Dbq Essay On African Americans

622 Words3 Pages

African Americans for years fought their rights as citizens in the United States. Many others fought for their own rights as well including women and other minority races. While a historian believes that African Americans did nothing to fight for their freedom, I believe with full confidence that the African Americans were the most instrumental part in doing so, but I also believe that they received some help from Whites. To begin, the map in Document A shows where slavery was outlawed and how. This shows how the North helped African Americans by outlawing slavery in their area, allowing them to have more of a say and fight for their rights. Document B furthers this idea as the supreme court decision upheld the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. …show more content…

For example, Document F shows how also southern white women helped African Americans. In this document, it portrays how women felt some of the same feelings on discrimination. Women at this time were still treated like second class citizens. They were not allowed to vote, and were harrassed constantly. So in turn, they felt that this could lead to their own rights and helped the African Americans. Next, in Document G, Frederick Douglass a prominent Black author and civil rights movement man, explains his struggle as a former slave. His writings opened the eyes of many Americans and this in turn helped tremendously to their freedom. Then in Document H, David Wilmot, a white politician, fought for the African Americans freedom as well in this speech. He pleaded to the White House to free the slaves. People like these pleading made a significant impact in freeing the slaves. In Document I, the poster presented warned African Americans of going to the police as they were obligated to return illegally freed slaves to their “owners”. This is another example of how whites also helped the African Americans. Lastly, Document J is Uncle Tom’s Cabin. One of the best selling books in this time period. Written by a black women portraying the hardships of slavery. This opened the eyes of ordinary Americans and was yet another way African Americans helped themselves tremendously. Overall, there are still many ways African Americans fought for their freedom witht the help from