1920s to the 1950's &

1920s to the 1950's & Civil Rights Movement The First and Second Civil Rights Reconstructions in American history were focused on restructuring the system with the purpose of bringing equality for every individual in the United States. In spite of the fact that people had high hopes for both of these movements, it rapidly became obvious that matters were critical and that the American society was not willing to experience change.

Whereas the First Reconstruction was to a certain degree expected to experience failure, the Second Reconstruction appeared to have more chances to thrive, particularly given that the general public in the U.S. was presumed to learn from its mistakes.

Even though there were a series of factors impeding the reform strategy taken on in the early 1950s such as insufficient support from the masses, strong discrimination put across by racist whites, and lack of power expressed by African-Americans, the Second Reconstruction experienced success in reforming the American system and eventually managed to put an end to the set of discriminatory laws that previously prevented people in the country from living in a bona fide democracy.

The First Reconstruction was mainly meant to assist African-Americans in gaining equality in the U.S. society through having access to politics, economy, and to virtually everything that white people had access to. The Second Reconstruction was to a certain degree similar to the first, only that it was concentrated on liberal convictions, with the American public apparently being determined to put an end to discrimination against minorities.

African-Americans were initially provided with equal rights during the beginning of the First Reconstruction, only for the government to later limit and even take away some of these rights toward the end of the reform period. Matters once again appeared to be promising for the African-American public in the United States in the 1950s, as the general public held diverging convictions regarding the situation and were influenced by the slavery period to a much lesser degree.

One can however consider that it was not necessarily because of the way white people saw the problem during the first and second reconstruction periods that the government decided to grant equal rights to African-Americans. Instead, this could have probably happened because matters were different in 1950 from how they were in 1865 and people in the U.S. lived in accordance to different values, acknowledging the fact that in order for their society to thrive they had to employ a liberal approach to the situation.

One of the main reasons for which the First Reconstruction experienced notable failure in reforming the system was that Republicans were unable to put into effect their authority in the South, considering that the Republican Party had not previously been present in the territory. In contrast, the biracial coalition during the Second Reconstruction managed to impose its power in Southern States because it simply took power from the hands of the Southern Democratic Party, with the apparent reason of continuing the institution's dealings in the area.

This made it possible for the Republicans to escape a direct confrontation with the Democrats. The First Reconstruction was not only hindered as a result of the Republican Party's incapability to gain control of the South. White people in Southern states were reluctant to accept African-Americans as equals and thus lead a series of violent acts against the latter, preventing them from effectively being assimilated into the political system.

Because they lived in constant fear that they would fall victim to white aggression, African-Americans in the South were virtually powerless and had little to no chances to get involved in restructuring the Southern community.

In spite of the fact that Republicans were initially devoted to helping black people in the South as they struggled to take advantage of the rights they were granted, matters slowly but surely changed and Northerners became less interested in fighting for the African-American cause, since they believed that black people could not assist the Republican Party in any way. During the Second Reconstruction period, numerous politicians seized the opportunity of getting voters from the South and thus realized that it was essential for them to support African-American enfranchisement.

The Kennedy Administration in particular decided that black people played a very important role in assisting the country's local and international dealings. The international context regarding the Cold War can also be considered to have influenced the success experienced by the Second Reconstruction, given that the U.S. needed to consolidate its powers in order to be prepared to take part in a conflict of such a magnitude.

Most people today think about the Second Reconstruction as a reform that was imminent, as it was presumably inevitable for the U.S. not to change its system so as for it to incorporate African-Americans as equals. However, conditions are apparently different, as the Johnson Administration seemed indifferent to the African-American cause and it had not been until numerous influential individuals struggled to achieve equal rights for black individuals that the government actually considered approving the set of legislations.

1965 was an essential year in demonstrating that matters could not go on if change would not happen, as the government realized that African-Americans and everyone supported them were determined to achieve enfranchisement through any means possible, even if this meant that they would have to perform innumerable riots in order to do so. Courts had also changed their position concerning African-American enfranchisement, as unlike how most courts were in.