Reconstruction Era Essays (Examples)

era after the Civil War that came to be known as the econstruction Era. The author of this report is to focus on several different things. This essay will describe the plans of President Lincoln and President Johnson and how they differed from the plans of Congress. There will also be a focus on the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The author of this report will respond to the notion offered by many historians that the post-Civil War era was one of the "darkest" times of American history. Finally, the author of this report will answer the question of whether anything could have or should have been done differently. While many of the stains of the econstruction Era are gone, that time period was in many ways the worst period of American history and that includes the slavery that occurred pre-1861.

Summary

In…

130). Although their white masters generally exposed them to Christianity, enslaved people adopted only parts of the white religion and mixed it with elements of their own beliefs.

Even though the family was not generally a legally sanctioned unit on plantations, the basic roles of mothers, fathers, and grandparents in rearing children did exist. Families could be severed and separated at the whim and desire of the slave owners, but families did often manage to stay together and develop tight bonds. "However frequently the family was broken, it was primarily responsible for the slave's ability to survive on the plantation without becoming totally dependent on and submissive to his master. The important thing was not that the family was not recognized legally or that masters frequently encouraged monogamous mating arrangements in the quarters only when it was convenient to do so, but rather that some form of family life did…

American history from the colonial period through the econstruction era. Clearly, thorough such an extensive period, numerous significant events occurred that could alter history and culture. However, four events stand out because of their great influence on our history, our culture, and the very fabric of our lives today. These events all made history, but they all influenced people of the time, and often influenced the world, too.

The first, and perhaps most important event during this period was the American evolution, which secured America's freedom. This event clearly set history, because it not only ensured our break from Great Britain to create our own unique democracy, it set the stage for all the other events to follow. The American evolution showed that a young, vibrant people could take their destiny into their own hands, and indicated that the dictator type of monarchy was outmoded. The American evolution helped the…

" The more the freedmen resumed the habits and postures of slaves, the better the planters were able to accept the new system.

Thus reconstruction even with all the good intentions of some people was still a major failure. It had failed to bring the kind of peace and freedom for blacks that it was intended to. Since the blacks had become more or less accustomed to being treated as chained men, it took them a long time to accept freedom in true manner. The transition was slow and highly painful. It wasn't easy to shift power to the masses and it certainly took a long time to bring an end to slave mentality. ights were not granted easily and even after equality had been established on paper; it was not completely given in practice for a very long time.

eferences

econstruction., the Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition, 01-01-1993

Eric Foner,…

One of the policies that black leaders fought for was the granting of land to blacks following the Civil War. Freedman saw "land represented as their chance to farm for themselves, to have an independent life. It represented compensation for generation of travail and bondage" (438). Although this demand has strong logical backing in that once freed, black farmers should have equal legal status as white, the reality of the situation did not support such a reformation. The general feeling of race within the northern landscape was very mixed, despite the fight for emancipation; Northerners still saw themselves as the superiors of the black population. Therefore, black leaders were not able to gain strong land-rights for African-American throughout the west. However, the government did relent to giving out equitable land rights to African-Americans during the mass-migration to the West; this was one of the impetus that spawned the greater push…

This "education" convinces the white person to give up their sons for wars that oppress the dark peoples, votes money for the wars, makes him believe he should make up the lynch mobs and to oppress blacks with Jim Crow. The fact that his philosophy was realistic was because it was the activism of his NAACP exposing the reality of lynching in the South in the 1920s It was very realistic, because the in their face activism was what was reversing the trends in the South. Other African-Americans such as ashington saw him as a radical, but he know how to get what he wanted from the white through activism in the NAACP (DuBois, 2010).

Booker T. ashington had a very strange view of education for blacks. He had to apologize to the hites of the South in the Atlanta speech for blacks sought out political careers and teaching assignments…

Reconstruction

Regarding the report of the joint committee on reconstruction -- can it be considered the first major event after reconstruction? The answer is yes, this report was the first major event and in fact it led to the reentry of the Confederate States back into the Union of the United States with certain requirements prior to that reentry. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation is thought of in terms of what happened first, in fact the Emancipation Proclamation was delivered by President Lincoln before the war had officially ended. Hence, it would seem fair to contend that this committee report the first major event in the era of reconstruction.

hat does this report ask the nation to do in terms of the task of reconstruction of the former confederacy? The report from the fifteen elected officials (nine members from the House of Representatives and six United States Senators) asked that…

Second Reconstructions

One of the most dramatic consequences of the Civil ar and Reconstruction was that the South was effectively driven from national power for roughly six decades. Southerners no longer claimed the presidency, wielded much power on the Supreme Court, or made their influence strongly felt in Congress But beginning in the 1930s, the South was able to flex more and more political muscle, and by the 1970s some began to think that American politics and political culture were becoming 'southernized'.u How did this happen and what difference did it make to the development of the South and the United States?

Under segregation most blacks in the U.S. still lived in the South and were employed as sharecroppers, laborers and domestic servants, but the system of segregation and discrimination was also found everywhere in other sections of the country. Certainly virtually nothing was done for civil rights during the…

Reconstruction a splendid failure?

