African Americans After Civil War

Blacks were brought to the American colonies as slaves where they faced lifelong bondage, cruelty, and poverty. Though Blacks were freed after the Civil War, their journey to complete citizenship and civil rights was a long and difficult one. Discrimination and its injustices towards Blacks were addressed by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States government. Four amendments were ratified and placed in the constitution to give blacks their civil rights. The northern and southern states fought against each other in the Civil War to free the slaves. The North won, and Amendment 13 was passed abolishing slavery in 1865. The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court in 1857 said blacks were not citizens. Amendment …show more content…
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to fight for black rights. While he was president during the Civil War he wrote a very important document that would cause a huge impact for the Blacks. This document was named the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1863 the slaves were then freed under Confederate control. The Commander and Chief sent to troops to carry out this act. In 1957 nine black teenagers entered central high school in Little Rock Arkansas. Brown vs. Board of Topeka, Kansas had passed the Supreme Court caging schools would be integrated. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president during this time and sent the troops to enforce the law and protect the teens. In 1962 John F. Kennedy sent the troops to the University of Mississippi and University of Alabama, in 1963 Kennedy’s executive staff wrote the civil rights act of 1964 saying business would be integrated, saying those who served whites would have to serve blacks as well. When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson urged congress to pass the civil rights act in 1964 in Kennedy’s name. Martin Luther King Jr. led March on Washington for this act. 250,000 people marched in critical mass for black …show more content…
In 1857 a slave In Missouri by the name Dredd Scott sued for his freedom. His owner took him to the north, and was brought back to Missouri. Because he was from a free state he demanded to be free. The court ruled against Dredd Scott by saying he couldn’t bring the case to the Supreme Court because he was not a citizen. Blacks didn’t become citizens until 1868 because of the 14th amendment. In 1896 Homer Plessy whom was only an eighth black sat in a whites section only of a train in Louisiana. Plessy refused to move and in conclusion to this act he was arrested and convicted of the violation of Louisiana segregation law that meant “Separate but equal” this was made for accommodations based on race. The Supreme Court ruled Against Plessy because they believed separation was necessary for peace and order. They couldn’t make whites accept blacks. This wouldn’t be changed until Brown vs. Board in 1954. This meant that segregation would still be alive for another half of a