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African American Civil Rights 1880-1980

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For hundreds of years historians have debated about the most significant factor for the advancement of civil rights for African-Americans from 1880-1980. Prior to this, African-Americans were largely only slaves, particularly in the South as nearly 4 million black slaves were forced to do extensive labour there allowing them to have no freedom whatsoever. However, during the Civil War, President Lincoln stated all slaves “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free” as he issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This abolished slave trade in the US and attempted to bring an end to the Civil War. Nevertheless, the protracted journey for the African-Americans to achieve equality was far from over. At the end of the Civil War, the Southern states passed “Black Codes” in 1865, restricting the lives of freed slaves and forcing them to work in low wage jobs. It was undoubtedly a slow process but was further hindered by the actions of such groups as the KKK who were involved in lynching …show more content…

She also concludes that Marshall “felt that the best way to change the country and gain equality for all was through the court system.” Marshall was an attorney of NAACP between 1934 and 1961. During this period, he argued thirty-two cases before the Supreme Court, prevailing in twenty-nine of them and earning himself the status of “Mr. Civil Rights” . As a result, in 1967 President Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall as the first African American Justice to the United States Supreme Court. He accepted that it was “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” Haugen also argues that, “thanks to Marshall’s hard work and courage, many people of all races are free today to live in any neighbourhood they choose, attend any school they wish, and treated equally in the

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On the other hand, Thurgood fought many cases as a well-renowned attorney to get justice for many people. His resilient arguments and persistence caused various wins. “Marshall served as a leader during the civil rights movement, as an architect of the legal strategy that ended racial segregation, and as the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court” (Gale). Marshall stood as a platform for upcoming African-American attorneys. He set the standards high when he argued a record-breaking 32 cases and was the first African-American Justice of the Supreme

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Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Ccourt. Thurgood Marshall was known “Mr. Civil Rights” because of his court battles against racism and segregation. HeThurgood Marshall was also known as the greatest civil rights lawyer of all time. Thurgood Marshall also lead the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, in which the cCourt ruled that segregation in the public schools is prohibited by the constitution. Marshall also created the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) legal defense and eEducational fund.

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In this case Marshall argued for Murray, another African American student that was rejected from the same University. This case led Marshall into seeking an end to segregation in the schooling

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Thurgood Marshall was instrumental in ending legal segregation and became the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court. Born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland, Thurgood Marshall studied law at Howard University. As counsel to the NAACP, he utilized the judiciary to champion parity for African Americans. In 1954, he won the Brown v. Board of Inculcation case, in which the Supreme Court ended racial segregation in public schools. Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967, and accommodated for 24 years.

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During the zenith of the Civil Rights Movement, Thurgood Marshall pushed for equal rights for all. Born to a railroad porter and a teacher in Baltimore, Thurgood Marshall became one of the most revered figures in American history for his vehemence for equality. Throughout his career as legal counsel for the for the NAACP, he guided the litigation that helped destroy the legal foundation of segregation under the Jim Crow Laws. In addition, he became the first African American Supreme Court justice: an emblem of social change. He deviated from social norms at the time by having an untiring willingness to dissent, as Thurgood Marshall argued thirty-two cases before the United States Supreme Court; many of such cases became landmark cases for the

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“I saw over twelve colored men and women, beat, shot and hung between there and Shreveport,” former slave Henry Adams writes. After the Civil War, the legal institution of slavery was abolished unless used as a just punishment. Additionally, these “freedmen” were naturalized and made citizens of the United States which allegedly granted them equal protections, whatever color or race, would have; and, they were granted black male suffrage. Some may argue that African Americans were free after the Civil War for the obvious reasons of a document stating so. However, African Americans were not free post-Antebellum era because they were deprived of their rights as “Americans citizens” through the institution Black Codes and the continuation of

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‘’Today's Constitution is a realistic document of freedom only because of several corrective amendments. Those amendments speak to a sense of decency and fairness that I and other Blacks cherish.’ (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thurgoodma401255.html) Thurgood marshal is Americans first African - American first Supreme Court justice.

