Civil Rights in America1945 - 68

StarterIdentify the following

pictures

Now try and explain their roles in Civil Rights in America

Learning Objectives: To understande the nature and extent of the problem for black people in America before 1945.

Success Criteria: To know how Black people populated America; to state how black people were treated under the new constitution & to know the ‘free’ & ‘slave’ states of the USA.

Task

In your groups, choosing a method of expression (Play, Drawing, Poetry, Freeze Frame), explain

how Black people got to the Americas and what their role was in the New World.

What are Civil Rights?

The right to vote

The right to be represented in government

The right of equality of opportunity e.g. in education and work

The right to be protected by the law

The right to be judged fairly before the law

The right to have liberty

The right to think, act and speak without fearIt is the duty and responsibility of governments to create an environment in which these rights can be enjoyed by creating

and enforcing an effective legal framework.

The Introduction of Black people & Slavery

Labour problems in the new colonies of America led to the establishment of the slave trade. It was deemed acceptable to use black people from West Africa as slaves because:

• Their different non-Christian culture meant they were thought of as uncivilised.

• They looked different, therefore, it was OK to treat them differently.

• There were too few white men to do the work, slaves provided cheap & plentiful labour. So it was more cost effective.

These factors made it seem that slavery was acceptable!

By 1776, British North America contained 2.5 million people.

Approximately 500,000 of these were black slaves.

There were incidents were slaves rebelled:

1712New York City slaves attacked their oppressors.

This represented the resentment felt by the black population and also their

powerlessness.White belief in their superiority and the

importance of white economic needs led to the development of more

racial tension.

The Irony of 1776!The American colonists had demanded independence from what they saw as an oppressive British rule. However, few slave owners saw the contradiction

between their ideas of freedom & slavery.

The Declarations beautiful words on equality were not meant to

apply to blacks nor to the ‘merciless Indian savages’

The Land of the Free?

‘We hold these things to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.’

The American Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776.

Constitution & RaceIn 1783 the British Government recognised Americas independence. The Americans

now had to establish a new government for the 13 ex-colonies (states).The founding fathersdebated a crucial question:“Did a black slave deserve political representation like other (white) human beings or

was he merely a piece of property?”

Southern states wanted them to be counted as human beings for pruposes of representation. If they were classed as humans, even without the vote, the south would have the maximum number of representatives in congress. However, if they had to pay more taxes because of this then their opinion changed.

The resulting three-fifths compromise solved this issue. 5 slaves equalled 3 free people for purposes of taxation and representation. The New American Constitution enshrined the inferiority of the black slaves.

The constitution enabled states to control the make-up of the electorate and ensured only priviledged white males could vote. The Constitution of the new America set out to protect rights, liberties and freedom – but only of white men.

To what extent do you think America was really the land of the free in 1776?

Homework

Who was Thomas Jefferson?What was his attitude to Racism & Slavery?