02/14/11

The First Vote

Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment on February 26, 1869 to the United States Constitution. It prohibits each government in the nation denying citizens to vote, despite of their race, color, or the previous experience of being a slave except for women. The drawing from above was by Waud, Alfred R. to portray the first vote of the African Americans. The intention of the artist was to show the eagerness of the former slaves to vote. This amendment did not only granted the African Americans’ right to vote, but also marked the victory of the Civil War.

02/14/11

It Aint Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings!

Fat Lady Singing

Reconstruction virtually ended when the fat lady sang in Ford’s Theater. A single bullet to the back of the head killed the hopes and dreams freed slaves. President Abraham Lincoln was assasignated on the night of April 14, 1865. Lincoln’s death left Andrew Johnson to be president.

In January 1865 General Sherman issued Special Field Orders, No. 15, which is known to most as 40 Acres and a Mule. It was an order that gave freed black slaves land. Approximately 10000 freed slaves had settled on 400,000 Acres of land when new President Johnson reversed the order and forced freed blacks to return the land.

Also Established in 1865 was the Freedman’s Bureau. The Freedman’s Bureau created schools & hospitals, negotiated labor contracts, leased or sold confiscated lands to the freed men, and tried to protect former slaves from their masters in the South. President Johnson vetoed the bill for its extension in 1866.

The final straw for a reconstruction period that barely got anything done was in 1877 with the corrupt bargain. The corrupt bargain was basically a deal that exchanged the presidency for an unsupervised south. This is likely what lead to Jim Crow laws and other laws of that nature.

Reconstruction ended at the very beginning, with Lincoln’s Death.

02/14/11

The Return of KKK

In 1865, American Civil War has ended, but the racial war has just started a new chapter. Although the nation is once again unified, but the difference between racial perspective hasn’t been changed until many years later. The lost of war did not make southerners give up their believe in slavery. Many veterans of Confederate Army have organized and committed brutal crimes against white and racial republicans. Although Ku Klux Klan is organized originally at local area, many other groups across the southern states have adopted the name. The image above shows three members of Ku Klux Klan under arrest at Tishomingo county, Mississippi on September 1871 for attempt murdering a family. In 1870, Government passed Force Act to fight the crimes and place soldiers to protect racial republicans and peoples.

This picture above shows a gathering of KKK members Gainesville, Florida at December 31, 1922. With Government’s involvement, the scale of Ku Klux Klan gets smaller as more members of KKK is prosecuted under the law. In 1920s, KKK re-emerges when racial conflicts is incorporated with religious conflicts. The member of KKK become more organized and openly practiced. The Klan fades away at 1940s because of criminal acts committed by the head of the organizers.

02/14/11

Grants Justify Exploitation?

This a letter from a library trustee to Andrew Carnegie asking for a grant to open a public library in Riverdale, California. According to Foner, “Carnegie dominated the steel industry and had accumulated a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars”. As we all know Carnegie gave much of his fortune away. My question is why couldn’t Carnegie also use his “hundreds of millions of dollars” to pay his workers more or provide better working conditions for them?

Carnegie was only one of many business employers that gave most of their fortune away but still took advantage of their employees. How are they “promoting the advancement of society” while exploiting their workers? Doesn’t their exploitation take away from the workers quality of life? I believe they could have promoted the advancement of society by letting workers organize unions and give them a safer work environment. Also, the government could have helped the workers fight for their rights more.

02/14/11

The Amendment that Freed U.S.All

The thirteenth amendment was adopted on December 6, 1865 and became the first amendment of the Reconstruction. This amendment abolished all slavery and involuntary servitude except for punishment for a crime. The importance of this amendment is that it was passed shortly after the Emancipation of Proclamation to show that the proclamation was not just a temporary war measure for the Civil War. President Lincoln wanted to guarantee the slaves their freedom.

In addition, it is also important to know that it took many years for this Amendment to pass. The amendment was rejected the first time by the House of Representative. It was President Lincoln whom worked closely with the House that got the amendment passed the second time around.

