History of African Americans - Case Study Example

African American History Abstract African Americans are citizens of the United States who trace at least part of their ancestry to Africa. Some are recent immigrants. But most are descended from Africans who were brought in slavery to the American colonies and states between the years 1619 and 1808. Today, African Americans number about 39.7 million, or 13.4 percent of the total U.S. population. The largest communities are in the Deep South, followed by the Northeast, Midwest, and West. This paper intends to analyze the history of African Americans. In order to conduct a detailed analysis, I have divided the whole paper into six units which deal with the history of African Americans in a chronological order and sheds light upon a different phase of their lives. African American History Africans Americans: Introduction In order to represent the black population, a number of terms have used in the history of United States such as Blacks, Africans, Afro- American, colored, Negro and the African American. Actually the accurate proportion of these African Americans is not known in the existing population of United States. During past three centuries a remarkable racial mixture took place in United States, not only with the people having African ancestry but with other ethnic backgrounds as well such as Europeans and Indian descents. In times gone by, the major approach about ethnic group association within the United States was that people bearing some colored African descent were believed to be African American. Laws have also been formulated in some parts of United States just like in antebellum South, in order to define ethnic association in this regard, by and large, to the disadvantage of non- Caucasian. Notably, though, those physical traits and descent backgrounds are merely a fraction of actual reasons that have placed African Americans separately as a diverse group. (Gilbert, 2009) History of African Americans In order to discuss history of African Americans we proceed to divide it into several units as follows: UNIT ONE: Slavery: 1600–1865 Over a period of about 350 years, from the early 1500's to the mid-1800, slave traders forcibly transported approximately 12 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. Of this number, about 8 percent, or approximately 1 million, were brought to North America (after 1619). The rest went to the islands of the Caribbean and the shores of Central and South America. European slave traders working out of western Africa collected the slaves. They took millions of Africans in exchange for guns, iron, beads, silks and other cloths, knives, basins, mirrors, and the like. The slaves were sold to colonial plantation owners in the Americas. (Baldwin, 2008) Outcomes The outcome of this phase was that even without the legitimate status and negative impacts of the local trade of slaves, the African American Families managed somehow to retain the conventional aspects of the ways which arranged the relationships between the elders and children. The influences of the African religious beliefs, customs and traditions were quite obvious, which were reflected by a prominent level of religious activities among the slaves, this also helped to distinguish their point of view about themselves from their owner’s. These deep rooted relations with the religion enabled the blacks to establish a number of churches outside the South and later created the black Baptist churches due to the further divisions within Protestantism. Apart from the above the another significant quantifiable measure was the African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Richard Allen in Philadelphia and 1787, which was previously referred to as the Free African Society. (Baldwin, 2008) Religious Intolerance The religion in 17th century was a comprehensive power that assisted community to suffer the adversities and forfeits of everyday living in community. Moreover, colonial religiosity instilled a narrow, intolerant view of other faiths. The expulsion of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson from the Massachusetts colony as religious dissidents is well known. By the 18th century, secular forces lessened the force of religion, although it remained an important social influence. A reduction in spiritual dedication and church presence, jointly with the progress of modesty and rationalism in this Age of Enlightenment, shared to make this so. Consequently, religious tolerance augmented, not to a greater extent rather, as conflicts were still confronted there. (Parrillo, 2008) UNIT TWO: The Civil War As stated by Jordan & Ervin (2006) during the course of the Civil War (1861-65), nearly 200,000 African Americans, both slave and free, volunteered to fight for the Union against the slaveholding Confederate states in the South. Black servicemen took part in nearly every major military engagement, although until 1864 they were paid less than white soldiers. They also built fortifications, handled provisions, and served as lookouts. Some also served as spies. The promise of emancipation was fulfilled when the Union forces won the war in 1865. By the end of that year, the 13th Amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States. In 1868 the 14th Amendment extended full legal citizenship to African Americans. And in 1870 the 15th Amendment guaranteed voting rights to black men. A profound national social revolution was set in motion. Outcomes The outcomes of this phase were as follows: Between 1865 and 1915, many Americans left their farms and moved to towns and cities, where new jobs were opening up. About 90 percent of the African Americans stayed in the eleven ex-Confederate states. They had grown up there, and their families had lived there for generations. The "social reconstruction" of former