The Reconstruction period after the Civil ar was a time when America attempted to rebuild the structures and things that had been lost during the war. However, the reconstruction was not only about building the building again, but was about rebuilding and redefining I American values. The entire economic structure and socioeconomic culture was to be re-defined. America had to rediscover itself and many of the institutions that it had held dear had to be reexamined. Some consider the Reconstruction Period to be one of the most splendid failures in American History. They content that the Civil ar did nothing to raise the economic or political status of the black person or other minorities. It also contends that the Reconstruction was a miserable failure on the part of industry as well.

One of the key issues surrounding the Civil ar was the issue of slavery. There…

Iraq Reconstruction

Reconstruction of Iraq: UN or U.S. Responsibility?

Three years ago, the world had witnessed two significant events that determined the fate of two of the most powerful nations in the world: the World Trade Center bombing in United States, and, consequently, the U.S. offensive against Iraq in March 2002 (Gulf War II). These events have eventually led to the oust of Saddam Hussein, incumbent dictator/leader of Iraq and the temporary take-over of the United States government in the country. A clearinghouse had been conducted, where the U.S. military, along with its allies, arrested all of Hussein's Royal Army and government members.

Furthermore, a 'rehabilitation' project was formulated, where the U.S. government tried to maintain peace and security in the country while providing Iraqis with their basic needs -- food, clothing, shelter, and a secure job for everyone.

It is evident that these programs made by the U.S. government…

In the settlement houses, American women taught immigrant women about "American" culture and government and also educated Americans about the various cultures of the immigrants. These settlement houses also offered childcare for working parents, health care, English classes, community theater, and many other social outlets These settlement houses were perceived as "hotbeds of progressive reform" and "spearheads for reform."

eformers during the Progressive Era aimed to resolve the problems of American society that had developed during the major growth of industrial growth that was seen in the U.S. (USHistory.com. 2002). The frontier had been tamed, great cities and businesses had blossomed, but not all American citizens shared in this new wealth and optimism.

The majority of social problems during this era were addressed by professional social workers, most of which were female, who ran settlement houses in an effort to protect and improve the living and working conditions of the…

America Moves West

econstruction is the name for the period in United States history that covers the post-Civil War era, roughly 1865-1877. Technically, it refers to the policies that focused on the aftermath of the war; abolishing slavery, defeating the Confederacy, and putting legislation in effect to restore the nation -- per the Constitution. Most contemporary historians view econstruction as a failure with ramifications that lasted at least 100 years later: issues surrounding the Civil ights were still being debated in the 1970s, corrupt northern businessmen "carpetbaggers" brought scandal and economic corruption, monetary and tariff policies were retributive and had legal results in the north as well. Despite the failure of this period as an equalizer or integrator of races in the Old South, there was an equally robust push westward that not only encouraged individuals of all ethnicities to move, but changed the political and economic texture of the…

They other group that faced quiet a bit of resistance was that of the colored women. In a work by Watkins Harper, Colored Women of America, the plight of colored women during this era was discussed in detail. The white and black women during this time period were constantly aggravated by the lack of backing for reprieve, land transformation, and compensations that they believed as just. This radical position was thwarted by a male biased society that dishonored female restructuring and tried to stop black reliance on the federal government. The women's visualization of liberty, turned out to be very different from that of the men's.

Black women played a vital role in econstruction. In numerous manners these militant women had further in common with their white equals than the freed women whose agony they wanted to alleviate. All through the Civil War, abolitionist and ex- slave Harriet Jacobs toiled…

America was finding its footing, Americans were finding their identity. The spark of revolution trickled down the vine where three men decided to take arms. One took arms by defending the country against the British and securing the role of president of a new country. A second took pen and wrote to inspire the reluctant to declare independence from an unfair Britain. A third took brush and art to establish a painted history of the American revolution along with the first museums to showcase them in.Three notable figures, George Washington, Charles Willson Peale, and Thomas Paine became some of the most influential men of their time.

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 or February 11, 1731 and died December 14, 1799. He was alive during the time of the American evolution and played a pivotal role in America's victory over Great Britain.He became the first President of the…

 1. Describe the impediments to, and reasons for, the development of civil rights from 1877 to 1940. 
Reconstruction had failed, leading to unresolved issues and the entrenchment of racist institutions in the social, economic, and political fabric of American life. After the formal end of Reconstruction in 1877, many impediments to civil rights were in fact legal but also ideological. Due to the lack of formal legal protections for African Americans, civil rights movements remained critical, particularly given the sinister nature of Jim Crow.
2. Discuss some of the major laws and events related to civil rights since 1940. 
World War Two did have a major bearing on civil rights legislation, particularly as it led to the de-segregation of the American armed forces in 1948. The 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education was also a major event signaling a shift in civil rights law in America.…

He writes, "In Louisiana, South Carolina, and Virginia - the home of large free black populations - men who had never known slavery dominated among econstruction officeholders. For the South as a whole, however, the black political leadership arose out of local slave communities" (Foner 136). He shows the struggles, victories, and defeats the blacks faced, and helps the reader see why econstruction was so important to our history. He also believes that there is still a type of econstruction going on today, in other ways, which is another reason he feels it is so important.