02/14/11

The Statue Of Liberty

No symbol of freedom is more revered than the “Statue of Liberty.” Its a global icon and a celebrated symbol of Liberty that embodies America. The Statue of Liberty was built in 1886, during the Gilded Age when America passed through a time of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity. The idea of the statue was conceived by a French educator Laboulaye, he hoped it would represent the historic friendship between France and America, and also the glory of Union’s Victory in the Civil War. Which was in by itself a victory of emancipation, of liberty and equality for all men.

As noted in the book, even though the Statue of Liberty was a celebrated icon when it was built, it couldn’t hide the conflicting social division that manifested during the Gilded Age. There was an unequal distribution of wealth between the upper class and working class where the top 1 percent of America’s population controlled 99% of wealth. The rich capitalists would live in their fancy multi-million dollar mansions and engaged in “conspicuous consumption” while most of the urban population lived in slums and at the edge of poverty. Labor strikes and protests were common as capitalists tried to take full advantage of the lower class. This period of America created a dialogue which encompasses the crucial question of the social conditions needed for the liberty of it’s citizens and the role of government in fulfilling that condition for en masse.

02/14/11

Civil Rights Act of 1871

During the reconstruction period after the civil war was resolved, there was still turmoil in the south. Many white southerners were unwilling to accept the new government for reasons such as rise in taxes to improve the construction of railroads and schools but the chief reason of discontent in the south is that the southerners could not tolerate the civil rights act of 1866 which allowed males to vote despite their previous background. In response to the civil rights act of 1866, white southerners who opposed the ideas of the new government formed a secret organization known as the Ku Klux Klan. The main goal of the Ku Klux Klan was to prevent blacks from voting by harassing the blacks in their community and often time’s murdering them in order to cause a scare.

In order to counter the actions of the Ku Klux Klan, the Civil Rights act of 1871 was enacted by President Ulysses Grant. With this act in power, federal troops were sent to the south to protect blacks from being harassed or assaulted by secret organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. During this time many members of the Ku Klux Klan were arrested and were put on trial for the atrocities they have committed.

02/13/11

Making it right for everyone!

Letter written by Susan B Anthony

Susan B. Anthony was a great civil rights activist. She was one of the founders of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. An organization fighting for the rights of women to vote and hold office. When looking through some of the primary documents, I was pleased to find the letter attached to this post. Susan was well educated, as many of the men in that time period, but believed that blacks were humans and were just like whites.

Susan B. Anthony with the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton stood up for women and lead a campaign that she did not live to see, but 14 years after her death, the 19th Amendment was passed giving women the rights to vote!

02/13/11

Robert E. Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox 1865

General Robert E. Lee, the Commander of the Confederate forces, found his army completely surrounded and ravished by Union soldiers. He was forced to surrender to the Union, or have his forces annihilated in a dragged out war in which he was vastly outnumbered in. On April 9th, 1865, he agreed to meet with his opponent, Union General and future President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant. They were to meet at a farmhouse owned by Wilmer McLean, where General Grant would officially sign the surrender of the Confederate Forces. This therefore was the official end to the Civil War.

Lincoln wanted to make the nation a whole again; a solid, single, united nation, the United States of America. In order to accomplish this Lincoln allowed confederate soldiers to sign a form to allow them to be part of the Union, citizens of the United States. Confederate officers were, for the most part excluded from this offer, on the basis of high treason; however,Lincoln extended the honor of becoming a citizen to the opposing Commander, and one of his friends General Robert E. Lee. It is a little know fact that Lincoln had originally asked West Point Graduate Lee to be his Commander AGAINST the South, but Lee declined the offer stating he was a Virginian and could not fight against his home. Lee accepted the offer and was once again by all standards a legal citizen.

02/13/11

The Dawes Act

This document was created to divide and distribute land back to the Native Americans. This act was named after U.S. Senator Henry L. Dawes and was signed on February 8, 1887. The Dawes Act divides the large reservation lands into small pieces of land for individual distribution. The land that was not given to the natives were used to build railroads.

This division of land caused the Native Americans to lose their tradition and values. The Native Americans were forced to abandon their communal way of life. After losing their own culture American culture was forced upon them. This caused many tribes to scatter which lead to the lose of many Native American traditions.

