Gender,
Racial and Equality Issues in the American History 1865-1945
These issues changed a great deal in
the American history between 1865-1945.Women equality and African American
racial issues are the ones that have changed a great deal between these periods.
There have been various events that have led to the development of these
changes. During this time women fought hard to have equality to men. For
example there was a movement called the women’s suffrage movement that began in
1848. This was followed by the declaration of sentiments that demanded equal
rights for women. Some of the women leaders at the time were Elizabeth Stanton,
Lacertian Mott and Susan b Anthony along with many others (Davidson and Delay
127).
Their efforts bore fruits since by the end of the 19th century;
some western states had approved full voting rights for women. Women had also
achieved important legal victories and had gained rights on issues like
property and child custody. The greatest achievement for women during this time
was gaining voting rights. The other wave of feminist came much later after
1945.
Racial issues
During this period things changed
dramatically in America. For a long time African Americans had been
discriminated against by whites. Slowly slavery had ended and some slaves had
been freed. In 1877 however when the Democratic Party regained its power, most
of the rights they had been given were taken away ones more (Davidson and Delay 127). The Democratic Party slowly reinstated racially discriminatory
laws, the main goal being to get the
power attained by the blacks. By 1914 due to the establishment of Jim Crow laws
there was a complete creation of two separate societies, a white one and a
black one. Segregation was present in hotels, stores, libraries and
theaters.
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The discrimination was most
dominant in the south which had passed most segregation laws. The blacks
however started fighting for their rights once again. In 1905 w. e. Dubois led a
group of activists who were black to
strategize on fighting racial discrimination at Niagara Falls (Davidson and Delay 127). This led to the later
formation of the national association of the advancement of colored people. The
association won a significant number of battles for racial equality before the
Second World War. Until the 1920s, the blacks, things changed in 1934 when
Arthur Mitchell became the first black to join congress on a democrat ticket,
loyally voted in the republicans. During World War 2, most Americans realized
racism threatened democracy. The administration of Roosevelt prohibited
segregation in military bases.
Violence
During this time that the rights of
blacks were slowly taken away, there was the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan,
knights of white camellia and other terrorists. These cults killed many blacks
and some whites in a bid to stop them from voting and taking part in public life (Davidson and Delay
127). Black land owners, politicians
and community leader’s were the main targets of the KKK. They also attacked any
other individual who supported racial equalities or the Republican Party. The
ku Klux Klan founded of 1865 to 1866, and other mobs had lynched over 2000
blacks in the south by 1900 (Davidson and Delay
127). After 1900 however especially with the great migration the cases of
violence against blacks reduced. The only violence that occurred was in form of
normal crime especially in some cities like Harlem.
Work
Cited
Davidson, James West and Delay,
Brain, U.S. A Narrative History, Volume
II: since 1865, McGraw Hill, 2009, pg 123-156
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