Download African American History - Sewanhaka Central High School District

African American History
With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, the United States witnessed the election of its
first African American president. This was a monumental achievement for a group of people
that has suffered tremendously.
The first ship of African American slaves arrived at Jamestown in 1619. Slavery existed
throughout the colonies but eventually ended in the northern region due to the climate. In
Massachusetts, a state Supreme Court case referred to as the Quock Case led to the end of
slavery in this state. During the first form of government, known as the Articles of
Confederation, one of the key achievements was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This
established the rules for new territory to become a state, but slavery was banned. Then, during
the Constitutional Convention, a decision had to be made regarding whether or not slaves should
count in a state’s population. The founders agreed on the 3/5 compromise, declaring that 3 out
of 5 African Americans would count in the population. Some historians believe that this led to a
southern dominance of the presidency due to increased electoral college votes. Benjamin
Banneker was the first African American hired by the federal government. He was a
Renaissance man who helped create the planning for Washington D.C. Phyllis Wheatley was the
first African American female to publish a book of poetry. The American Colonization Society
wanted to send all African Americans back to Africa (Liberia – capital Monrovia). In 1820,
Missouri wanted to enter the Union. But this would have disrupted the balance of 11 free and 11
slave states. Representative James Tallmadge proposed that Missouri enter as a slave state but
all slaves would be freed at the age of 25. This Tallmadge Amendment was rejected. Henry
Clay followed with his Missouri Compromise. Missouri would enter as a slave state but Maine
would enter as a free state. The rest of the territory would be divided at 36 30. Above this line
would be free and below this line would be slave territory. During the antebellum period (before
the Civil War), many people fought valiantly to end slavery. Some of these abolitionists
included: Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Harriet
Beecher Stowe, and Nat Turner. Douglass was a former slave who escaped from Maryland to
Massachusetts. He became one of the leading intellectual minds of this era. Garrison, who was
white, was one of the most radical figures of the era. He burned a copy of the constitution,
claiming it was a “slave document.” He was AGAINST compensation for slave owners. Harriet
Tubman organized the Underground Railroad, an effort to help slaves escape to the north and to
Canada. She carried a gun with her to make sure that no slave backed off. The Federal Reserve
just recently announced that Harriet Tubman would become the first woman on currency,
replacing Jackson on the $20. Stowe wrote a book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin which brought
attention to how bad slavery was to northerners. When Lincoln met her, he said, “so you’re the
little woman who started this great war.” A key conflict that led to further debates over slavery
was the Mexican-American War. In 1845, the United States annexed Texas after the people
living there revolted against Mexico. But the U.S. had to wait ten years in order to add Texas as
a result of the gag rule that prohibited Congress was discussing slavery on the floor. IN 1845, a
border dispute between Texas and Mexico led to the Mexican American War. The U.S. believed
that the border was the Rio Grande while Mexico believed it was the Nueces River. U.S.
soldiers were shot, leading President Polk to ask for a declaration of war. Rep. Lincoln called for
the “spot resolutions” asking where the soldiers were shot. The U.S. was victorious and in the
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, received the Mexican Cession. At first, David Wilmot
proposed in the Wilmot Proviso that all new territory should be free. This was the platform of the
free soil party. This was rejected, leading Henry Clay to propose the Compromise of 1850. This
very important legislation had five parts: 1. Banned the slave trade in D.C. 2. Stricter Fugitive
Slave Law 3. Texas received $10 million for a strip of land 4. Popular sovereignty would be
used to determine the status of slavery (letting the people vote) 5. California entered as a free
state (many people living there were against slavery as a result of their trip to acquire gold.)
This legislation was passed as five separate bills. Had President Zachary Taylor not died from
bad cherries and sour milk, it may not have been signed. But President Millard Fillmore (who is
he?) did agree. In 1854, another compromise, NOT by Henry Clay, the Kansas-Nebraska Act,
called for both territories to use popular sovereignty to determine the status of slavery. This
basically overturned the Missouri Compromise. In Kansas, pro-slavery people crossed the
border from Missouri to vote. New England abolitionists, led by John Brown, with his machete,
also went to Kansas. This became known as “Bleeding Kansas.” The result was the passage of
TWO constitutions that conflicted on the status of slavery. This demonstrates how tense
conditions were in the country. A key example of how tense conditions were was a fight in
Congress. Senator Charles Sumner from Mass. gave a passionate speech against slavery. He
also attacked personally the relative of Preston Brooks, from South Carolina. The next day,
Brooks showed up to Sumner’s desk and beat him with a cane. IN 1857, a very important
Supreme Court decision was given in Dred Scott vs. Sandford. Dred Scott was a slave whose
master, a doctor, traveled throughout the country. He took him to the free territory of Wisconsin.
