‘to What Extent, Was the Black Civil Rights Movement Successful in Bringing About Social and Political Change for Black Americans Between 1880 and 1990?’
Despite the 13th Amendment being passed in January 1865 declaring that slavery was illegal in the United States in reality it had no effect to solve racial issues as white superiority was maintained through legal loopholes. The creation of legally enforced segregated societies through the Jim Crow Laws treated Black Americans as second class citizens. Furthermore, the establishment of Black Codes in the Southern States were designed to keep the blacks inferior to whites economically, socially, politically and legally as they (1) ‘were excluded from occupations where they might be in competition with whites.’. In spite of this, Whites claimed that they saw Black Americans as ‘separate but equal, albeit the Supreme Court ruling that it was legitimate through the case of Plessey vs. Ferguson and ’this created a ’halfway house between slavery and freedom that satisfied no-one.’ The 15th Amendment gave black Americans the right to vote however due to ‘Literacy Tests,’ ‘Property Qualifications,’ and ‘Grandfather Clauses,’ it wasn’t feasible. Legal constraints were further aggravated and Southerners took this to advantage knowing that Federal authorities’ attitudes towards this cause were ambivalent.
The Civil Rights Act off 9 April 1866 was made as a response to Black Codes. This ensured that all citizens of the US would enjoy equal treatment under the law. However in reality this wasn’t the case as the whites argued that it gave no reference to the right to vote. (2) ‘At the same time that the amendment was passed Congress authorised segregated black and white schooling in Washington, DC.’ This summarised the fact that the Congress wasn’t in favour of social and political integration and was in a sense an obstacle in the way of black Americans obtaining civil rights. The Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 gave Blacks significant power and this can be supported by Johnson saying that the South was beginning to become Africanised. Education for Blacks improved during
The Civil Rights Act off 9 April 1866 was made as a response to Black Codes. This ensured that all citizens of the US would enjoy equal treatment under the law. However in reality this wasn’t the case as the whites argued that it gave no reference to the right to vote. (2) ‘At the same time that the amendment was passed Congress authorised segregated black and white schooling in Washington, DC.’ This summarised the fact that the Congress wasn’t in favour of social and political integration and was in a sense an obstacle in the way of black Americans obtaining civil rights. The Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 gave Blacks significant power and this can be supported by Johnson saying that the South was beginning to become Africanised. Education for Blacks improved during