstruction, the country was essentially set back when the South reverted to its old ways. Race has played a significant role in the history of the United States. Today, race is a major topic in political
Following the Civil War drew to an end, however the social, political and economic conditions did not, infact it only grew within the rebellious southern states fueled discussion about the reconstruction. Social, political and economic conditions impacted the reconstruction era. The KKK impacted socially in 1865, their reign of terror was felt throughout the south. Their organization spread fear using guerilla tactics, whipping, beating, and lynching. The Klan’s purpose was to destroy the republican party as revenge for the abolishment of slavery. They wanted to destroy the republican party infrastructure and end reconstruction control in southern black population. The era of Reconstruction there were massive changes in American culture, economy,
After the Civil War ended, one question was buzzing through everybody’s heads. What now? Those years after the Civil war were rough for the U.S. In 1876, it was the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. For a short amount of time it seemed as though things were looking up. It was as if there was a spark of hope in what people did to try to recover from the war that did so much damage. “It seemed the United States was creating enough opportunity that all Americans could pursue their hopes for happiness”(Roden 505).But like a spark, this could only last so long. Both sides ran into problems and trials, but only one truly killed Reconstruction. Who? The South. The South killed Reconstruction because the Ku Klux Klan worked hard to kill the dream of Reconstruction that so many people had, society never did anything when African Americans were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, and the South had a hard time following the 14th amendment.
The Civil Rights Movement was a pivotal time in American history, leading us toward the acceptance and advancement of African Americans in society, and eventually the same for other minority groups. The movement as a whole spanned from around the beginning of the 1950’s to around the beginning of the 1970’s. All across the nation, African American people fought for their rights through numerous protests and boycotts. Some notable events are the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, and the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins. Many forms of legislation and many judiciary decisions were made during this era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1968, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Brown v. Board of Education (“A Timeline of the Civil Rights Movement FOOTSTEPS OF COURAGE”).