African American Womens Rights Movement - Coursework Example

of the of the of the African American Women’s Rights Movement -Table of Contents  Introduction 2 Background 3 Main Body of Discussion 4 Pre Nineteenth Century 4 Nineteenth Century 5 Distinguished Women in Nineteenth Century 6 Twentieth Century 7 The Civil Rights Movement 9 Conclusion 10 -Introduction  The people native to the African continent, the Africans reached the continent of America in the earlier decades of the seventeenth century. Their infusion into the new premises triggered a number of events and repercussions in which the guests had to face a long series of hard times. This paper intends to revolve around the role of women in response to the treatment they had to bear at the hands of the natives. This is a undoubted fact that the Africans Americans (the name the African origin visitors gave to themselves after they settled in America) had to go a very long way before they could get themselves settled into the American premises and society. The long road to the present state, where discrimination is officially at its end, was tread not only by the males of the African America clans but was equally dealt with by their women. In fact, if said that the effectiveness of the fight for rights of the Africans Americans would be incomplete and would have stood nowhere if the women roles were excluded it would be very true. This report is intended to provide an overview of the struggle that African American women went through and the milestones they achieved. The report initiates with an overview of the background and proceeds onto provide the main happenings of the struggle. In between the report also mentions the names and respective achievements of the noticeable women who reigned the struggle and were followed and supported by all their societal mates. Background The African Americans belonged to the African origins. Their forefathers were bought to the American continent as slaves in the year 1619 in Jamestown Virginia. It was from there that the journey of the Africans Americans from slavery to freedom began. Commonly known by the names of Negros, Blacks, Niggers and Coloureds these salves were first bought by the English traders to the Americans Colonies. Intended to be made to serve in the large cotton fields and tobacco fields in the south, these slaves were the ones on which the economy of the Southern American Colonies was based. There were few African Americans who had chosen to come to the land of American Colonies out of their free will. They were from central African origins too. Since they were not bought by any English traders, they served at better positions in large cities of the American Colonies. These African Americans were often termed as "Free Blacks". Facing the atrocities of being non native and to top it with begin labeled as slaves these African Americans were made subject to a number of mistreatments. The entire economy of the society ran on the shoulders of these dark skinned fellows but still since the Americans were their masters and owned them, they subjected the Africans to the worst of treatments possible. Since their women were even more underprivileged than men they were even more distressed. These slave African American women were deprived of all basic human rights. They were made subject to all sort of tasks that involved extreme hatred, were subject to forceful physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their white skinned masters and at the same time were verbally abused and scorned hatefully by native women. Despite all these atrocities the African American women had the task of keeping together their families and supporting their men and children who were also subject to similar treatments at the hands of their masters. It was under these circumstances that the African American women realized the need to stand up and resist to the atrocities that they and their clans were being subject to and gradually rose up. -Main Body of Discussion  The following discussion is time based. It mentions the era that it is about and narrates the folds of the rights movements that took place in them. Pre Nineteenth Century The treatments the African Americans were being subject to made them feel strictly against their masters. They would unite at the Churches in their weekly sermons and discuss ways to get rid of their persistent maltreatment. Churches were the strongholds where they got the motivation and reason to go against the fate that had been decided for them by the American Colonial Masters. The Black Clergymen played the role of the strategists who united all their followers under the banner of religion and strategically held them together so that they form a stronghold instead of getting divided amongst themselves. They tactically shaped the objectives and methods of a movement that was targeted as a remedy to the grievances that the Black African natives were being subject to. Nineteenth Century The African American women were distinguished by their exemplary capabilities of patience, courage, firmness to adopt and overcome hardships and the abilities to face the challenges that met them every day. These brave women had continued to face three major barriers: The barrier of race The barrier of gender The barrier of class Though they mainly belonged to parents who were both slaves but the women of the nineteenth century were determined to change their faith. They chose education as their tool and began to learn and also teach their fellows. With the passing of time and effort they began to succeed in their respective professions of education, law, business, medicine and entertainment etcetera. Talking about the roles of women in the movement Randall Punket et. al mention in their book the following words: " During the nineteenth century, several mutual aid societies, secret societies, and benevolent societies grew out of the African-American church. The first mutual aid society, the Free African Society, was founded in 1878 in Philadelphia by the African Methodist Episcopal and the African Protestant Episcopal churches. These societies offered social and communal welfare programs, including medical benefits, death benefits, and educational and job training." (Pinkett et. al, 241) The middle of the 1800s saw the rise of the sentiments in the Northern part of America against slavery. Then the era of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln came who simply abolished slavery During this time periods women were already forming clubs and were gearing up to come to forefront and to face the music of their so called masters with strength. There was a Civil war which was won by the Northern states and the slaves were set free. The same time saw violent groups acting against the black by not letting them attend Churches etcetera. The year 1871 saw the passing of a bill which gave the right to vote to African American men. This came as a surprise to the women who were disappointed as they thought they would be granted the right to vote along with men. At this point a split of thoughts was witnessed between African American men some of whom were with the notion that women would be given the right to vote while others were not. Soujourner Truth, a great Black woman activist, said the following words in the year 1869 about the rights of the black women to vote. Her words are quoted in a book edited by Foner and Branham: “There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored women . . . And if colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before.” (Foner, Branham, 464) Distinguished Women in 19th Century: The suffrage movement witnessed several African American Women who were highly active. Among the most prominent there were Sojourner Truth, Margaretta Forten, Mary Ann Shadd Cary and Harriet Forten Purvis. They were considered as strong advocates of women rights and active abolitionists. Sojourner Truth formerly a slave was well known because of her landmark speech in 1851 titled as “Aint I a woman”. She did it at Akron convention, Ohio. These women were called as suffragists. The participation of African American Women was largely witnessed in the activities of AERA (American Equal Right Association), NWSA (National Women Suffrage Association) and AWSA (American Women Suffrage Association). The great historian “Rosalyn Terborg-Penn” reports that the African American Women were more inclined towards AWSA as compared to the NWSA. The reason was that AWSA was a strong advocate black men’s right to vote or right to be a representative. During 1880s and 1890s, in pursuance of the working strategy laid down by then white women, the black women also started to establish Women Clubs and Organizations. Apparently serving different purposes these clubs and small organizations were formed to serve a greater purpose. The suffrage was added as a part to it. The main aim was to get equal rights for African American Women without any discrimination at any level of society. Many of the dispersed club got united in 1896 to form a new association namely NACW (National Association of Colored Women). Mary Church Terrell was the first president of this association that formally worked very effectively for carrying forward the rights safeguarding movement of the Black African American women. Twentieth Century The onset of the twentieth century marked the making of the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The two big leaders of this association were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This womens association had two main strategies: 1. To win suffrage for each state one by one. 2. Try to get a constitutional amendment passed in their favor. Since its inception till the legislation of 19th Amendment this association (the NACW), which was formed at the end of the nineteenth century, worked hard for the progress of woman suffrage by establishing a separate department for the purpose. Not only this, but there were other platforms like NBWC (The National Baptist Woman’s Convention) that supported the cause immensely. NBWC was of central importance in facilitating the women’s organizational power. Its consistent support strengthened the main cause and helped organizing the movement. Among the notable clubs that were specifically founded for woman’s suffrage by the African American Women was another noticeable name Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago. It was established in 1913 by Ida B. Wells. Unfortunately the common black women bore the pain of isolation within the movement of suffrage, regardless of their strong support for the cause. After the end of Civil War, the right to vote for white women was advocated by some suffragists just to cancel out the effect of black’s (men and women) votes. The number of white women was much higher than that of the collective black population. In continual of such insidious practices the black women were never welcomed open heartedly into the forums like NAWSA (National American Women Suffrage Association) despite their sincere support and diligent efforts for the purpose. The affiliation of black women’s established clubs were sometimes denied by NAWSA high-ups in early 20th century. Some members of NAWSA were of the opinion that right to vote must only be administered to white women. This discrimination was notably marked during the 1913 suffrage parade (organized by Alice Paul’s Congressional Union), when black women were instructed to take part as a separate unit. However, some courageous black women like Ida B. Wells refused to comply with the idea and marched in the main stream. Under the 19th Amendment, legislated and approved in 1920, all women were given the right to vote without any kind of color discrimination. However, very unfortunately, within just 10 years the respective law enforcers and state law makers maliciously disenfranchised majority of black women in the southern part of the country. To curb the anomaly there was a requirement of a new greater movement for voting rights. In 1960, The Civil Rights Movement resulted in effective enfranchisement of the black women in South. The Civil Rights Movement The Civil Rights movement which was trademarked with an impressive march to Washington in the year 1963 which asked for freedom was participates equally by the white and the blacks however for the blacks this was just a continuation of their ongoing struggle for rights and existence. For the African American women this was only the continuation of their struggle for rights which they had been living with since they had opened their eyes to this world. The civil rights movement had a Black wing of its own. "Middle class, rural, domestic, professional women, educated and uneducated-all were involved in the civil rights movement. They shared their resources and talents and faith to work together for the cause-freedom and equality. These women shared skills "such as courage, strength, and patience" (Gyant, 633) Women acted as bridge leaders in the Civil rights movement and made men their actual leaders. Something which could not have been possible without the unnoticed leadership and framework that was carefully meshed by The African American Women. About the leadership skills and courage that these Black women exhibited in the civil movement Robnett mentions, "Given the context of the time, the period 1954-65, women who participated in the civil rights movement experienced unprecedented power. Their social location as black, as women and as economically marginalized was empowered in a context in which they were able to lead relatively autonomously "(Robnett, 1689) The farsightedness, identity, collective consciousness and never ending struggle finally made them reach a point where they were granted the rights they had struggled so very long for. -Conclusion Conclusively it may well be stated that women had a highly integral role to play in the African American transition from their state of slavery to freedom. Neglecting of their role would have probably resulted in the persistence of slavery probably till the present times since they only were the motivators of the men in their facilities as well. The role of the women in the African American History would always be cherished. WORKS CITED: Foner, Philip S, and Robert J. Branham. Lift Every Voice: African American Oratory, 1787-1900. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1998. Print. Gyant, LaVerne. "Passing The Torch: African American Women In The Civil Rights Movement." Journal Of Black Studies 5 (1996): 629.JSTOR Arts & Sciences I. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. Pinkett, Randal, Jeffrey Robinson, and Philana Patterson. Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness. New York: AMACOM, 2011. Internet resource. Robnett, Belinda. "African-American Women In The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965: Gender, Leadership, And Micromobilization." The American Journal Of Sociology 6 (1996): 1661. JSTOR Arts & Sciences I. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. Read More