Posts

Congress of Racial Equality

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       Today in class we had a group presentation that covered many topics during the Harlem Renaissance. Each team member covered a certain topic during the time period. The topic or group I chose to cover is the Congress of Racial Equality also known as C.O.R.E.  C.O.R.E was a group of inneracial students founded in 1942 at the University of Chicago campus. The group started off with four founding fathers. The founding fathers were James Farmer, Georger Houser, Bayard Rustin, and Bernice Fischer. Gandhi, the Indian lawyer and biggest political figure in history, is the group's biggest influencer. Gandhi was known for his peaceful protests which C.O.R.E. would follow. For instance, they would promote sit-ins and non-violent forms of protest to get their word spread. The goal was to integrate into Chicago restaurants and businesses. In 1955, C.O.R.E traveled to the south and promoted even more non-violence training to the people in need. The group quickly became...

Reconstruction Era

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 Five years ago on the day of June 17th, 2015, a 21 year old opened fire on a church. The terroristic attack was motivated through racism. The shooting opened the eyes to many people about the the racism that still exists today in the United States.  The Reconstruction Era was a time after the Civil war where segregation and racism occurred. The Union won the war and ended slavery, however, it was not the end for the blacks freedom. The African American people had to fight for decades to finally get their equality they have received today in the present time. The 2015 shooting was an experience that showed the fight for inequality was not over.  The African American community was left with no money or jobs. The jobs they were only available sometimes, so many people were left without work.  As well as being short of jobs African Americans and the black community needed to deal with the KKK and Jim Crow laws. The KKK or Ku Klux Klan was a hate group that fought to cau...

Brown V. Board

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Today we had a group hold a mock trial fighting the case of Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka. This trial occurred in Kansas during the year of 1954. One side fought the segregation of the schools, while the other group fought to end segregation in schools. The students used different ways to fight their point whether it was through religion, ethics, or morals.  This case started in 1951, when a school in Topeka Kansas, refused to let African American Oliver Brown into the academic building. She was then forced to take a bus to a school much further away, to a segregated school district for Black children only. The Brown family and 12 others were in the same situation. They decided to create a class action lawsuit in the U.S. federal court versus the Topeka Board of education. The court decided that the segregation of the children was unconstitutional and the segregation in the school district would stop. This overruled another popular case Plessy V. Fergusson, which called for...

Lincoln and Anti-Slavery

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  Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln is probably known as one of the biggest Anti-Slavery advocates in the 1860’s. There is however, a little bit of a common misunderstanding held by everyone. Lincoln was not considered an abolitionist. Abe was on that believed that slavery was morally wrong and should not be allowed. But one thing stood in his way and that was the constitution. The founding fathers when writing the constitution did not mention slavery once and beat around the bush of the idea.  Lincoln did similar actions while addressing the issue. In a three hour speech in Peoria, Illinois, Lincoln addressed his moral, legal, and economic opposition to slavery. He later admitted he did not know how to deal with the system during the current political system. Abolitionists on the other hand had a plan and were ready to complete it. They believed it should immediately be abolished and all slaves should be free. They unlike Lincoln did...

State V. Mann

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  Today in class we covered the historical Supreme Court case of State V. Mann. One group of students fought for the state of North Carolina and a slave named Lydia, while the other side fought on the side of slave owner John Mann. The trial was fought through different viewpoints like economics, religion, ethics, history, norms, laws, as well as many other points. In 1829, Elizabeth Jones owned a slave that went by the name of Lydia. Lydia was then sent to fellow slave owner John Mann in Chowan County to work. She was getting beat and whipped by Mann and she felt like she had enough of it. She decided to try to run from Mann. Mann decided to shoot Lydia in the back with a gun. Mann was then fined by the state of North Carolina $10. Mann believed he should not have to pay this fine since she is only a slave. He took it to court and in the end won the case. Mann was given his money back by the state. The conclusion of the case stated that slave owners hold all power over slaves as t...

Amistad Mutiny

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  Amistad Mutiny was a slave rebellion including 53 slaves, that occurred on July 2nd, 1839. This rebellion took place on the ship Amistad off the coast of Cuba causing many legal problems during the American abolition movement. The uprising slaves killed the captain and cook on the boat, however, they spared the Spanish navigator so they could sail back home to Sierra Leone.  Two months later, the ship was seized by the United States Navy. The Amistad was then towed and taken back to New London where the mutineers were held in jail. The Spanish embassy demanded them back leading to a trial to be held in 1840. New England abolitionist Lewis Tappan was siding for the African captures and U.S government took on the pro-slavery side. The judge of the case, Andrew Judson, ruled the slaves on the ship as victims of kidnapping. The Supreme court upheld the lower court and private and missionary societies donations helped the surviving African Americans home. Only thirty five of the ...

Andrew Jackson views on Slavery

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       Slavery has been a dividing factor of the United States and people for hundreds to thousands of years. Not only did slavery spark the Civil War in America, but led to multiple opposing views on this toxic act. Many political figures also had opposing views on slavery. For example, Abraham Lincoln, our president from 1861 to 1865, worked to abolish slavery in America. There were other leaders, including Andrew Jackson, who was pro-slavery.  Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States. Jackson was born on March 15 1767, growing up in South Carolina. He grew up in the south surrounded by a culture consisting of many plantations. His father actually raised Jackson on a plantation. President Jackson actually owned as many as 161 slaves at one point in his life. He used these slaves to his advantage, by building up wealth and even taking some to the White House. Unlike northern abolitionists, Jackson fell victim to Pro-slavery views. This was ...