I think the lawmakers created the Dawes Act in order to cleverly steal the land away from the native Americans to build railroads and expand capitalism. By dividing their land, the native’s culture was destroyed and they were forced assimilate in order to survive in this country. We will never know if the intentions of this act were good or bad but one thing is for sure, the native Americans suffered once again in the hands of the United States.

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=50#

02/13/11

Citizenship for All

This text is a primary document because it is the original text of the 14th amendment. It was added to the constitution at July 9 1868. It established the citizenship clause, due process clause, and the equal protection clause. Each clause was meant to give African American’s equal rights after the civil war. This text was important because it was one of the first step to let the African Americans to taste what freedom is about.

When the 14 th Amendment that was ratified during the Reconstruction Era, the main portion of the amendment was that it indicates that a person will become citizen when they are natural born in the United States. Naturalized citizens will have the same rights as American citizens. They will be protected under laws. African Americans who were born after the ratification of this amendment have gained such freedom and they will be given the rights just like an American citizen. Many African Americans have the rights to own property, to go to school, and so on. They were also gaining political powers by having the chance to work in the congress. They also had the opportunity to set up their own community for gathering and socialization.

02/13/11

Fight for freedom after freedom

This picture was a democratic election campaign. In just under a year for the first time in history a president, Johnson, was placed on trial. Democrats openly appealed to racism during the election while Republicans concentrated on Reconstruction.

After the emancipation proclamation granted freedom to most slaves, the Freedman’s Bureau was organized by the government in an attempt to aid blacks whether it be in their attempt to attain an education, labor, etc. However, as was inevitable there was considerable resistance to granting freedmen and “freedoms.”

02/13/11

Progress and Poverty

Progress and Poverty by Henry George was published in 1879. It brought to light the economic conditions that existed in the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was supposed to be a time of economic growth and reform for everyone in the nation once the Civil War was over. However, this was not the case and many were unsatisfied and unhappy with the economic situation; Henry George was one of these people.

In this book, Henry George not only brought attention to the unequal distribution of wealth during the time, but also proposed his own ideas and methods for a solution to this inequality. He was not the only one to create such a publication. During the time, there were many who were unsatisfied with the unequal distribution of wealth and had their own unique ideas on ways to fix the problem. However, Progress and Poverty received much public attention because of the fact that his explanations of the current economic situation were clearer than others and also because many agreed with his ideology that the current economic situation was one that should have been left in the times before the war ended.

02/13/11

The National Woman Suffrage Association

During the Reconstruction, the primary focus was on the rights of former slaves. Women felt neglected because they believed they deserved attention as well. Women protested for reforming labor and divorce laws. However, women received little or no support for their cause. In addition, they found faults in the 15th Amendment because it only protected African Americans from discrimination but not women. As a result, a group of feminists led a movement to raise awareness for women’s rights.

In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association, founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was one of the women’s rights organizaton that was established. Their chief concern was advocating voting rights for women through a new amendment to the Constitution. In addition, they supported simpler divorce laws and equal pay for women. However, a year later, the organization joined American Woman Suffrage Association to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This collaboration would further assist them in promoting for women’s rights.

02/13/11

ABOLISHMENT of Slavery.

The 13th amendment to the United States constitution formally abolished slavery, in 1865. This amendment reads “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This amendment finished the unfulfilled role of the Emancipation Proclamation issued in 1863. This document informally declared all slaves free, but not guarantee that they were indeed free.

It is very important to understand the 13th amendment to be a guarantor of future Americans civil rights. The 13th amendment was later followed by the 14th and 15th amendments, which are also recognized as Civil War amendments. It is important to understand the process this and how long it took for this to formal freedom of slaves to become an amendment. In 1864, the Senate passed the amendment, but the House declined. It was then reintroduced into the House and passed with a vote of 119 to 56.

02/13/11

African Americans citizens under Civil Rights Bill of 1866?