Foner's book belongs on the shelves of any reader interested in Civil War history, because he explains his ideas effectively and writes so anyone can understand his ideas and conclusions. It effectively uses illustrations to help make some of the key points, (such as how blacks were viewed historically during econstruction and beyond), and…

Expound upon the economic and social changes blacks in the South experienced during the econstruction era. Include within your discussion the topics of education, farming, family life, and the church.

In the South there was a conflict that was occurring between the federal government and many of the states. This is because white Southerners wanted to impose restrictions that were similar to slavery. Over the course of time, this resulted in a series of laws that were designed to restrict opportunities and access to resources. (Faragher, 2009)

In the field of education, this was taking place with many African-Americans not being able to attend school. This is from various Southern communities and states passing ordinances that did not allows them to go. However, a large number were eager to learn and they set up their own schools. These institutions sprang up across the country in order to provide access to…

Many Americans insisted on moralizing poverty and housing conditions.

One of the responses to the revelations was to build company towns, like Pullman, Illinois which provided decent housing and amenities to workers in the Pullman train car factory. This project appears to have been successful initially, but a debilitating strike caused by high rent and low wages destroyed the town and other companies were no longer willing to follow this model (Ibid. At 134). Still a bigger obstacle to widespread reform was the ubiquitous American reverence for private property rights. Notwithstanding the early New York measures, Americans were loath to deny the landlords unfettered control over their private property (Ibid. At 135).

Although the progressive era as a whole saw great advancement in public health and safety requirements, there was only marginal success regarding housing reform. Many reforms that affected how people lived were undertaken in the name of public…

In the North, however, abolitionists groups began to see slavery another way. Finally, when Lincoln -- who was perceived as anti-slavery -- was elected, the South fought to exercise what it believed were its states rights by seceding.

After the war concluded, these cultural and economic differences were not gone with the wind. Instead, they were prominent during reconstruction and continue to characterize the culture of the North and South today. McElrath's timeline of reconstruction shows several attempts at making the South racially equal, which can be defined as one of the goals of reconstruction. The Civil Rights Bill and 14th amendment were methods by which this was accomplished. However, Civil ar era culture has left such an impact on the region as to make race relations in the American South still stereotypically tenacious.

orks Cited

Kelly, Martin. "Top Five Causes of the Civil ar." About.com 2009. 26 July 2009.…

African-Americans and Western Expansion

Prior to the 1960s and 1970s, very little was written about black participation in Western expansion from the colonial period to the 19th Century, much less about black and Native American cooperation against slavery. This history was not so much forbidden or censored as never written at all, or simply ignored when it was written. In reality, blacks participated in all facets of Western expansion, from the fur trade and cattle ranching to mining and agriculture. There were black cowboys and black participants in the Indian Wars -- on both sides, in fact. Indeed, the argument over slavery in the Western territories was one of the key factors in breaking up the Union in the 1850s and leading to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In the past thirty years, much of the previously unwritten and unrecorded history of the Americas since 1492 has been…

Legacy of Sacagawea to a Discovery of American Territories

Sacagawea was a bilingual Shoshone woman who had been remembered for her immense contribution to the American history. Born in 1788, Sacagawea accompanied Clark and Lewis' Corps to assist in the discovery of many parts of Northern America from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky mountain. Sacagawea skills as a translator were invaluable for the expeditions in passing through the difficult terrain. Her contribution to the United States made Sacagawea become the monument in the American history. Sacagawea was the native American Shoshone tribe and grew up at the surrounding of the Rocky mountain near the Salmon River region now referred as Idaho.

The objective of this essay is to illustrate the contribution of Sacagawea in the U.S. history during the era of Reconstruction.
 

Sacagawea Contribution in the Reconstruction Era of the U.S. history

Sacagawea was 12 years old when…

Nationalization Era

3. What was "white backlash"? Give an example of an event that demonstrates "white backlash" and why.

“White backlash” refers to the antagonistic, often violent response of white supremacists to civil rights and social justice. Although the term might apply especially well to the 1960s, the era in which President Johnson passed the landmark Civil Rights Act, white backlash can easily be traced back to the Reconstruction Era and the rise of the KKK. Rather than welcome the potential for an egalitarian and harmonious society, white supremacists clung to racist beliefs and used whatever means possible to retain political and social hegemony. Any resistance to positive social change related to racial parity, social justice, and civil rights can be considered “white backlash.”

In the 1960s, white backlash took on new forms. As legislation at the federal level turned the tide against white supremacy throughout the nation, groups like…

Women's History

The passing of time does not necessarily denote progress: women made little noticeable social and economic advancement and almost no political or legal advancements between the European settlements of Jamestown in 1607 until the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877. In fact, most Native American women lost a considerable degree of power and status due to the imposition of European social values on their traditional cultures. African women, brought to the New World against their will and in bondage, likewise did not enjoy the fruits of social progress. White women of European descent, however, did make some progress over the course of more than two centuries of early American history. Divorce laws became more favorable toward women, who over the course of these few centuries were increasingly able to extricate themselves from violent, abusive, or unsatisfying unions. However, divorce laws were one of the only legal progress…

Some of the slaves remained where they were and went to work for the masters that they had previously slaved under. They were paid wages instead of working for free, but they remained because they had gotten along well with their masters and knew that if they remained there they would be able to work and eventually buy land so that they and their family could have their own place to live. Sometimes the masters would even give the freed individuals that they actually liked a small piece of their land so that they could build something. This was one of the other ways that they were able to acquire land from Caucasians

Land grants from the government also gave them a chance to build churches and other buildings as they were still not allowed to share any of these with Caucasians. Many people believe that the Emancipation Proclamation work…

e. The lack of a collective intellectual voice. In response to this and in part as a result of new affluence gained by some as well as a growing exposure to education, albeit mostly segregated, many began to develop what is known as the Harlem enaissance.

