African Americans During The Reconstruction Era

The period that took place after the Civil War was considered the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877). During this period, African Americans were granted equality due to the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which, outlawed slavery, defined citizenship and protected all Americans, and extended suffrage to all men. The Freedman’s Bureau/Civil Rights Act also helped blacks play a role in the governments, economies and society by allowing them to be elected to political office. White America found it difficult to accept the fact that African Americans could ever be considered their equal and during the period that begun around 1877 that picked up steam during the early twentieth century, the Black Codes gave a major …show more content…
This meeting took place following the Alabama bus boycott. The SCLC organization was led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights activist. This organization was established in order to abolish legalized segregation, end the disfranchisement of black southerners in a non-violent manner, and tackle the controversies of war and poverty. SCLC had numerous bumps in the road, while trying to stand up the organization, but after the establishment, they clashed with other organizations who were fighting for the same cause and who appear to be more established. The Birmingham Campaign, which was a series of lunch counter sit-ins, marches on City Hall and boycotts on downtown merchants to protest segregation laws in the city, was the organizations first successful event. During this demonstration, all the participants were violently attacked by police dogs and hosed down with high pressure hoses. The events that took place attracted the attention of President Kennedy and led to the national Civil Rights Act. Prior to the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the president of the SCLC, another victory was attained through the Selma campaign. This campaign gained the support of President Lyndon Johnson’s passage of the Voting Rights Act of …show more content…
Disgusted with the police brutality and other forms of injustice against African Americans. Newton and Seale wanted equal rights for Blacks, a call for jobs for the community, housing, education, and other demands. They felt the need to protect Blacks in America from the ongoing attacks, so they focused on teaching its members self-defense, and educating them on a Marxist and socialist ideology, which would teach them to take control of their lives and its surroundings. The Black Panther Party gained a lot of positive attention while providing free food, tutoring, first aid, clothing, drug and alcohol rehab, and many more social programs for those in need, but their vigilante approach towards law officials all but overshadowed all that was reputable about the