The Civil Rights Bill was created on April 19, 1866. It was passed over the veto of Andrew Johnson.The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. As Citizens they would be able to make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court ; inherit,purchase, lease, sell, hold and convey real and personal property. Persons who denied these rights to former slaves were guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction faced a fine not exceeding $1000 or imprisonment not exceeding a year or both.

Such organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan undermined the act and it failed to enforce the rights of African Americans. The consequences of this act were that federal penalties were not provided for, so that remedies were left to those involved. Those involved had limited access to legal help and were therefore left without aid. Therefore the act did not really help in providing equal rights.

02/13/11

On the Origin of Species (1859)

In 1859, Charles Darwin published a book titled On the Origin of Species. Darwin’s work was one of the most influential books in history, and we still use many terms coined by him today. The main idea of the book is that plants and animals that are more suited to survive in their environments will survive, and that they will replace those that cannot adapt. This view was very similar to the pre-Civil War view, which justified slavery. During the Gilded Age many people were fighting for social equality, and Darwin’s book posed a serious threat to their efforts.

Darwin believed that evolution is a natural process that occurs in nature, and that no forces should try and limit this. When the government or other organizations try and limit people, and try and make everything equal, they are bringing us back to a more primitive state. According to nature, some things are superior to others, and we shouldn’t have to take certain freedoms away to make sure that everybody is equal. Darwin truly believed that people are responsible for their own fate. He said that people should work on educating their children and doing other things that would help prevent seeking government aid.

The theory of Social Darwinism was pretty popular during the Gilded Age. Many professors wrote works on the theory, most notably William Graham Sumner. Sumner, a Yale professor, said that nobody was entitled to help others. He believed that there were social arrangement made by nature and that we shouldn’t interfere with them. The definition of freedom would be debated throughout this period, and Social Darwinists would constantly battle with people who believed in equality for all.

Sources:

http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/darwin/originb.jpg

Foner, Eric. “America’s Gilded Age.” Give Me Liberty!: an American History. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2009. 586-87. Print.

02/13/11

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first Act passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts.

It passed the Senate by a vote of 51-1 on April 8, 1890 and then passed the house by a unanimous vote of 242-0 on June 20, 1890. The bill was signed into law on July 2, 1890 by then President Benjamin Harrison.

The Sherman Act authorized the Federal Government to dissolve trusts but failed to define the critical terms in the law. In spite of that, the law achieved some success against some famous trusts such as Standard Oil Company, American Tobacco Company, and 100 years later, Microsoft.

02/13/11

THE DAWES ACT

The Dawes Act (1887) was passed to hasten the Americanization of Indians. Under the provision of the act:

Native American tribes were officially abolished.

Each male American Indian was allotted 160 acres of reservation land as his own private property. Private property was expected to replace tribal land ownership, as each Native American became a farmer.

Those who adopted this way of life were given United States citizenship and the right to vote. In the 1924, all Native American were made citizens.

Source: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=50#

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fed-indian-policy/

02/12/11

BLack code

source:http://www.education.miami.edu/ep/paris/html/black_code.htm
Black code is a series laws passed by the new south government to discriminate against African American. These laws give some basic right to the former slaves, such as legalized marriage, property and limited access to the courts, but they don’t have rights to against whites, such as, voting, serving on juries and in state militias (Foner, 535)
Post the civil war, American government passed 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to protest African Americans and give them civil right to live in United State. However, the new south government used state power to pass law in order to limit African American rights. For instance, African American must sign a year labor contract with their employer. If not, they would be arrested. Black code violated African American’s civil right and their right still is limited as slaves. Therefore, reconstruction became failed.

Modern American History

spring 2011

Year: 2011

The First Vote

It Aint Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings!

The Return of KKK

Grants Justify Exploitation?

The Amendment that Freed U.S.All

The Statue Of Liberty

Civil Rights Act of 1871

Making it right for everyone!

Robert E. Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox 1865

The Dawes Act

Citizenship for All

Fight for freedom after freedom

Progress and Poverty

The National Woman Suffrage Association

ABOLISHMENT of Slavery.

African Americans citizens under Civil Rights Bill of 1866?

On the Origin of Species (1859)

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

THE DAWES ACT

BLack code