Question

Two important issues during the Civil Rights era were: Segregation and Voting Rights.

In two paragraphs, explain why these issues were so important to civil rights. Be as specific as you can in your answer.

Answer 1

In the twentieth century the Civil Rights Movement did not unexpectedly emerge from nowhere. Efforts for African Americans to boost their quality of life are as old as the United States. By the time of the late eighteenth century American Revolution, abolitionists had already been trying to eradicate social inequality and bring an end to the institution of slavery. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Declaration of Emancipation, codified into law as the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution. The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery and came into effect in 1865.

After the Civil War, the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments during the time known as Reconstruction provided a legal framework for the political equality of African Americans. Despite the abolition of slavery for African Americans and legal changes, racial segregation known as Jim Crow persisted in the South. The segregation of Jim Crow meant that the Southern blacks would have to live in conditions of poverty and injustice, white supremacists denying them their hard-won political rights and freedoms.

The Civil Rights Movement of the twentieth century emerged as a reaction to the unfulfilled promises of abolition, partially from the experiences of black soldiers in World War II. In a segregated military, African Americans fought despite being subjected to U.S. propaganda promoting democracy, justice and equality. After suffering in many countries around the world in the name of democracy, several African American veterans returned to the United States eager to obtain full citizenship rights and prerogatives.

Jim Crow laws were not introduced in northern states; however, blacks were still discriminated against in their employment, even when they were trying to buy a house or get college. To make matters worse, legislation to restrict voting rights for blacks were passed in some states.