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In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written and signed. The purpose of this document was to declare independence from British rule. The thirteen colonies were fed up with Britain, so they decreed that they wanted to create their own country. The Declaration of Independence united the colonies by sending a letter of grievances to the king. American patriots united together compose this letter.

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Thurgood Marshall played a part in the change through his rulings on the Supreme Court and by helping defend others like on the decisive Supreme Court case “Brown v. The Board of Education”. As Marshall stated once "The position of the Negro today in America is the tragic but inevitable consequence of centuries of unequal treatment . . . In light of the sorry history of discrimination and its devastating impact on the lives of Negroes, bringing the Negro into the mainstream of American life should be a state interest of the highest order. To fail to do so is to ensure that America will forever remain a divided society" (“The man who turned racism into history THE LAW’If white supremacy has subsided in the United States, it’s largely due to Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court.”, par 10). African Americans were mistreated, viewed as lower class, and were not equal in the eyes of the people or the law.

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During Thurgood Marshall’s work in the Civil Rights Movement he said, “The goal of a true democracy such as ours, explained simply, is that any baby born in these United States… is endowed with the exact same rights as a child born to a Rockefeller,” (Adelman). During his work in the judicial system, first as a civil rights lawyer and then as a judge, Marshall strived to work towards a democracy focused on equality eventually becoming known as “Mr. Civil Rights,” (Archer). Although Marshall is primarily remembered for working towards African American rights as a Supreme Court Justice, Marshall strived for equal citizenship under the law for all people. Many of Marshalls ideas mentioned in his dissents stem from the lessons and ideas he learned early on from his parents and mentors during his childhood and college years. In his work in the Civil Rights

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Around the 1940’s many people were being discriminated for their race. This was hard, especially for children who had no idea why they were being treated the way they were. All the schools were segregated, so they could not go to the same school as the white children they may have lived near. One school girl was willing to fight, with her family, to go to the same school her white friends went to. She decided, with the help of her dad, to bring the Board of Education to court.

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The Supreme Court made many significant changes that, both positively and negatively, impacted the struggle for civil rights for African Americans between 1890 and 1990. Despite this, many significant individuals such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, and organisations such as the NAACP and the SNCC also made many significant impacts in raising awareness for the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, the role of Presidents and their policies, for example, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and his New Deal, had a significant impact on African Americans. Throughout the ‘American Century’ from 1890 to 1990, the Supreme Court was at the forefront of the struggle for civil rights. The rulings of Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board led some to believe

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428 Words | 2 Pages

Since he experienced segregation he didn’t want other to suffer the way he had. By participating in cases such as, Murray v. Maryland (1936), McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents of Higher Education (1950) and many more. Marshall was chipping at the Jim Crow Laws. He was slowly helping African Americans case by case in giving them what they needed. After many more cases after he got the attention of many citizens and soon caught the attention of Kennedy who appointed him into U.S Court of Appeals.

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In 1951, Linda Brown was not allowed to attend Topeka, Kansas’s all-white elementary schools and her father sued, claiming schools for African American children were not being maintained as they should be under the 14th Amendment. Ratified in 1896, the 14th Amendment made “separate but equal” facilities legal throughout the country. Mr. Brown, the father of Linda stated, “schools for black children were not equal to the white schools, and that segregation violated the so-called ‘equal protection clause’ of the 14th Amendment, which holds that no state can ‘deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’” (Brown v. Board of Education 1) Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, was the attorney for the Browns and four other similar cases that were tied together. This issue went to the Supreme Court and school segregation was unanimously decided against.

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But then Black codes ceased after the year of 1886, and were replaced by rules called the Jim Crow laws. In 1890 , a “separate but equal” status for African Americans. With all this going on it was tearing up the society, it was tearing it up because everybody was fighting and places were getting burned down.

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