A year after Abraham Lincoln emancipated the African American slaves, America was working on restoring the country as one. Lincoln set forth a Proclamation of Amnesty and established Freedman’s Bureau to help feed, clothe, and provide supplies for those who were war refugees. It also worked helped formerly enslaved people to find work. Although the Freedman’s Bureau’s efforts aided those who served in the war and the freed slaves, it was not enough. After Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson began to implement a program that resembled Lincoln’s restoration plans. In March 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and it was the first time Congress overrode a presidential veto. It became the 14th Amendment and declared that all …show more content…
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted citizenship to those born in the United States, whereas in 1964 the act prohibited discrimination. In the years leading up to 1964, more riots and protest took place, creating a need for revisions. President Kennedy wanted to create a civil rights bill, and after the violence in Birmingham he introduced the bill. Dr. King again saw that President Kennedy needed assistance in getting his bill passed in Congress, and he gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. It became a law on July 2, 1964. Unlike in 1964, the time leading up to the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was not spent with violent protests. It was enacted in an effort to override the black code which limited African Americans’ rights in the South. The two civil rights acts biggest difference was that many people have not heard of the first civil rights act. It was a big step in the right direction in theory, but it was a failure. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, however, was more successful. It could be considered a landmark piece of legislation for the civil rights …show more content…
President Andrew Johnson did not support it, but his veto was overridden. After the bill passed he refused to enforce the law in the South, causing little effect. On top of President Johnson’s lack of approval, it was undermined by anti-black organizations, and it helped women and Native Americans even less than it did for African Americans. Native Americans were excluded from being considered citizens even if they were born in the United States. Women gained the right to make and enforce contracts, purchase land, and more, but they were not given the right to vote for another fifty years. In theory this act should have resulted in better treatment of African American because it was making them separate but equal to white people, but in reality when it was put in action it did not follow through with its original intentions. Much like the in 1866, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was followed by incidents of resistance and violence, but despite the proceedings this act declared that all citizens despite race, sex, religion, or national origin were not to be discriminated against. Within the first few weeks, segregated establishments were open to black patrons, and Jim Crow laws were starting to end. The laws giving minorities their civil rights were being enforced. This bill not only encompassed African Americans, but it gave women more opportunities. By 1924 Native Americans
Groups of people soon received new rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans full citizenship and guaranteed them equal treatment. Also, it passed the Fourteenth Amendment to make sure that the Supreme Court couldn’t declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and the states in which they lived. Also, states were forbidden to deprive blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process. Additionally, blacks could not be discriminated by the law. If a state would deprive blacks of their rights as citizens, it’s number of congressional representatives would be reduced. The Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment affected both the North and the South.
In 1865 4 million people were freed and let out on their own for the first time ever. They weren’t really sure what to do at this time but they had to find a way because they were now by themselves in a world that didn’t accept them. There were 3 Amendments made to the US Constitution that freed these slaves and put the African Americans in the country in such a bad situation. These Amendments and the actions by the president and his appointed boards were unsuccessful due to the racist laws and resistance against the American Reconstruction. Some of these laws include the Jim Crow Laws and some of these racist people congregated in a group called the Klu Klux Klan. These actions went against the 13th 14th and 15th Amendments voiding them as a whole.
1868 marked a proud year for African Americans with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to Constitution. It proclaimed that “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”1 This essentially color blinded government, and granted all citizens (a category which finally included African Americans) what is described in the document as indisputable equality.
Although many laws were passed that recognized African Americans as equals, the liberties they had been promised were not being upheld. Hoffman, Blum, and Gjerde state that “Union League members in a North Carolina county, upon learning of three or four black men who ‘didn’t mean to vote,’ threatened to ‘whip them’ and ‘made them go.’ In another country, ‘some few colored men who declined voting’ were, in the words of a white conservative, ‘bitterly persecute[ed]” (22). Black codes were also made to control African Americans. Norton et al. states that “the new black codes compelled former slaves to carry passes, observe a curfew, live in housing provided by a landowner, and give up hope of entering many desirable occupations” (476). The discrimination and violence towards African Americans during this era and the laws passed that were not being enforced were very disgraceful. However, Reconstruction was a huge stepping stone for the way our nation is shaped today. It wasn’t pretty but it was the step our nation needed to take. We now live in a country where no matter the race, everyone is considered equal. Reconstruction was a success. Without it, who knows where our nation would be today. African American may have never gained the freedoms they have today without the
When congress reconvened in December of 1865, they refused to accept the delegations from southern states. The radical republicans in congress designed a serious of acts known as the reconstruction acts to implement their program in the south. These acts included the Freedman’s Bureau that helped the free slaves adjust to a free society. Also, the Civil Rights Act, which guaranteed blacks both the right to vote and the right to hold property. President Johnson vetoed all the reconstruction acts of congress and congress under the domination of the radical republicans overrode his vetoes. This gridlock between the presidential power and congressional power set the stage for an impeachment in 1868.
