African History Essay Research Paper 1John Jacobs

African History Essay, Research Paper 1John Jacobs Mrs. CrosbyUS History and GovernmentFebruary 27, 1998 African American History The Civil Rights of African Americans has been a long, ongoing struggle in the United States. The movement was initially advanced through the amendment process, an essential method of change in our government. The thirteenth, four-teenth, and fifteenth amendments furthered the development of civil rights by abolishing slavery, defining and extending citizenship and granting suffrage to African Americans during Reconstruction. When Reconstruction ended, many of the advances were lost as de jure and de facto segregation took root throughout the United States. The Civil Rights movement made strides through other methods of change. A few of those

methods of changes are Civil Rights organizations, Supreme Court cases, Presidential actions, and Congressional legislation. The most famous Civil Rights organization in the United States which increased the civil rights of every black American is the NAACP(National Association for the Jacobs 2Advancement of Colored People). This is an interracial American organization that was created to strive for the abolition of discrimination and segregation in education, employment, transportation, et cetera. The NAACP was founded in 1909 by a group of blacks led by W.E.B. Bu Bois and was the product of the Niagara Movement. The NAACP furthered the development of Civil Rights in the United States. In 1915, the NAACP boycotted the motion picture Birth of a Nation due to the biased view

towards blacks. This organization has strongly supported voting rights for minorities. It secured the end of the grandfather clause. The Civil Rights of African Americans were greatly advanced by the ending of this clause. Because of this, all blacks, no matter if their grandfathers voted or not, were allowed to vote in elections. Then National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had and still does have a strong effect on the outcome of Supreme Court cases. For instance, Brown versus Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case. This case took place on May 17, 1954 in Topeka, Kansas. This was brought about because minors of the African race were denied admission from public schools. The court held that state-prescribed public school segregation was a

violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution. It declared that separate educational facilities were unequal. This case severely struck down racially enforced school segregation. The result of this case was a giant step towards complete desegregation of public schools. Jacobs 3 Congressional legislation has played a key role in assuring the civil rights of African Americans. Through the years, Congress has passed laws and acts to try to guarantee equal rights. However, not all of the laws passed have been effective. Congress first attempts has been the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1875. More successful attempts are the Civil Rights Act of 1957, 1964, and 1968. The Civil Rights Act of 1968, in my view, is the most important of them all.

This act was adopted during the spring of 1968. It guaranteed civil rights workers protection by the federal government and included a plan for open housing. This plan forbid the discrimination in the selling and renting of all housing excluding owner-occupied-home sales. The standard living, health, and housing of blacks have increased. Through these clauses, the Constitutional rights of every African American have increased and African Americans and Caucasian Americans are now equals. From this, you can see that the civil rights of blacks have benefited greatly from these clauses. Another great method of change which furthered the development of Civil Rights in the United States after Reconstruction ended are Presidential actions. Many presidents have encouraged blacks to go