Racial Challenges to Americans up from 1860s to

1960s

Session 7

Table of Contents

I. Origin of slavery in America from perspectives of economy and racism

II. Founding Fathers’ dilemma and a temporary solution

III. The Civil War in 1860s, a critical crisis

IV. The Civil Rights Movement in 1960s, another serious crisis

V. The Achievements of the Civil Rights Movement

VI. Conclusion

I. Origins of Slavery in America from the Perspectives of Economy and Racism• Early history

• Africans came to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 as indentured servants

• Massachusetts recognized legal slavery in 1641• Virginia Rule: A slave mother’s children would

remain slaves in 1662

• Economic root• Racial root

“The white man’s burden” a poem by Rudyard Kipling justifies to civilize

“savages.”• Movie: African Americans: Terrible Transformation

Movie

African Americans: Terrible Transformation

II. Founding Fathers’ Dilemma and Solution

“All men are created equal” did not cover African American slaves.

The Constitutional Convention:Southern States’ argument: slaves are only

property, so they do not need to pay taxNorthern states’ argument: proportion

number of Congress representatives would be reduced if slaves are not regarded as human beings

Compromise: each slave is regarded as 3/5 free person.

III-1. Events Escalated to the Civil War

Territory expansion intensified conflicts between free states and slave states

Louisiana Purchase in 1803The Mexican-American War in 1846-1848 Missouri Compromise of 1820

Compromise of 1850-Fugitive Slave Act

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852

Lincoln’s speech: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

The last straw -Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860

Louisiana Purchase

The Mexican-American War

Lincoln: "So this is the little lady who started this great war”

III-2. The Civil War & the Construction Era1861-1876

Goals of the Civil War: to preserve the union first to emancipate all the slaves as the second

goal

The Cost of the War One of the earliest true industrial wars Resulting in the deaths of 620,000 soldiers. Historian

John Huddleston estimates the death toll at ten percent of all Northern males 20–45 years old, and 30 percent of all Southern white males aged 18–40

Psychological scars in America's collective memory

ContinueThe Emancipation Proclamation in 1863Strengthened the Union at the cost of

ConfederationConfederation lost international support

13th Amendment: abolished all the slaves in the US

14th Amendment: All persons born in the United States are citizens……

15th Amendment: granted African Americans the right to vote

Lincohn’s Gettysburg Address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dlggkx6mks&feature=related

Discussion

Could the US solve slavery system in a peaceful way without a civil war?

What would happen to the United States if no this Civil War?

III-3. Post-Construction EarJim Crow laws from 1876-1965

Racial segregation in public places

Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896"Separate but equal" remained standard doctrine in U.S. law until its repudiation in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education

Disfranchisement through literacy test

mass racial violence against blacks by Ku Klux Klan

Movie: the Rise and Fall of the Jim Crowhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWXyeUTKg8

IV-1. The Civil Rights Movement 1955-1968

• Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954• Non-violence resistance strategy

• Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955–1956• Desegregating Little Rock, 1957• Sit-ins, 1960• Freedom Rides, 1961• March on Washington in 1963

IV-2. Achievements in law

Civil Rights Act of 1964John F. Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11, 1963, "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments," as well as "greater protection for the right to vote."

Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S.

V. Achievements of the Civil Rights Movement

Barack Obama, the first African American president of the US.

Thurgood Marshall &Clarence Thomas became the 1st & 2nd African-American Supreme Court Justice.

Douglas Wilder became the first African-American elected governor in U.S. history in 1989.

Deval Patrick, current governor of Massachusetts. Carol Moseley-Braun the first Senator in 1992. 8,936 black officeholders in the United States in 2000,

showing a net increase of 7,467 since 1970. 484 black mayors in 2001. Chancellor and provost at UMass Boston. Make “All men are created equal” a reality Build a more fair & harmonious society.

A long journey of racial equality & harmony

Clyde Kennard (June 12, 1927–July 4, 1963)

1956, 57, 59 to Southern Mississippi College

1959 reckless driving by a perjury 1960 “paid theft” sentence of 7 years in

prison by a accomplice Died in 1963 2005: Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s

decision not to pardon him 2006: the Mississippi State Parole Board’s

decision 2006: Judge Bob Helfrich’s decision:

"To me, this is not a black and white issue; it's a right and wrong issue. To correct that wrong, I am compelled to do the right thing."

Continue

Section 256 of Alabama Constitution:

“Duty of legislature to establish and maintain public school system…separate schools for white and colored children.

……

No child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race.”

It lasted until 2004.

ConclusionRacial challenges put America into a civil war. With the cost of hundreds of thousands people’s lives, American leaders and people avoided a national split, and established a foundation for a rapid industrial development in the second half of the 19 century, and made the US the largest economy by 1890s.

ContinueAgain racial conflicts put America into social disturbances and violence in 1960s. The success of the Civil Rights Movement made the statement “all men are created equal” become true. However, racial equality & harmony is still an incomplete journey in the history of the United States.

Black History Month poster

Martin Luther King,

I have a dreamVideo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fus4nBIjV2I

Questions?

Xie xieZai jian