slaves began with basic education. Education was by far the most dramatic evidence of their new legal freedom. Tens of thousands of ex-slaves, so long forbidden to learn to read and write, now displayed a passion for knowledge. In the words of one observer, "It was as if an entire race was trying to go to school." (Jordan & Ervin, 2006) UNIT THREE: Reconstruction 1865-1915 Between the years 1865 to 1877, also referred to as the period of Reconstruction, there were significant measures taken as the Union Policy has now become more flexible in accepting the eradication of slavery in totality, this was done in 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed. Moreover as provided in the 14th and 15th Amendments in Constitution in 1868 and 1870 respectively and the corresponding areas of legislation, the Government was becoming more concerned about the equality and discrimination rights and privileges for the African Americans. However this flexibility for the blacks wasn’t welcomed in the South and the North, as in both the regions opposition and agitation to the equality rights for the blacks was significantly widespread. The passing of the 14th and the 15th Amendments were mainly for Republican Party’s the desire to uphold the political control in the former Confederacy. (Wolcott, 2006) During the period of Reconstruction the participation in all aspects of the public life by the African Americans was quite significant, as they took part in the formulation of the conventions which were meant to create new areas of the Constitution in the South and also took prominent part in the elections. One the most prominent damages to the rights of the African American came from the Whites of the South who argued that these federal policies under the era of Reconstruction were unfair and malicious. (Wolcott, 2006) Outcomes The outcome of this period was that federal troops occupied the former Confederate states. They protected blacks. But those troops were withdrawn in 1877. Blacks then found themselves at the mercy of the Ku Klux Klan and similar white-supremacist groups. Violence against blacks became commonplace. Approximately 100,000 blacks fled from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi to the safer havens of Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. By 1892, lynching’s, or unlawful executions, of African Americans by terrorist groups in the South averaged one every two days. (Wolcott, 2006) UNIT FOUR: The Depression Years Creative expression diminished during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Jobs became increasingly scarce. And racial tensions once again exploded. Housing shortages and a local unemployment rate that exceeded 50 percent sparked a riot in Harlem in 1935. Blacks also were highly frustrated because they felt generally unprotected by the law. In cases involving blacks and whites, the law courts almost always ruled in favor of the whites. On the positive side, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt included blacks in its economic relief efforts. In 1936 the esteemed black educator Mary McLeod Bethune, an associate of the president's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, formed what was known as the Black Cabinet. This group of advisers dealt with governmental problems and policies affecting African Americans. The formation of the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), in 1935 extended union membership to blacks working in the automobile, railroad, textile, and tobacco industries and in the building trades as well. Before this time, they had generally been limited to service jobs, such as janitors and cooks. (Chafe, 2002) World War II America's entry into World War II in 1941 renewed an old debate over the role African Americans in defense of the nation. Black service personnel were excluded by law from the United States Marines and by custom from the Air Force. Blacks in the Navy could only aspire to be cooks and kitchen helpers. Despite these barriers, more than 1 million patriotic African Americans joined the armed forces. Pressure from the NAACP and other African American leadership groups persuaded the Marine Corps to drop its policy of discrimination and the Air Force to set up pilot training operations for blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama. By mid-1942 approximately 200 African American officers had commissions. And by 1945 nearly 500,000 African Americans were serving overseas. But it did not escape their notice that, while they were fighting for democracy overseas, many were still living in segregation in the United States. (Chafe, 2002) Outcomes World War II significantly affected the lives of African Americans. The federal government ordered employers in the military industries not to discriminate against blacks when hiring. This stimulated another wave of migration to major cities in the South, Northeast, and West. As their income increased, more African Americans were able to afford automobiles, radios, record players, ready-made clothing, and other items. (Chafe, 2002) UNIT FIVE: The Civil Rights Movement In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas) that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This victory unleashed a new era of civil rights activities, particularly in the South. For example, in 1955, Rosa Parks of Montgomery, Alabama, touched off a boycott of the city's transportation system after she was arrested for refusing to yield her bus seat to a white man. A young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr., led the boycott. He came to symbolize the civil rights movement. (Randall, 2008) During the administration (1953-61) of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the federal government created the Civil Rights Commission and the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department. This