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Why Did African Americans Support The Civil Rights Movement

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It could be argued that a key factor for many presidents when it came to establishing and developing the Civil Rights for African American people was merely a political device, only pushed forward to collaborate with situation factors, in which there was no other choice but to support the Civil Rights Movement, and also used to assist the Presidents in increasing their popularity amongst the voters. Within the 1860s and onwards, slavery and racism were rife throughout America to the point in which having a public opposition to such views would have had a substantial impact on your political position not only within the public eye, but within the government itself. For instance, in 1859 John Brown, an American Abolitionist who believed armed …show more content…

Although Lincoln opposed slavery, deeming it morally wrong, he wasn’t an abolitionist, as slavery was established under the constitution and so Lincoln was unsure as to how it would affect the current political system. However, due to the impact the Civil War was having on the separated American States, on January 1st 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation officially took effect. It could be strongly argued that the Proclamation was only introduced so that the African American’s could join the Union’s armed forces, thus securing a victory for The Union. Moreover, Lincoln believed that if the slaves were to be freed it meant that the Confederates could no longer use them as labourers thus weakening them on the field. This may then illustrate that the pushing for Civil Rights and the freedom of the Slaves was only introduced as a means of political gain, and was not due to Lincoln’s beliefs. Moreover, in a letter Lincoln wrote to Hon. Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862, he stated that, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.” This excerpt from his letter may highlight the fact that Lincoln’s priority lay with preserving the union, and not emancipating the

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