Main Causes Of The Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movements

Civil rights movements have been prevalent in America for centuries because minorities thankfully gather the courage to stand up for equality and better treatment. The presidents’ reactions to these movements were often helpful when striving for change or reform, however, presidents did not always fully agree with the changes that people were trying to enact. In the 1860s, there were many issues surrounding slavery and the rights of African Americans, furthermore President Abraham Lincoln looked past his racist beliefs and signed the Emancipation Proclamation because he believed slavery was morally wrong. So much so, that it was one of the main causes of the Civil War that was going on in America at the time. Similarly,

Many families were sold separated from each other. Most slaves were physically abused, as whipping was very common at the time (“Slavery in the United States” np). Not only was this treatment incredibly unfair, but slaves also had no legal right to protest this unjust treatment because the “United States Supreme Court in the 1857 Dred Scott Decision ruled that slaves were subhuman property with no rights of citizenship” (“Slavery in the United States” np). Abolitionists like Frederick Douglass often resisted the racist laws of the time. Douglass attempted to give the African American community hope by giving speeches and writing editorials regarding slavery and racism (“Frederick Douglass” np). On the opposite side of the abolitionists were the southerners, who depended on slave labor on their farms. Therefore, abolishing slavery would consequently demolish the southern economy (“The Southern Argument for Slavery” np). This left president Lincoln in a difficult

Furthermore, it is not surprising that he did not view African Americans as equals to white people. After realizing that it would not be an intelligent decision to immediately free all the slaves and send them away, Lincoln stated, “What then? Free them, and make them politically and socially, our equals? My own feelings will not admit to this; and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not… A universal feeling, whether well or ill-founded, can not be safely disregarded” (Lincoln qtd. in Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation 11). With the information in this quotation, it can be assumed that the opposition from white people in the south played a huge role in Lincoln’s decision to enact a gradual emancipation of slavery. Lincoln went even further to state that he is, “in favor of the race to which I belong, having the superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (Lincoln “Douglas Debate 1”). Although Lincoln fell victim to the common racist views of the time, he still recognized that slaves were human, and deserved all of the rights stated in the Declaration of Independence. After all, the