First, Black Americans view the day Barack Obama won the presidency as being the first black president of the United States. In addition, known as the 44th president of the United States who served office during 2009-2017. However, in my researching of black presidents of the United States, I found two sites that support possible allegations of more than one black president. According to “Your Black World,” there are six black presidents before Barack Obama. They consist of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. According to “Fookem and Bug,” there were seven black presidents before Barack Obama. This also includes John Hanson as being the first black president of the …show more content…
Additionally, through my research “Your Black World” and “Fookem and Bug” reports the following on the black presidents of the United States:
1) John Hanson, the 1st president of the Continental Congress before the writing of the Constitution of the United States, served 1781-1782; a black man.
2) Thomas Jefferson is the 3rd president, served 1801-1809; his mother a half-breed Indian and his father a mulatto (half white and half black) from Virginia.
3) Andrew Jackson is the 7th president, served 1829-1837; mother a white woman from Ireland and father black.
4) Abraham Lincoln is the 16th president, served 1861-1865; mother from an Ethiopian Tribe and father an African American.
5) Warren Harding is the 28th president, served 1921-1923; when asked to deny claims of being black stated, “How should I know whether or not one of my ancestors might have jumped the fence?”
6) Calvin Coolidge is the 29th president, served 1923-1929; mother’s maiden name was “Moor,” a name given to all Black people in Europe.
7) Dwight E. Eisenhower is the 33rd president, served 1953-1961; mother was
Benjamin Chavis Muhammad is an African American civil rights leader. He was born on 22 January, 1948 in Oxford, North Carolina. He has taken his last name Muhammad sometime later in his life. His parents were Benjamin Chavis Sr. and Elisabeth Chavis. He was the only son of his parents among his three siblings. He did his schooling from the orphanage of colored people in North Carolina, where his mother worked as a teacher. Chavis became the member of National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the age of twelve. Chavis is married to Martha Rivera Chavis and has eight children.
Blacks in the South were overlooked during the Presidency of Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, and Harrison. President Hayes wrote in his diary that blacks were deprived of their suffrage rights to vote but he did nothing about it. Garfield was just as passive when he stated, “Time is the only cure” he too did nothing about it. Arthur gave patronage to anti-black groups in an effort to split the Democratic South. Cleveland explained that “separate schools were much more benefits for colored people.” They subscribed to hypocritical statements about equality and constitutional rights but did nothing to make policy changes to implement them.
family friend, a black freeman named Elijah Kite, for protection. He turned to noted Quaker abolitionist, Levi Coffin, for help. Many referred to Coffin as the president ...
Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States and represented the common people. He did many things that he believed helped the people of the United States, but in fact were unconstitutional. In my opinion Andrew Jackson acted like a king. Some of the damaging events of his presidency include the bank war, the trail of tears and the nullification crisis.
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States of America. His terms were served from March 4, 1829 to March 4, 1837. He was a very religious person. Jackson attended church regularly. The president opened his cabinet meetings with a prayer.
Booker went on to found Alabama's Tuskegee institute in 1881. Though with a mere plot of land, he would mold the school into a center for industrial and agricultural training. Fredrick Douglas became America’s first African American nominated Vice President. As you can see these prestigious black leaders have many differences and similarities. Their paths to freedom where nothing alike. They shared a passion for learning and teaching their people. And they had many differences in their methods, ambitions, and goals. While some may judge their actions, it is no mystery the good that they have done for their
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15th, 1767 in the state of Virginia. He was a slave owner from the south who was highly passionate but also had an uncontrollable temper. He was a different kind of leader, very outspoken, enthusiastic and wanted things done his way. The historical context of Andrew Jackson’s presidency should be taken into account because the 19th century was a horrendous place in terms of racism and slavery. At that time, the notion of slavery and not giving the slaves equal or any rights was considered to be the norm in most of the southern states because they made profits off of slavery. Since President Jackson was from
In 1767, Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson gave birth to a future American president. His birth, in fact, reflects on his different way of being a president. Known as a ‘common person’ president, Jackson had a very uncommon birth, an unexpected birth at one of his uncles numerous cabins. Jackson also had two brothers who both died unfortunately at an extremely early age. Jackson went on to do amazing things in his life that led to some great accomplishments in his American presidency.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When most Americans hear that name the first thing that comes to mind is his “Dream”. But that is not all he was. His life was more than a fight against segregation, it was segregation. He lived it and overcame it to not only better himself but to prove it could be done and to better his fellow man.
...ended Andrew Johnson was thrust into the spotlight as president when Abraham Lincoln was murdered. A man from a relatively poor upbringing he developed a dislike for newly freed African Americans because of the way they were affecting poor southern whites, And Due to this he would fight laws meant to help African Americans, and enacted economic reforms and being “concrete” with his policies. Johnson created an environment where he could have blacks be slaves without the title of slavery. His fight against the civil rights or any tights for freemen were extensive and continued on for his whole presidency and I see him as one of the biggest reasons why civil rights did not take place a lot earlier in the United States. Thousands of people murdered and thousands of homes destroyed the post civil war South got the angel they prayed for Andrew Johnson became president!
The thought of African Americans being less than whites has carried on for years and was first challenged with the abolition of slavery in 1865 with the 13th Amendment (Our Documents). Abraham Lincoln gets credit for the freeing of the slaves because he was the president who fought to get these amendments. Although slavery was no longer aloud that did not change how people felt about the African Americans. Races with darker ski...
Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States of America, was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaw’s area near the border of North and South Carolina. His parents lived in North Carolina but historians are not sure exactly where. Jackson was the third son of Scots - Irish parents. His father died a few weeks before he was born in a logging accident. His mother, Elizabeth Hutchison Jackson was a strong independent woman. After Jackson’s father died she was able to raise their three sons while they lived with one of her sisters.
Barak Obama is the 44th president of the United States and also the1st black man to hold this position. He has emerged from a society of segregation to become one of the greatest leaders of the free world. He has followed in the footsteps of many great black leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. These freedom fighters have paved the way for the emergence of African Americans as leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. was a fore runner in the passing of the voting rights act of 1965 which gave everyone the chance to vote, regardless of sex, race, and class. This voting rights act now allows millions of people the opportunity to exercise their franchise. This voting freedom is one of the factors which helped to gain Obama his victory in the 2008 United States election and again in 2012. People of all races can now vote and this paper will therefore seek to critically asses the role of race in the election of Barack Obama as President.
African- Americans have a long and strenuous history in the United States. Even though today, our country seems for the most part, free of racial bias, this was not always the case. African- Americans were brought to this country to be sold and used as slaves. They endured horrible working conditions, and an even harder lifestyle that consisted of being treated like property instead of actual human beings. It was not until after the Civil War; the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865, that African- Americans were legally freed of their duty to slavery. However, even after they were freed, life was not easy and they did not possess all the same freedoms as white Americans. This period from 1865 to 1903 was the objective for W.E.B' Du Bois to write his book, The Souls of Black Folk, which focuses on the experiences of African- Americans after they were granted freedom.
Perceptions of Blackness outside the Black community include speeches from Government officials and documentaries. In the documentary ?A Class Divided? we see that young White children are raised with a racist mentality. In the Government, George Wallace, Governor of Alabama (1962-1966, 1970-1974) we see the support of segregation.