What role(s) did African Americans play in achieving the “rights” outlined in this document by the late 1870s?
African Americans had an active participation during the Reconstruction era and worked hard to achieve rights that they deserved. African Americans acquired different roles, both as individuals and in groups to achieve their goals. One very important role of the African Americans was participation in voting during elections. After the 15Th amendment was passed in 1870 voting was not restricted by race. With this newfound voting power African Americans could control the future of their country. Thanks to this, other rights could now be gained through democratic election and rise of the African American leaders who represented their people throughout the years. Frederick Douglass is an example of one of the many black leaders, who worked as a spokesperson and activists for freed people. Douglass had a major role in helping shape Lincoln’s emancipation act, which in part gave freedom to the slaves. Later on he was a major supporter of Grant during the election of 1868. President Grant then signed the Civil Rights act of 1871, which helped combat the attacks against black voters and to control the power of white supremacists. African Americans also worked in groups to achieve their rights. An example of this can be seen in the newspaper article entitled Address by a committee of Norfolk Blacks. In this document it is clear how African Americans worked together. In the document they talk how they deserved basic human rights. They talk about how they’ve been in America since it’s colonization and because of this they are entitled to representation. Also how, as mentioned previously, African Americans were part of the union army and they deserve as much privilege for this as any other soldier. They also mention how they should be able to own land and how if they pay taxes they should be able to vote. This quote further shows their desire to vote: “All men having sufficient evidence of common interest with, and attachment to the community, have the right of suffrage and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses” (Address, p. 340). They appealed to white audiences to help them achieve this including their “Christian humanity” in an attempt to encompass a wider swath of readers. The final role of involvement was African American participation in government. The first African American to be in office was Hiram Rhodes who served in the U.S. Congress. Many blacks took power in the government, despite continuous struggles against white supremacists. The representation of African Americans in the government helped bring about equal rights and autonomy for this group of people. Sadly after the reconstruction’s end few African American’s were left in power in the government.
To the extent that the world of the late 1870s did not reflect the victory of these principles, why was that the case?
The world of the late 1870’s did not reflect most of the principles talked about in the Declaration of Wrong and Rights. Around 1871 and 1872 Reconstruction started to decline. The main change of ideologies was presented thanks to the unpopularity of the Republican Party and the fear present mainly in the white societies. After the reconstruction acts; which represented an effort to crush anti-black sentiment and to assure black votes and the Federal Army was moved away southern whites feared the power that African Americans were acquiring and decided to act upon it. The fear can be seen in a quote General Gordon “Our people have always flet that if the white troops of the Federal Army could have been stationed in those negro belts we would have been safe” (Wish, p.162) During the reconstruction era, white supremacists groups such as the KKK came into play. They were dedicated to raising terror in black communities and challenged their political and social views as well as white people that supported the black cause; although many members of this organization believed they were acting as a “peace police”(Wish, p. 153). Later on, political power swayed towards political and social white supremacist views. This can be seen during the compromise of 1877. There was a great dispute during the presidential election of 1876. Republican Hayes and Democrat Tilden fought for the White House. Eventually they came to the agreement that Hayes would be president if he removed federal troops from the south. “The compromise of 1877 marked the end to any remaining federal effort to protect black citizens in the former Confederacy”(Egerton, p.316) This made many black people feel betrayed by the Republican Party and therefore started voting for the Democrats. He also had to appoint Democrats to his cabinet. New political leaders in the south gave new rules for the freedmen. Some of these rules or codes went against some of the main principles. An example was the Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks and whites from each other. This created an inferior treatment towards African Americans making racism and discrimination more common. Another main reason for the change was the Long Depression of 1873. This depression caused panic among the citizens of the United States. Fear rose among white and black people. The poverty caused some voters to turn against the Republican Party giving Democrats more control over the government. Furthermore the depression caused the Great Railroad Strike. Hayes sent federal troops to stop the strike, but this did not make him more popular. Also, the withdrawal of troops from the south gave rise to more aggression towards the black communities and their right to vote was affected as well. After all this blacks rights and equality showed little change or improvement from the years before the Reconstruction. White supremacists forces made sure that their political status was almost null, as it was before.