The 1920s in American history were marked by a sociocultural awakening among Afro-Americans. More blacks participated in the arts than ever before, and their number increased steadily throughout the decade. This florescence of creative activity extended to many areas -- music, poetry, drama, fiction. In literature, the few Negro novels published between 1905 and 1923 were presented mainly by small firms unable to give their authors a national hearing. However, in the succeeding decade, over two dozen novels by blacks appeared, and most of them were issued by major American publishers. (Singh, 1976, p. 1)

The Harlem enaissance came about for many reasons not…

political representation of African-Americans in the southern United States. The author explores many different theories as well as the ideas of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King to explore the under presentation of Blacks politically. There were eight sources used to complete this paper.

African-Americans have come a long way since the nation's inception. From the days of slavery, to the present time many bridges have been crossed and many battles have been won. Gone are the days that Blacks were required to sit at the back of the bus.

No longer can Blacks be told they must eat at a certain restaurant. Black and white children go to school together daily, they grow up on the same streets and they marry into each other's race with increasing frequency. It is becoming the America that the founding fathers envisioned at the time the nation was created. One of the reasons…

Civil ar

After the last shots of Civil ar were heard, and following the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, the South had been humiliated and devastated. The repercussions of war included loss of life, land, and livelihood. Patriarchy and racism remained entrenched, but the emancipation of slaves significantly transformed the social landscape of the South. Liberated slaves started from scratch without access to cultural or social capital, and many eventually migrated North. African-American culture was able to emerge, and in many cases, to flourish. Meanwhile, the white power structures in the South resigned themselves to ignorance, causing the South to remain the most backwards, uneducated, and poor region of the United States for over a century. Far from inspiring the South to transform its social, cultural, economic, and political institutions, the entrenched plantation society and Confederate identity took deep root there. Jim Crow symbolizes the extent to…

Oshinsky, "orse Than Slavery"

David Oshinsky's history of "convict labor" in the Reconstruction-era American South bears the title orse Than Slavery. The title itself raises questions about the role played by moralistic discourse in historiography, and what purpose it serves. Oshinsky certainly paints a grim picture of the systematic use of African-American prisoners at Parchman Farm -- the focus of his study -- and throughout the South after the Civil ar. I would like to examine the system that Oshinsky describes, while incidentally paying attention to the rhetoric he employs in doing so. But ultimately I wish to call attention to, and question, the validity of Oshinsky's title. The title is provocative, and therefore can only be termed responsible historiography if indeed his purpose is to provoke further questions. Chief among these must be the question of what it actually means to declare that what he describes in the book…

Shady American Elections of 1876

The most corruption ridden, heinous and questionable presidential election in American history had only just begun. During the presidential campaign, Rutherford was blasted by Tilden's opposition labeling him thief, briber and a drunkard. Eyebrows were raised in states controlled by Republican about voting fraud; armed and dangerous bigoted white democrats had enveloped the South thwarting blacks from voting in elections. Hence in the aftermath, South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida were judged too close to call. With these states still in-pending, Tilden was short of one electrical vote of 185 as written in the constitution to win an election. Hayes captured 165 electoral votes; now he just needed 20 electoral votes to win from these mentioned three states to attain the president's seat. The crisis began slowly leading up to the threat of a civil war which finally concluded behind the curtain deal, popularly known as…

The Democratic Party did not win another presidential election until 1913 when Woodwork Wilson was elected due to a split vote between Republican conservative candidate, William Howard Taft and Republican progressive candidate Theodore Roosevelt.

The New Freedom "was the slogan of Woodrow Wilson who came into presidential office on the platform of promising reform on a liberal basis. Specifically, through an extension of Federal regulations of banking and industry. Further reform through setting up the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Trade Commission as well as strengthening antitrust statutes on the part of Wilson. Much needed reforms to legislation of welfare was attended by Wilson. Wilson's first Administration demonstrated breaking of connections to the old tradition of Democratic laissez faire.

The Republican Party:

The Republican Party united once again nominated Rutherford . Hayes in 1876. Although the Democratic candidate, Samuel Tilden, was said to have won by popular votes, the…

Tucker, deputy sheriff of said county, from giving and securing to the said Robert R. Smith and others, naming them, the due and equal protection of the laws of said state, in this, to-wit, that at and before the entering into said conspiracy, the said Robert R. Smith and others, naming them, were held in the custody of said deputy sheriff by virtue of certain warrants duly issued against them, to answer certain criminal charges, and it thereby became and was the duty of said deputy sheriff to safely keep in his custody the said Robert R. Smith and others while so under arrest, and then and there give and secure to them the equal protection of the laws of the State of Tennessee, and that the defendants did then and there conspire together for the purpose of preventing and hindering the said deputy sheriff from then and there safely…

House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household

In the book, Thavolia Glymph gives us an inspection of the power influences that are linked among white and black southern women that are in the interior of the traditional plantation household in the 18th century epoch, Civil ar. Also, immediately the aftermath of the Civil ar in the American South that is certainly exploiting chiefly slave accounts / dialogues and the documents and the memoires of white women that were concubines.

Thavolia Glymph, in Out of the House of Bondage, gives us a convincing look inside what life was like inside the southern plantation houses in pre-Civil ar south. In the book, the author showed us how life in the antebellum days had basically turned into what was considered a political showground, where subjected black women and white women contested against the implications of labor and independence during slavery and…

" For most this is generally seen as a reference to the Federal Judiciary. One thinks of the arren Court, and the great number of decisions concerning civil rights, voting rights, etc. It is often not realized, however, to what an extent state judges play ar ole in shaping these issues. In many state court systems, the state system was actually more liberal than the Federal:

First and foremost, state constitutions may be used not only to broaden rights but also to restrict them. They are far easier to amend than the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, forces within a state dissatisfied with liberal court interpretations of the fundamental state law may, without nearly the same effort required on the federal level, undo those rulings....In Florida... voters adopted an amendment to the state constitutional search and seizure provision, requiring the provision to be "be construed in conformity with the 4th Amendment to…

standard joke about America in the 1960s claims that, if you can remember the decade, you did not live through it. Although perhaps intended as a joke about drug usage, the joke also points in a serious way to social change in the decade, which was so rapid and far-reaching that it did seem like the world changed almost daily. This is the paradox of Todd Gitlin's "years of hope" and "days of rage" -- that with so much social and cultural upheaval, the overall mood at any given moment in the 1960s must surely have seemed contradictory. How then can we assess the three most important themes in this broad social change? I would like to make the case that the three longest-lasting social changes came with America's forced adjustment to new realities on the international scene, with Vietnam; on the domestic scene, with the Civil ights movement; and…

According to many historians, that relief effort was instrumental in propelling Hoover into the national spotlight and eventually helped him win the 1929 presidential election.

The Mississippi Flood as the ause of Racial Tension

Approximately 650,000 people were directly affected by the Mississippi Flood of 1927, having to relocate because their homes, property, and entire communities were completely destroyed by the flood. Almost half of them were housed in relief camps of whom almost three-quarters were African-American. In many cases, the conditions sparked racial tensions and events such as what occurred in Greenville, Mississippi. More than 10,000 people were stranded without drinking water, food, or any other supplies for several days.

When boats finally arrived, they initially rescued only children and white women, leaving white men, and African-Americans. In another event that made nationwide headlines, police had been sent to round up relief workers from the "Negro" areas. When an…

Limited the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the President and Congress in the Late 19th Century

In the nineteenth century, the American government saw many Americans worry about the responsiveness, complexity, or size of their democracy. Having this perspective in mind, the American government of the nineteenth century was small and orderly, having a great machine that oversaw the state at night and held in check by the yeoman citizenry. Moreover, the lines of authority were overlapping where the federal structure took measures to ensure that the national government and the states each had their precise and respective orbits. As such, the structures ensured that the federal government remained small and limited. The little system of regulations precluded the emergence of the sprawling regulatory state having a cacophony of interest groups that competed, the bureaucrats were unresponsive, the politicians were ambitious, and citizen-clients. In summary, the idealized image of the nineteenth…

Klan politics are eerily being played out in modern conservative movements such as the Tea Party. While the Tea Party does not officially endorse the KKK, the two groups share many common objectives including the mistrust of new immigrants. Today's Klansmen are basically "unhappy about the social politics of America's post-industrial, pluralistic society" and they "feel left out."

The official stance of the KKK resembles much of conservative America in that the group claims to espouse "Christian morality" and "eschews violence."

The Klan's own Web site claims that the group is "ringing a Message of Hope and Deliverance to White Christian America! A Message of Love NOT Hate!"

ecause of this misleading message, the KKK has the potential to woo new recruits and influence public discourse: neither of which can be tolerated.

ibliography

Anti-Defamation League. "About the Ku Klux Klan." Retrieved online: http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk

ullard, Sara. The Ku Klux Klan. Southern…

Instead of pretending that racism and its effects no longer exist, we need to strengthen affirmative action and devise a new set of policies that directly tackle the racial gap in wealth." (Derrity, 1).

That, in a nutshell, is the position of this paper. America has not given affirmative action enough time to act. Moving forward, we should continue our affirmative action policies, but with an end in mind. Economists and sociologists, along with help from America's captains of industry and human resources experts, should devise an ideal time frame whereby affirmative action will end, and set outside and inside goals for this time frame as well.

But for now, affirmative action must continue, and continue with gusto, to reverse the horrors that America's history has caused.

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW of RELATED LITERATURE

History of Affirmative Action review of the history associated with affirmative action is the first step to…

Spanish and American Democracy

The United States of America and Spain are both now industrialized nations and modern democracies, but their paths to democracy and global influence were quite distinct. The United States of America was formally founded in 1776 by a group of early American politicians who envisioned the young nation as an alternative in democratic governance in contrast and opposition to the monarchies still in ruling power throughout Europe. Spain was one of these European countries under monarchial rule in the 18th century and remained a monarchy for 201 years after the official adoption of the democratic Constitution in the United States of America. Spain's transition to democratic rule is largely considered to have begun in 1975 when the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco passed away, although there are other dates in the 1970s that are also said to mark the transition as well.

The philosophical foundations of the…

Mis-Education of the Negro

Carter G. oodson was a historian and educator with a prominent role in the Black community and a great interest in issues facing the Black community. Especially in terms of the role of education in the first half of the twentieth century, aspects of the Black experience that impacted the education of Black people, and what they themselves might want to achieve through an education. His book The Mis-Education of the Negro addresses such issues in terms of a number of specific dimensions, such as the impact of slavery on the African-American psyche, the degree to which African-Americans had been mis-educated, the need for greater self-reliance among members of the Black population, that Blacks needed to develop their own social order and not imitate the white order, and the meaning of political education in the African-American community.

The Mis-Education of the Negro

oodson wrote his book…

Woman / Plantation Mistress / Fires of Jubilee

The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. By Stephen B. Oates. (New York:

HarperPerennial, 1990). 208 pages.

Stephen B. Oates was a professor African-American and U.S. history at the University of Massachusetts for most of his academic career. His most notable works chronicle the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras of American history. He is particularly well-known for his biographies of the period including his works on Lincoln. The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion chronicles the life and rebellion of Nat Turner, the famous American slave rebel. Oates offers his historical work as a companion to as well as a rebuttal of some of the existing literature on Turner, including the famous novel by William Styron. Although an academic, Oates writes in an engaging and popular manner that has made many of his historical works of literature best sellers…

The true spirit and meaning of the amendments, as we said in the Slaughter-House Cases (16 Wall. 36), cannot be understood without keeping in view the history of the times when they were adopted, and the general objects they plainly sought to accomplish. At the time when they were incorporated into the Constitution, it required little knowledge of human nature to anticipate that those who had long been regarded as an inferior and subject race would, when suddenly raised to the rank of citizenship, be looked upon with jealousy and positive dislike, and that State laws might be enacted or enforced to perpetuate the distinctions that had before existed. Discriminations against them had been habitual.

100 U.S. 303, 306).

Furthermore, while the Court's decision was based on Strauder's right to an impartial jury, the Court believed that all-white juries were discriminatory against the potential jury pool. It held that:

The…

Conservatives, on the other hand, have many passions and one of them is a color-blind government. Most of them believe that all policies of discrimination should be discarded. They view these policies as unwise, immoral and unconstitutional. Three conservative organizations submitted a collective brief to the Supreme Court on the Michigan cases. These organizations were the Center for Equal Opportunity, the Independent Women's Forum and the American Civil Rights Institute. Their brief succinctly stated that racial preferences were incompatible with the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment, according to them, clearly states that no person within its jurisdiction would be denied the equal protection of the laws. The silence of the justices to this statement was perceived to indicate insufficient interest in the original understanding than in their own case law. In 1865 and 1866, radical Republicans proposed a constitutional amendment that no State could set distinctions in civil rights and…

Civil ar

From Slavery to African-American

By the beginning of the Civil ar, there were some four million African-Americans living in the United States, 3.5 million slaves lived in the South, while another 500,000 lived free across the country (African pp). The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 granted freedom to all slaves in the Confederacy, and the 13th Amendment of 1865 freed the remaining slaves throughout the nation (African pp). During the Reconstruction Era, African-Americans in the South gained a number of civil rights, including the right to vote and to hold office, however, when Reconstruction ended in 1877, white landowners initiated racial segregation that resulted in vigilante violence, including lynchings (African pp).

This resulted in the Great Migration of African-Americans from the South to the North during the beginning of the twentieth century (African pp).

From this Great Migration came an intellectual and cultural elite group of African-Americans that grew…

college campus across the country, students are greeted with the familiar sight of individuals seated at folding tables, with the purpose of marketing credit cards to them. These salespeople are most frequently seen during the beginning of the college semester and are usually young and attractive and smiling, barely older than the students themselves. Quite often, if a student fills out an application for the credit card, he or she may receive a small toy or a gigantic in exchange for his or her pains. hat could be more harmless? hat's wrong with having a credit card on hand, 'just in case?'

However, this familiar sight is one of the many reasons that college students are becoming more and more deeply ensnared in debt. These smiling individuals prey upon students when they are at their most vulnerable. Most of these students have just had to pay hundreds of dollars for…

Martin Luther King Jr.

The author of this document proposes to write a paper about the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr. It will specifically evaluate the merits of his integrationist works which he foisted upon the nation in the name of civil rights. This topic satisfies the requirement for this research paper in a number of ways. Firstly, it is predicated on one of the five historic ethnic minority groups that are the focus of the class for which this paper is written. Martin Luther King Jr. was widely hailed as a champion of African-Americans. He labored hard to attain civil rights for this group of people. One of the primary ways that he sought to achieve this objective was through the integration of African-Americans with Caucasians.

Secondly, the actions of King Jr. are in accordance with the requirements for action that are a part of this…

This, in combination with his slick use of language, and ability to use up-to-date sland and invented words to fit his needs, linked him not only with the cowboy tradition, but speech and mannerism of the American South. Because of this easy going style -- and ability to cut through the extraneous and find the base truth in the matter at hand, allowed him to move through social classes in all countries, standing for the virtues of a self-made-man, with the obvious respect for capitalism, utilitarianism, and faith in the progression of humans (Brown, 1979)

The standard definition of an intellectual is a person who uses intelligence (thought and reason) in a critical way to analyze issues and give not just a summation of rote memorization of facts, but of analysis and synthesis. Was Will ogers an intellectual? How could he not be -- he meets every standard, and then…

Death Penalty

Capital punishment is a controversial topic because it involves the taking of a human life as a punishment. Traditionally, Judeo-Christian and other mainstream religions strictly prohibit killing because they regard the matter of giving and taking of human life as exclusively within the jurisdiction of God and never something that is appropriately executed by the operation of human decisions or judicial determination.

In modern times, secular society has recognized several other equally important conceptual objections to relying on capital punishment within the framework of crime control and punishment.

Specifically, there may be good reason to believe that the death penalty has, historically, been applied unequally to offenders of minority communities and to members of society who lack the necessary means to secure their legal rights to their fullest extent by virtue of poverty. Moreover, despite the often-cited proposed justification that the death penalty provides an effective deterrent to…

tomorrow / Bright before us / Like a flame. (Alain Locke, "Enter the New Negro," 1925)

rom the 1920's Alain Leroy Locke has been known as a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Through his writings, his actions and his education, Locke worked to educate not only White America, but also the Negro, about the beauty of the Negro heritage. He emphasized the idea that no single culture is more important than another. Yet it was also important to give sufficient attention to one's own culture and its beauty. This was Locke's philosophy of cultural pluralism.

The White heritage has enjoyed prominence for a large part of American history. During the colonization period, the Whites have emphasized their own superiority while at the same time ensuring that people of other ethnic heritages knew in no uncertain terms their own inferiority. This gave rise to a nearly monocultural America, where all…

Reparations

Are Americans of African decent entitled to compensation for the American South's slavery past? Does the American government owe people whose ancestors were slaves reparations in the form of money, land or capitol goods? Many African-Americans and white liberals feel that black Americans are owed something and a movement in this country has been stirring for a while agitating for forced reparations by the U.S. government. (Conyers 2003) This paper will argue that reparations for slavery should not occur. It will be shown why reparations are wrong and how reparations would ultimately cause deeper divisions in our society then already exist.

Today there are increasing numbers of black professionals and scholars advocating reparations for slavery. Black lawyers have filed lawsuits against the federal government and companies that have profited from slavery. In 1989, Congressional representative John Conyers introduced H.R. 40 titled, "Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act."…

Supreme Court Chief Justices Warren and ehnquist

Compare and contrast approaches to criminal procedures by U.S. Supreme Courts:

The Warren vs. The ehnquist Court

A common philosophical debate within the legal community is when the approach advocated by so-called 'conservative' justices (often called strict constructionism) is pitted against more 'liberal' and freer interpretations of constitutional words and history. Throughout much of the 20th century, it was often said that the more liberal interpreters of the Constitution were 'winning the war' in regards to this issue, thanks to the presiding intelligence of Chief Justice Earl Warren. "Following his appointment in 1953 Chief Justice Earl Warren led the Court into a series of decisions that drastically affected sexual freedom, the rights of criminals, the practice of religion, civil rights, and the structure of political representation. The decisions of the Warren Court reflected its deep concern for the individual, no matter how lowly"…

Under these circumstances, an ethical dilemma is born. Should society control its development or leave it to chance? And in the case that it should control it, which categories should it help?

If the person in the above mentioned example is helped, we could assume that in a certain way, the person who was not helped because he or she already disposed of the necessary means, the latter one might be considered as having been subject to reverse discrimination. Yet we ought to look at the picture from an utilitarian point-of-view. Under these circumstances we might state that society as an overall system has more benefits from helping the categories which are in bigger need of help (for example the ones mentioned in the principles of affirmative action).

ut what are the exact principles of affirmative action: let us take a look at them and analyze them. Title VI, section…

Third, economic depressions spread from one nation to others whereas economic recessions remain substantially isolated where they first occur and they are eased partially by the strength of national economies elsewhere. Finally, contemporary analyses of economic downturns suggest that distortions to industrial labor markets that keep wages above market-clearing levels are more significant than even bank failures (Ohanian, 2010).

Recommendations and Conclusion

It is recommended that public statements on the matter highlight the failure of the opposition to recognize or understand the fundamental nature of economic depressions and the dangers associated with ignoring the important similarities between the 2008 economic crisis and the Great Depression. The current economic crisis shares all of the conceptual hallmarks of an economic depression, including the potential to persist over a longer term and spread globally more than it has already. In that regard, the key to overcoming the current economic crisis is in supporting…

However, the growth of the corporation introduced the concept of a fiduciary duty between stockholders and board members, in both open and closed corporations. (Stevenson, p.1144). Put succinctly, the board of directors has a duty to its shareholders to increase profits, and majority shareholders may have a duty to the corporation to vote in a way that increases profits. As a result, business ethics can actually conflict with both corporate social responsibility and global corporate responsibility; because business ethics may indicate a less ethical means of practice if it would increase profits. As a result, many corporations have included responsible practices in their corporate mandate, thereby making it clear to any and all potential stockholders that one of the goals of the company is to engage in responsible and morally ethical behavior. Starbucks appears to be one such company.

Corporate Social Responsibility

It is difficult to define the notion of…

Furthermore, even the goal of preventing recidivism (and crime rates in general) conflict with the profit motive of any industry whose demand is measured by the numbers of criminals convicted and sentenced to terms of incarceration.

Conclusion:

Prison privatization has increased in the last few decades in the U.S. Its proponents believe that privatizing prisons will reduce the financial strain on government authorities in connection with maintaining correctional services. Critics are extremely wary of any transition to for-profit business models in the realm of corrections, primarily because of the tremendous potential for inherent conflicts of interests. Ultimately, the best approach might be a hybrid format where private entities supplement government authorities, but subject to appropriate legislative guidelines and oversight mechanisms sufficient to ensure that industry standards and integrity are not compromised the way they might be under unrestricted privatization policies.

eferences

Cullen, F.T., Eck, J.E., Lowencamp, C.T. (2002). Environmental Corrections:…

The session erupted in brawl, and in the end, the vote favored impeachment

. This became known as "loody Monday." This time, Long's bullying tactics did not work.

Long took his case to the people, claiming that his impeachment was a raucous attempt by Standard Oil to deprive the people of what they deserved. As the trial began, Long passed around "Round Robin" document that was signed by more than one -- third of the Senate members. The round robin document stated that they did not believe his offenses warranted removal from office

. As it takes an over two-thirds vote to remove him from office, the impeachment attempt failed. Long rewarded his faithful with state jobs, favors and some say cash as well

. Long became more harsh with his enemies, founding a newspaper to promote his ideas. Long began to receive death threats and was forced to surround…

War

Chapter 17 entitled "In the Wake of War," chronicles the political aftermath of the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, and the settlement of the American West during the latter half of the 19th century. In the words of the chapter, although civil conflict had been stemmed in America, there were just as many new problems for the emerging union as there were new, proffered solutions regarding racial tensions in the wake of reunification. Many of these problems were 'solved' with political half-measures as the triumphs of self-interest of politicians wishing to capitalize upon the South's weakened state became ascendant over the real interests of Blacks in the union. The promises made to African-Americans were eventually subsumed to the perceived needs of a unified nation and an ascendant federal congress.

The ultimate aftermath of the war saw only a technically freed African-American people, but a people whose rights were…

Griffith trusted the intelligence of his audience. For instance, he showed that splicing two different sequences such as a house on fire and the approaching fire engine together over the course of a film would not confuse an audience. He took his work seriously, and conducted research to film "Birth of a Nation." Henderson states that Griffith was "almost obsessed" with research. But Griffith focused only on research that confirmed his racist ideas. (p.150) This is why Griffith remains controversial even to this day, because of the racist images in his great cinematic work about the Civil War. His screenplay for "Birth of a Nation" was based upon a novel called The Klansman by an unrepentant pro-Confederate Southerner. Black leaders protested the film even in its day and the film remains widely credited for causing resurgence in the popularity of the Klu Klux Klan, a Southern Reconstruction-era instrument of hatred.…

Parkland Hospital: A Dallas Icon

The history of the City of Dallas would hardly be complete without consideration of Parkland Hospital and its contributions to the Dallas community. Parkland Hospital began in the Civil ar Reconstruction era and has always maintained operations that were state of the art for the time. Parkland hospital has always aligned itself research and the academic community and it is for this reason that Parkland has always offered the latest in techniques and technology. Parkland Hospital has a long tradition of caring for the poor and those who cannot otherwise care for themselves. The following research will highlight the major accomplishments of the hospital from its primitive beginnings to its present position as a leader in patient care and technology Seven years after the end of the Civil ar; Dallas became a thriving city. In 1885 the Dallas Morning News began publication, at that time…

Teacher Wars: Questions

On page 32 at the end of chapter 1, Goldstein (2014) notes that both Beecher and Mann viewed morality as "the end of public education." Goldstein suggests that this view evolved into one that would later prioritize academic learning over morality, or what Goldstein calls faith.

How connected would you say are faith and morality, and can morality/ethics be pursued in the public classroom in a way that is academic? For example, Socrates pursued a moral/ethical line of inquiry in his dialogues and the schools of Plato and Aristotle acted similarly. While faith may have played a role in their society at the time, it did not act as an obstacle to their students academic learning but rather as an instrument by which their ability to reason could gain higher ground in the metaphysical/philosophical spheres. Thus, there is the assertion that faith rests upon reason as the…