Scott sued for his freedom and the Supreme Court ruled against him. The court declared that
slaves were property, so not only was Scott not free, he did not even have the right to sue in
court. The Chief Justice was Roger Taney, the same man who agreed to take the federal money
out of the bank when Andrew Jackson was president. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran for Senate
in Illinois against Stephen Douglas. They had a series of seven debates regarding the status of
slavery. The debates were 60 minutes with one person talking, 90 minutes by the other and then
30 minutes in response. IN 1859, the same John Brown with his machete now tried to start a
slave revolt by breaking into an arsenal. He wanted to give the slaves weapons. He was caught,
tried for treason and sentenced to death. Is he a martyr or criminal? In 1860, Lincoln ran for
president as a Republican. His position on slavery was that he was in favor of preserving slavery
where it existed but against allowing in to spread (free soil). He won the election without
getting any electoral college votes from a southern state. One month after his victory, South
Carolina seceded. A conflict at Fort Sumter ultimately led to the beginning of the Civil War.
During the Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. He declared that all slaves
residing in states that broke away (Confederacy) shall be freed. But he did NOT free the slaves
living in the border states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri). His decision proved
to be successful as the Union was victorious. During the Civil War, Massachusetts employed the
first all black regiment of soldiers. It was called the 54th. They were not treated equally. When
the war was over, the U.S. entered a time period called Reconstruction. For African Americans,
three amendments were ratified. The 13th (abolished slavery), 14th (citizenship) and 15th (right to
vote for black males) were a major improvement. In addition, Lincoln called for the creation of
the Freedmen’s Bureau. This provided job training, education, shelter, food, clothing and health
care. Unfortunately, after Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson was not supportive of this
organization. (he was racist). He was the only southern senator to NOT vote for secession. The
15th amendment led to the election of the first two African American senators (Blanche Bruce
and Hiram Revels) from Mississippi. The progress made for African Americans led to southern
states passing various laws aimed at restricting their rights. These laws were called Black Codes
(give examples). Sharecropping was when African Americans rented the land but it kept them in
a cycle of debt. In Tennessee, the Ku Klux Klan formed mostly to prevent blacks from voting.
This group would burn crosses and sometimes resort to violence. Reconstruction came to an end
after the election of 1876. Radical Republicans who wanted to help African Americans agreed to
remove the five military districts if the Democrats did not challenge the fact that a special
commission gave all 20 disputed votes to Hayes. In 1881, southern states started to pass Jim
Crow laws that segregated African Americans from whites in all public facilities. In addition,
they passed voting restrictions such as poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses. Sadly,
lynching became a way for southerners to attack and kill African Americans. The two leading
African American voices were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Washington, a
former slave himself, believed that blacks should focus on education, gaining a skill or a trade
and being patient for equality. He was the first African American formerly invited to dine at the
White House by President Theodore Roosevelt. Southern senators had horrifically racist
comments from this visit. DuBois, the first African American to graduate with a Phd from
Harvard, believed that blacks should demand equality immediately and be more radical. He
formed the NAACP. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy vs. Ferguson. Homer Plessy
was 1/8 black. He wanted to ride in the whites only section of the train in Louisiana. He told
them of his race, wanting to expose the lunacy of the law. He was thrown off the train and
arrested. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal as long as the facilities were
“separate but equal.” This allowed segregation to exist legally until the Civil Rights movement.
During World War I, many African Americans moved to the north to acquire factory jobs.
During the 1920s, blacks enjoyed unprecedented cultural achievements in Harlem as part of the
Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes was a famous poet whose themes focused on slavery and
oppression. During the 1930s, the U.S. government engaged in the Tuskegee Experiment,
observing the effects of syphilis. Even though a cure was found, the government did not give it
to the men. The Scottsboro Boys were a group of African American wrongly convicted of
raping two white girls.