signaled to the nation that the government was concerned about civil rights issues. This commitment was put to the test in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. There, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce a federal court order to integrate Central High School. In February 1960, in Greensboro, North Carolina, four young black college students were arrested for refusing to leave a drugstore lunch counter after they had been denied service. Such peaceful methods of protest became popular among college students. One result was the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in April 1960. Through freedom rides and sit-ins, boycotts and demonstrations, activists tried to show the extent of continued segregation. They brought media attention to the problem. And they met violent resistance throughout the Deep South. Some of the bitterest confrontations took place in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. (Randall, 2008) At the height of the movement, civil rights leaders planned a March on Washington. On August 28, 1963, huge crowds gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to show their support for civil rights. They called on Congress to pass a comprehensive civil rights bill. Outcomes In 1964, after much debate and with the support of President Lyndon Johnson, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. This law prohibited all racial discrimination in public life. Building on this momentum, Johnson succeeded in getting Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It expanded the scope of the 15th Amendment. Many people started to believe that because laws now protected civil rights, further protest would seem excessive. But others continued to protest. They vented their anger over the fact that racism and economic inequality remained characteristic of American society. (Randall, 2008) UNIT SIX: Rodney King and the La Riots Rodney Glen King, b. Altadena, Calif., 1966, became the center of a nationwide controversy following his arrest for speeding on Mar. 3, 1991, by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. King, an unemployed construction worker, was apprehended after a high-speed vehicular chase and given a severe beating by four police officers. The incident, recorded on videotape by an accidental witness, was repeatedly shown on national television over the next several days. The event triggered a nationwide debate on the subject of police brutality, patterns of racial bias, and the appropriate role of civilian review boards in overseeing police conduct. The four police officers were indicted by a grand jury in mid-March 1991 and later put on trial by the state in the California community of Simi Valley. Following the acquittal of the police officers on Apr. 30, 1992, five days of rioting, arson, and looting erupted in many areas of Los Angeles. These riots are referred to as “The La Riots” in history. (Matheson, and Robert, 2004) Outcomes Att. Gen. William Barr declared that his office would investigate the case to see if King's civil rights had been violated, and in May 1992, a retrial was ordered. A federal jury on Apr. 17, 1993, convicted two of the officers involved and acquitted two others. The two officers were subsequently sentenced to more than two years in prison. On Apr. 19, 1994, a jury in a U.S. district court awarded King $3.8 million in compensatory damages in a civil suit against the city of Los Angeles. The same jury, however, in a second phase of the civil suit on June 1, 1994, denied King any punitive damages from the police officers. (Franklin, 1992) Conclusion A continuing impediment to black progress has been fewer economic opportunities. Although modest economic gains were made in recent decades, too many blacks remain in poverty, and many blacks share concern that actions taken in the 1980s by the administration of President Ronald Reagan withdrawing funds from programs that aided the poor and reducing support for affirmative action seriously harmed their communities. Perceived indifference on the part of the administration of President George Bush sustained resentments. The historic election of Barack Obama in 2008 was considered a major victory for racial equality. Obama drew support from a variety of demographics. He won the vote of African Americans, Hispanics, women, young voters (aged 18-29), and political Independents. Exit polls indicated that race was not a major factor to voters. References Baldwin, D. (2008). A little More Freedom: African Americans Enter the Urban Midwest, 1860-1930, Journal of American History, Dec2008, Vol. 95 Issue 3, p874-875. Chafe, W. H. (2002). The achievement of American liberalism: the New Deal and its legacies, Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231112122, 9780231112123 Franklin, R. S. (1992). After the Los Angeles Riots, Social Policy, Spring92, Vol. 22 Issue 4, p2-5. Gilbert, J. (2009). Democratizing States and the Use of History, Rural Sociology, 74 (1), p3-24 Jordan, J., & Ervin, L. (2006). The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg Forgotten History: Immigrants, African Americans in the Civil War’s Defining Battle, Journal of American History, Mar2006, Vol. 92 Issue 4, p1441-1441. Matheson, V. A., & Robert, A. (2004). Race and Riots: A Note on the Economic Impact of the Rodney King Riots, Urban Studies, Dec2004, Vol. 41 Issue 13, p2691-2696. Parrillo, V. N. (2008). Diversity in America, Pine Forge Press, ISBN 1412956374, 9781412956376. Randall, S. (2008). Standing on the Promises that Cannot Fail, Journal of African American Studies, Dec2008, Vol. 12 Issue 4, p401-413 Wolcott, V. W. (2006). Righteous Propagation: African Americans and the Politics of Racial destiny after Reconstruction, Journal of American History, Mar2006, Vol. 92 Issue 4, p1453-1454. Read More