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August 8th, 2017 
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The civil war that occurred in America between 1861 and 1865 was as a result of tensions that emerged between the North and the South. Its also called the War Between the States. Even before the start of the civil war, African Americans were already a segregated community. Millions of them having been bought by the white man from Africa over centuries and transported like animals on ships across the Atlantic, some dying on the way and those that survived arrived in Northern America, South America, and Europe as forced labour.They lost their homes, families, dignity and identities. They were forcefully taken to work on the Caucasian man’s land especially the cotton fields as cheap labor. They would routinely be sold and exchanged between their white masters. They were inhumanly treated and called offensive names such as ‘negro’.
The gains made during the post-civil war period against African American discrimination are not to be ignored. But as the 20th century rolled in, racial segregation was becoming more evident. Use of disrespectful terms such as Negro to refer to African Americans was only fanning the fire for racism. The acts had been passed already for equality among all but the southerners were not very receptive of the idea. After the death of Abraham Lincoln, elections were held and they were hotly disputed. This led to the abandonment of the gains made in giving blacks same rights as the whites. The southern whites took this opportunity to gain control of the south. This segregation lasted until the 1960’s when finally blacks were able to put their own in government. This was the time civil rights movement was born (David & Thomas 2009). Before the rise of the civil rights movement, the Jim Crow law was instrumental in the introduction of the school segregation system whereby white students were not allowed to mix with their African American counterparts. In 1951, students of a Virginia school demonstrated due to the congestion in their school plus poor schooling conditions. The overcrowding had been as a result of the influx of black students who could now be able to attend school. The white school children were used to the African Americans bending to their demands and acting as their subordinates. There was a court case on this and other matters and eventually the segregation system was outlawed (David & Thomas 2009). What the American leadership failed to do was to reconcile the parties that were involved in the war .So the reconstruction went on amidst disgruntlement by the parties involved. United States could have implemented a post war amnesty to avoid regional and political tensions arising. The fruits of this failure were the civil strife noticed in the early 1900 which saw the rising of the civil rights movement (McDermott, 2009). Civil rights activists such as, Martin Luther King.Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcom X were all instrumental during the African American civil rights movement that lasted between 1955 and 1968.the movement aimed at eradicating racial discrimination against the African Americans by the white man. During the civil rights movement, major legislative steps were made in the quest for equal rights. Notably there was the enactment of civil rights act of 1964 which was meant to ensure no discrimination was carried out based on race, religion or national origin when it came to people looking for jobs and in public transport (Ray & Lawrence, 2003). One activist Rosa Parks at Montgomery bus refused to give up her seat to a white passenger while on a bus. She was immediately arrested for failing to follow the rules.This led to a massive boycott by leaders of the African American rights movement such as Minister Martin Luther King Jr. He was instrumental in organizing the boycott which eventually led to the review of the public transport rules that had been imposed on the African Americans. Another outcome of the civil rights movement was the 1965 Act if immigration and National Services which allowed people of non-American origin to migrate to the United States. Many people of non-European origin migrated to America at this time. This law is what led America to become what it is today, a combination of different cultures, ethnicities, customs and traditions. Words such as negro are only acceptable today in a historical perspective .The word ‘black’ replaced the word negro but even that was also replaced by the present term,’ African American ‘which is more respectable in referring to people of African descent (Ray & Lawrence 2003). In conclusion, the end of the civil war brought many positive and negative things to the African American. In the midst of all these experiences, they became stronger which mainly led to their full integration into the American culture. The African Americans have come a long way in restoring their dignity not only in America but in the rest of the world. With the election of an African American president, Barrack Obama, this seemed like only a dream in the years of the civil war. Barrack Obama was elected on the same ideals that Martin Luther king, Rosa Parks and many other African American leaders held. He symbolizes unity among the white majority in America and the black community not to mention all the other communities of the world and shows that all can live in peace and harmony. He manifests that black people are not inferior to the white people. The dreams that the human rights activists had were brought to life by the acceptance, integration of the African American community in America as part and parcel of the American history and its future. When writing on such or similar topic, comprehensive research is key to obtain the facts right. An outline is essential to guide you on your writing and research. At essayhelp247, we can help you achieve the best grade on the subject. Get an original custom written essay from scratch by our professional writers at discounted rates.
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