During World War II, African Americans who joined the Air Force were part of the Tuskegee
Airmen. A. Philip Randolph was an early civil rights activist who threatened to march on
Washington if FDR did not end discrimination in the federal government. FDR then issued
Executive Order 8802 that ended all discrimination in the hiring of federal workers. African
Americans were calling for the Double V Campaign – Victory in Europe and Victory for
equality in the United States. Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the
major leagues. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faced tremendous social pressures
at the time. This is often referred to as the symbolic beginning of the civil rights movement. In
1948, President Truman signed an executive order ending segregation the armed forces. The
Korean War was the first time that black and white soldiers fought together. In 1954, one of the
most significant Supreme Court cases in history was Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka,
Kansas. Linda Brown wanted to attend the school closest to her home. When her father asked
the principal, he refused (violently) and forced Brown to continue to attend the all-black further
from her home. Brown, along with other students across the south, were defended by Thurgood
Marshall. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown’s favor, stating that segregation
is unconstitutional and cannot provide separate but equal facilities. One year later, the Supreme
Court ruled in Brown II that schools needed to desegregate “with all deliberate speed.” In 1955,
Emmett Till was a black teenage from Chicago who was visiting relatives in Mississippi. He
was at a convenience store with his cousin, and allegedly whistled at a white female (or he spoke
with a lisp). The woman’s husband and brother found Till and brutally murdered him. They
were both found not guilty by the all-white jury. Till’s mother had an open casket funeral to
show the world the brutal racism that existed. Also in 1955, Rosa Parks started one of the most
well-known examples of civil disobedience. She refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white
passenger. This event was planned in advance, as Claudette Colvin was supposed to be the
individual responsible for the protest. But the leaders did not think she would be a good example
since she was a pregnant, unwed, teenager. Parks, along with the help of Martin Luther King Jr.,
staged a year-long boycott of the Montgomery bus system. In Gayle vs. Browder, the courts
determined that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional. This is a more
accurate example of a case that overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson (separate but equal) because they
both had to do with transportation. In 1957, nine black students were selected to be the first to
integrate Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. When they arrived to school, an angry
mob of protestors waited along with the National Guard under the command of Governor Orval
Faubus. President Dwight D. Eisenhower took the troops under his command and had them
escort the students to school, for the remainder of the year. The students faced enormous
personal struggles, racist taunts and bullying throughout the year. Faubus decided to shut down
the schools the following year, preventing the state championship football team from defending
its title. (and also depriving people of an education). In 1960, students from Greensboro, N.C.
staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter when the workers refused to serve them because
they were black. For three days, protests took place, cops were called in, and some of the cops
resorted to violence. In 1960, JFK was elected largely as a result of support from Martin Luther
King Jr. He was unable to pass any significant civil rights legislation because Congress refused
to work with him. Know the difference between MLK and Malcolm X. In 1964, LBJ was able
to get enough congressmen to vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, one of the most significant
pieces of legislation of the modern era. This law prohibited all forms of discrimination in public
facilities. He was a far more skilled politician than JFK (and I’ll share more about this
tomorrow.) Also in 1964, the 24th amendment was ratified, abolishing the poll tax. Then, in
1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed as well. These two laws made it easier for African
Americans to become involved in the political process. In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by
members of the Nation of Islam. In 1967, race riots erupted across the United States in Newark,
Detroit and Watts (Los Angeles). At this time, the Democratic Party was more supportive of
African Americans, however, southern racists were still voting for Democrats (because they were
stupid). Republicans decided to engage in what was called the “southern strategy.” This was a
campaign strategy to gain support from southern racists. But, they could not openly use racist
language. So instead, they campaigned on a states’ rights platform. This southern strategy was
first used by the Nixon team. In 1968, Robert Kennedy, was killed in California following the
presidential primary. He would have been a major supporter of the civil rights movement.
During the 1970s, the affirmative action movement was developing in order to compensate for
years of racial and gender discrimination. The case Bakke vs. University of California Davis
Medical School ruled vaguely on the policy, stating that schools cannot have quotas but can use
race as a factor. Thurgood Marshall became the first African American on the Supreme Court.
In 1991, Rodney King was arrested by the cops for speeding in Los Angeles. He was then
pummeled in the woods and someone took a video of it. Riots ensued when the cops were found
not guilty. Clarence Thomas was the second African American on the Supreme Court, but not
before his hearings regarding alleged sexual harassment.