Knowledge in American History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Knowledge in American History - Term Paper Example These amendments were pivotal in the history of African Americans and along with the 20th century Civil Rights movement constitute the most crucial periods in terms of freedom for African Americans. Even as the Constitution guaranteed rights to African Americans there was still a substantial amount of resistance, particularly at the hands of Southern states. This era saw the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a means of oppressing African Americans. The Klan would engage in acts of terrorism, including house burnings and murder, as a means of intimidating African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 was put in place to restrict ethnic violence in response to the Ku Klux Klan movement (Stevens, 2001). During this period ‘black codes’ were also enacted as a means of attempting to oppress the recently freed African Americans. These acts were enacted by some Southern states as a means of continuing to restrict the rights of African Americans through controlling employment, their right to own firearms, or act as jurors in trials of white individuals. With the Civil Rights Act of 1866 these acts were repealed (Stevens, 2001). With the added control over employment and the plentiful agricultural land in the Southern regions, African Americans began engaging in sharecropping activities. Sharecropping occurred on land that was previously used as a plantation. In these instances, African Americans would rent small plots of land from the plantation owner to harvest their own crops. During this period there were also extraordinarily high illiteracy rates among African Americans, with a reported 70% illiteracy rate in the Southern states (Stevens, 2001). In response, this era also witnessed the emergence of some of the first schools for black... This term paper mostly focuses on the period of American history, in which African Americans led their fight for equality in civil rights, in knowledge and opportunities. The researcher follows and examines the historical progression of African Americans throughout five distinct periods in American history spanning from 1865 through the present era. In the term paper, it’s clear that throughout the eras examined by the researcher the United States experienced significant historical progress in regards to the social and cultural position of African Americans. Unit One examines the Reconstruction period and how African Americans fought to achieve rights and prosperity in the wake of the Civil War. Unit Two of this term paper follows this progression as Southern states attempted to counteract black progress through enacting Jim Crow laws that would remain in place until the second half of the twentieth century. Unit Three explores the continued oppression of blacks through Jim Cr ow laws, as well as the Great Migration wherein great amounts of individuals migrated north to escape this oppression. The Great Migration consisted of the migration of over five million African Americans from the Southern to Northern States. Unit Four of the term paper examines the substantial progress made during the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, Unit Five examines this progress as African Americans made gains in achieving political office and experiencing employment gains. President Kennedy and Martin Luther King were mentioned in this part.