How Did The African American Revolution Affect The Civil Rights Movement

African Americans, when enslaved, attempted several times to rebel and overpower their White masters but ultimately failed each time. Many rebellions did succeed in killing their masters in addition to other Whites, but did not achieve any sort of change that would result in any sort of significant change. Furthermore, after their killing, often those responsible would simply be executed having served no purpose to their cause. One rebellion, however, defied the common outcome. The Haitian Revolution, a massive slave-led revolt that successfully resisted all forces from the French, Spanish, and English. As a result, on “January 1, 1804” Haiti declared independence (Clayborne 138). The successful uprising sent waves of hope throughout the United States, in hopes that similar success would be experienced. However, many never developed, or failed before fruition. This theme continued well beyond the era of Haitian

Much later in history, the Civil Rights Movement would prove this as much of the leaders for this era believed that non-violence is the key to change. Most prominently in the early days of the movement was on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks famously (and calmly) refused to give her seat on a bus to a standing white passenger (Clayborne 444-445). She reflects on this by saying “I had paid my fair and occupied my seat, I didn’t think I should have to give it up.” (Finkenbine 180) Consequently, she was arrested, which caused great ire among the Black community. Her arrest served as a catalyst for a community-wide boycott of the busses in city, which crippled the system, and initiated the movement for reform against segregation. No person, however, pushed the ideology of peaceful and non-violent action than Martin Luther King Jr.. Leading several peaceful marches and sit-ins, King envisioned a movement that would be profound, rather than