Civil Rights and the Southern Response Civil rights is defined as the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. Throughout the history of America, our government and people have been notorious for violating the civil rights of those who reside here. Even today this still happens. For example, gay marriage was just legalized a little over a year ago. In some states today, a woman still cannot make the decision for herself whether or not she will get an abortion. And if you have ever heard of the wage gap, then that is inequality at its finest. Back in the 1800’s African-Americans were the ones whose civil rights were being violated the most. The people of the south had found loopholes in the laws set in place in order
…show more content…
It was ratified in 1870 and made it so that no matter one’s race, color, or previous servitude, a citizen's rights could not be denied to them. Women were still outraged, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton left the abolition movement to begin solely advocating for women’s rights. They had opposed the ratification of the 15th amendment. Also, the southern’s response to these amendments was just more resistance. No matter what, the south still resisted equality for African-Americans. They came up with ways to exclude them from voting and force them into laor. First, they had literacy tests in place in order to vote. African-Americans would have to pass a challenging test in order to be able to vote. And even then, there were high poll taxes that African-Americans would have to pay if they wanted to vote at all. Also, they enforced things such as sharecropping and convict leasing. Convict leasing was when a prisoner would do hard labor for private parties and plantation owners. The plantation owner or private party would then be responsible for housing, feeding, and clothing the prisoner as long as they were doing the hard labor. Sharecropping is when a tenant farmer would rent their land to African-Americans or anyone for use, but they would have to return a portion of the crops to them. These two things forced African-Americans into labor because whether they were a convict or just an everyday person, …show more content…
Congress had taken many steps to pass laws and provisions that made it so the south could not take away these people’s rights, but unfortunately they still found loopholes. The saddest thing about it all is that even today after the Civil Rights Movement and so many changes, we still do not live in a nation where we are all equal. We live in a nation that preaches equality and freedom, but practices something very
It was ratified in 1870 and made it so that no matter one’s race, color, or previous servitude, a citizen's rights could not be denied to them. Women were still outraged, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton left the abolition movement to begin solely advocating for women’s rights. They had opposed the ratification of the 15th amendment. Also, the southern’s response to these amendments was just more resistance. No matter what, the south still resisted equality for African-Americans. They came up with ways to exclude them from voting and force them into laor. First, they had literacy tests in place in order to vote. African-Americans would have to pass a challenging test in order to be able to vote. And even then, there were high poll taxes that African-Americans would have to pay if they wanted to vote at all. Also, they enforced things such as sharecropping and convict leasing. Convict leasing was when a prisoner would do hard labor for private parties and plantation owners. The plantation owner or private party would then be responsible for housing, feeding, and clothing the prisoner as long as they were doing the hard labor. Sharecropping is when a tenant farmer would rent their land to African-Americans or anyone for use, but they would have to return a portion of the crops to them. These two things forced African-Americans into labor because whether they were a convict or just an everyday person, …show more content…
Congress had taken many steps to pass laws and provisions that made it so the south could not take away these people’s rights, but unfortunately they still found loopholes. The saddest thing about it all is that even today after the Civil Rights Movement and so many changes, we still do not live in a nation where we are all equal. We live in a nation that preaches equality and freedom, but practices something very