After the American Civil War in an attempt to readmit Confederate States to the Union, Congress allowed the states to rejoin under the nonnegotiable term that each state must ratify the Fourteenth Amendment which "forbids states from denying any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”" (OI) In addition to this, southern Democrats "gained strength when Congress finally removed the political disabilities from most of the prewar leadership" (Doc 3) combined with the passing of the Amnesty act restored democratic power in government and began the resuppression of African American rights. (Doc 3....
In 1866, the Civil Rights Bill was proposed in Congress. At the time, it was referred to as, “one of the most important bills ever presented to the House for its action.” (Foner 603). The Civil Rights Bill stated that each person born in the USA would be a citizen. It also proposed equality in the eyes of the law and would prohibit individual states from formulating legislature similar to the Black Codes. The ratification of the Civil Rights Bill would make it virtually illegal to discriminate against any person based on their race. In essence, the bill would enhance upon the Thirteenth Amendment that only abolished slavery; it did not make the African Americans equal to whites in the eyes of the law. In response to the bill, Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Bill. He claimed that blacks should not be citizens and that Congress was trying to infringe on the States’ rights with the bill. Johnson strongly opposed large aspects of the Reconstruction due to his stubbornness and bigoted tendencies. As an immediate result of the executive action, Congress voted to override the veto and make the Civil Rights Bill law in
People are marching in the streets, some holding signs, reading slogans that help defend the rights of the discriminated. This happened in both the African American Civil Rights Movement and in the Women’s Liberation movement. Two movements, one cause; to get equal rights. In the African American’s case, they were discriminated against due to their race. They were oppressed by the Jim Crow laws that were molding a unequal lifestyle for the blacks. Women’s Liberation, however, was about women who were forced to stay at home, because that is where people thought they belonged. Women were also granted unfair wages as compared to men. African Americans and Women were both fighting to get equal rights, which creates similarities and differences
The Improvement of the Civil Rights in 1945 and 1963 The US citizens improved the civil rights in the years 1945 – 1963. Firstly the Brown Vs Board of education of Topeka case. This case was about a black girl called Linda Brown, who travelled several kilometres and crossed a dangerous railway track to get to a black school, rather then attending a white-only school nearby. The NAACP (National Association (of the) Advancement (of) Coloured People) whose goals were to end racial discrimination and segregation. They took the case to the Supreme Court against the board of education in Topeka.
After the Civil War, with the protection of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans enjoyed a period when they were allowed to vote, actively participate in the political process, acquire the land of former owners, seek their own employment, and use public accommodations. Opponents of this progress, however, soon rallied against the former slaves' freedom and began to find means for eroding the gains for which many had shed their blood.
African Americans have a history of struggles because of racism and prejudices. Ever since the end of the Civil War, they struggled to benefit from their full rights that the Constitution promised. The fourteenth Amendment, which defined national citizenship, was passed in 1866. Even though African Americans were promised citizenship, they were still treated as if they were unequal. The South had an extremely difficult time accepting African Americans as equals, and did anything they could to prevent the desegregation of all races. During the Reconstruction Era, there were plans to end segregation; however, past prejudices and personal beliefs elongated the process.
Aside from the presidential reconstruction, the Congressional Reconstruction was also taking place. The Congressman disagreed with both Lincoln and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction. Their main two goals was to integrate African Americans into society by granting them citizenship and the right to vote, and the second goal was to destroy the political powers that former slaveholders had in the South. They first implemented these ideas by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws. Although the black codes came about and Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, Congress had the power to override his veto. This shows that even though the President is the leader of the nation, the Constitution guarantees that Congress has some measure of influence over the President and may chose to block his procedures, Check and Balances. With success, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the country. All citizens were entitled to equal protection under law and be given their rights. The Congress agreed that if the Confederate states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment they could come back into the Union. Having not followed the Congress request, Congressed passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This forced the Confederate states to undergo Reconstruction as the Congress wanted. To ensure that Southerners could not change their state constitution in the future, they passed the Fifteenth Amendment and the last congressional Reconstruction law, another Civil Rights
Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history’s greatest political battles.
The famous speech, “ I Have a Dream”, was held in 1963 by a powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. He was born January 15,1929 the son of an Atlanta Pastor. Martin Luther King Jr. always insisted on nonviolent resistance and always tried to persuade others with his nonviolent beliefs. In 1963, King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and almost 200,000 people attended his speech. All his listeners were Civil Rights supporters who rallied behind him and the people who watched his appearance on television. King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He organized non violent student sit-ins and fought for the rights of the black population.
It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s. During the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place, it was the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools....