Civil Rights: How did events during the 19th century influence Civil Rights Movements

[Bookman]

Civil Rights: How did events during the 19th century influence Civil Rights Movements?
BY: Cody Leone

After colonization occurred in North American territory, and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, it was necessary to start the building process of what eventually became the United States of America. After the Revolutionary War ended, the United States Constitution was ratified and the construction of a new nation was underway. With the defeat of the British and American independence gained, a new government had to be established in the United States. This caused conflicting political views in the states. With some of the nation developing more rapidly than other parts, and differences in political views and ideas arising, the nation became split. Eventually, the entire nation was divided, the north and the south. The North became more industrialized and dependant on factory work for their economic growth, where the south depended on agriculture and slave labor for their prosperity. The sectionalized nation came into conflict with itself and the North and South could not compromise. The Union of the states began to fall apart as nations from the South began to secede. Under the presidency of the United States’ sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, the nation experienced one of the most of brutal and horrific wars that brought the nation into a depression. The death toll of the Civil War was over 600,000, and exceeded the amount of deaths in any other war the United States had fought in its history. One of the biggest motives for the war was popular sovereignty, the ability for states to have individual state rights, and vote separately, especially on the issue of slavery. After the Civil War had ended, and slavery was abolished, the issue still remained that blacks still did not have equality to the hegemonic, and for decades after, they still did not. This discrimination led to Civil Rights movements in the 19th century.

Pre-Civil war in the United States, there was a massive amount of slaves in the United States. Slaves in the South were forced to work on farming duties, since the agriculturally based South’s economy depended on their labor to flourish. African Americans were denied Civil Rights, but could not do much due to the fact that they were uneducated and lacked comprehensive language skills to communicate. Those who felt commiseration for slaves, harbored and aided them until they could escape to a free state; this system of escaping slavery was referred to as the underground railroad. In 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, and said that anyone who harbored and aided fugitive slaves would be fined and could face imprisonment. By this time, no slave had been granted any protection . [1]
Views in the North and the South differed in a multitude of ways. The North wanted an economy based off of industry and did not want slavery, while the South wanted to keep slavery so that the slaves can work on the plantations and keep the economy running off of agriculture. In 1861, when former United States president Abraham Lincoln was elected, the southern states saw it as a threat. The first state to secede from the union was South Carolina, and was followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Virginia were still in threat of seceding from the union. These eleven states eventually formed together, creating the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis became president of the confederacy, and a new constitution was ratified in February of 1861. This split into two different governments in the states was one of the most influential forces propelling the Civil War. But, this split occurred because the southern states wanted to be able to choose for themselves and vote individually on what they wanted and they did not want a centralized government.

Abraham Lincoln was know to be against slavery, and when he was elected, the southern states knew that he would pose threat to their economy if he wanted to abolish slavery. Slaves were a crucial part to the southern economy. Slaves costed no money for labor, and did all of the work, and products made from their work were sold, and thus the economy was built on this general structure of slave labor and agriculture. The South was strongly against changes their economy to a more industrialized way, as the North wanted. The North argued that economy based off of agriculture is unpredictable and can not be relied on for it is too largely based on uncontrollable factors, such as weather. The South however argued that industrialization in the entire nation would cause a large pollution problem, and that the agricultural dependant economy was stable enough. Either way, slaves could not change what happened with the economy; all they could do is work, as they were forced to. Slaves was far from obsolete in the eyes of southerners, but were not given any rights. This had a positive effect on the economy, but greatly hurt the reputation of the African Americans, and would affect them for many a year.
The roles of the slaves played a great role in society. They were one of the major forces that drove the nation into a civil war. On September 17, 1862, the Battle of Antietam was fought, which was said to be the most bloodiest battle of the war. In this battle, 2,108 soldiers from the Union were killed, and 2,700 soldiers from the Confederacy were killed. Both sides suffered over 9,000 wounded soldiers that day. The amount of casualties suffered were immense, and there was a need for more soldiers.[2]
On January1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which set the slaves free; others argue that the Emancipation Proclamation only allowed slaves to become soldiers in the war and fight for their freedom.[3] African American slaves now became part of the battle and were finally given a say in what went on in their country. Southerners became very tempestuous, due to the fact that the slaves were now in the fray. The southerners felt that this gave the slaves a sense of equality to them. This was a step toward black civil rights reform because it was the first time blacks were given an alternative to a situation where someone else did not determine their ultimatum; they were given the choice to fight for their freedom.

By 1865, the Civil War had come to an end with the North being victorious, when southern General Robert E. Lee surrendered to northern General Ulysses S. Grant. As a result of the conclusion of the Civil War, the South was forced to abolish slavery and join the Union.
After the Civil War ended, Civil Rights movements began to arise during reconstruction and there was necessary reform. Many former slaves were uneducated and were confused as to what to do. As a result, they were discriminated against, could not get jobs and were segregated from whites. There was a highly segregated black ghetto, and conditions for the black community grew worse. When the Jim Crow Laws, a set of laws that separated the whites and blacks, were established, blacks had to go to separate facilities than the whites including restaurants and even educational facilities. In 1890, a portion of land was granted to the black community for separate black facilities.[4] This was considered reform, or improvement, in black civil rights to the South, when it was not. This set of laws only enforced the idea of separation in the nation, and thus led to sectionalism. Civil Rights movements of the 19th century lacked great motivation, due to the reputable damage to the African Americans from pre and post Civil War. Civil Rights movements had not many short term effects, but led to greater movements in the years hence.


1. Adam Goodheart, “Reaching Point Comfort” American Scholar Autumn2004, Vol. 73 Issue 4, p46‑49, 4p.
2. Tilden J. LeMelle, “THE HBCU: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW.” Education Vol. 123 Issue 1, p190, 7p (Fall 2002)
3. Nell Irvin Painter, “Honest Abe and Uncle Tom.” Canadian Review of American Studies Vol. 30 Issue 3, p245, 28p, 5bw (2000)
4. Adam Goodheart, “Reaching Point Comfort” American Scholar Autumn2004, Vol. 73 Issue 4, p46‑49, 4p