U.S. History: The Changing Rights of African- Americans (1800-1860) - Essay Example

U.S. History: The Changing Rights of African- Americans (1800-1860) In general, 1800 to 1860 was the period when African-Americans started to assertto end slavery to become free and enjoy the civil right which every American enjoy. In a way, this period also served as the precursor of the Civil War because the conditions that led to the Civil War occurred during this period. The first initiative to change the status and rights African-Americans was the banning of slavery in the Ohio Constitution in 1802.

The same legislature (Ohio) also defined the first “Black Laws” which formally restricted the rights of the African-American in that state. Then in 1808, the United States as a government banned the importation of slaves from Africa. The trading of slaves from Africa however still continued because the ban was ignored and therefore, the slaves that were imported from 1808 to 1860 were illegal that was estimated to be around 250,000 blacks. Nor did the trade stopped in the domestic trading because slave trading continued until the end of the civil war.

This however illustrates the brewing discontent over slavery and the trade of slaves where anti-slave sentiments are growing that is instrumental in changing the rights of the African Americans. Until in 1854 and 1858 when pro and anti-slavery groups which was funded and supported by North (anti) and South (pro) competed for the control of Kansas Territory that violence broke out and served as the precursor of the Civil War that will formally abolish slavery in the United States. This was the period when the slavery is fought that eventually changed the rights of African-Americans from being slaves to being discriminated.