Amendment Proposal

    The Amendment protects the rights of all legal residents in the United State including the African Americans. I believe that the Amendments are just fine the way there are. It supports all legal persons of any race living in the United States.

    What I believe should be changed is the mentally of the people. People especailly the caucasian society still seem to believe that the African Americans are invading their land. There is still this sense of greed when it comes to who America belongs to. They need to realize that no one is going anywhere so they have the learn to live with each other.
     People need to develop torlereance and forget about sterotypes. When such is achieved society would be much better. African Americans need to know that they are truely free and achive any goal.

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/amendments.htm

African Americans want change!

   African Amercian have struggled with their rights throught the years. They have had rights with conditions that were hard to meet. Many changes have been brought to the African American group especially their rights

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   Segregation is the main reason for the African Amercian struggles. The fight for the end of segregation was long and hard . Things finally started to change when schools and public transportation began to desegregate. In 1954 all schools in the United States were to be intergrated and in 1956 buses were also intergregated. Now after 40 years the African American group are seeing the change that has made history. The change that the African American group have experienced have been positive ones. The first African American  sercertary of state was Colin Powell and the first
African Amercian women secretary of state was Condoleeszza Rice. Finally today we are able to say we have an African American president, Barack Obama. Still unfortunately the African American group is looked down on and struggle to escape the stereotypes.

President Barack Obama

   The struggles of the African American have made then stronger and has gotten them to where they are today. The journey of this group serves as an example of how discrimination is wrong and shows this country to learn from it's mistakes. African Amercians are now finally getting the recognition they deserve.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html
http://school.familyeducation.com/segregation/african-american-history/47437.html

African Americans fight back!

      African Americans have always been strong and determined. They have faced alot of discrimination over the years and have worked hard to over come it. The African Americans have formed groups like the NAACP, CORE, and Freedom Riders to help fight back. They have also had peaceful protest that have changed both society and the economy.

      The African American group have always strived for rights and equality. Groups like the NAACP and CORE rose to fight for the African American rights. CORE, Congress Of Racial Equaliy founded in 1942, used the sit-in method as a way of peaceful protest. Sit-ins was used alot for the desegregation of public facilities like resturants. The members of CORE would sit on the floor if they were denied sevice. This way the owner resturant would be forced to intergrate because of shame. This method helped with the desegregation of many public facilities. The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People founded in 1909, has helped legally with court case like the Brown v Board of Education case. The Brown v Board of Education case was about a black girl being denied entrance to a local school. With the help of the NAACP the Supreme Court ruled the segregation of schools unconsitutional.

      Many people have made history because of their hard work and dedication to the civil rights movement. People like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. are just two of many who have contributed to the civil rigths movement. Rosa Parks is highly recoginzed for siting in front of a segregated bus. When asked to move she refused and was later arrested. What many people believe is that she was too tired to move but in reality she was part of the NAACP and was planning that incident. The day of Rosa Park's cout case the Montgomery Bus Boycott began. African Americans stopped using the bus and instead would walk or carpool to work. The boycott went on for about a year. The bus company lost alot of money because the African Americans were the ones who rode the bus the most. Finally in 1956 the Supreme Court found the segregation of buses unconstitutional. Martin Luther King Jr. is also highly recoginzed for his persuasive voice and speeches. He was elected to be the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. He stuided people like Gandhi for peaceful protest. Dr.King is highly known for his "I have a Dream" speech which spoke of racial equality and an end to discrimination.

     African Amercian did not let the mistreatment of others keep them from moving forward. They have overcome many opstucles and have successded many goals. Today the African American have alot of pride and contuinue to fight for whats right.

http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history

http://answers.yourdictionary.com/history/US-history/what-year-did-segregation-end.html

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/login.do

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

African American Oppression

     African Americans have been known for being mistreated during their lifetime. Since 1619 African were forced out of their homes to work as slaves in America. As slaves they were believed by the whites to be inferior, unintellegent beings. After slavery African Americans were still being discriminated and mistreated. It took people like Martin Luther KIng Jr. and groups like the NAACP to help the African Americans during this time of struggle.

Mistreament of African American slaves

     When the African Americans slaves were freed they were given a set of laws called the Black Codes. The Balck Codes set in 1865 were rules and regulations that restricted the freedom of the African Americans in the south. Some of these laws were: banning freed slaves from leaving a job, denying the former slaves to vote, testifying in a court against a white person. Because of these laws the white people still had control over the freed African American. In 1866 the African Americans were granted their rights and were able to finally call themselves American citizens. With this citiztenship the African Americans were soon running in politics. There were also more African American attending schools and colleges. The white southerns were not pleased with the African Americans being able to vote. A group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) arose. The KKK is a group that strives for white supremacy. One of the goals of the KKK was to scare African American voters. Mainly by night, the KKK would terroized African Americans. They would break into homes and even burn them down. Alot of the times the KKK would take innocent African Americans and lynch them. Lynching is to put to death especailly by hanging. The KKK was later forced to stop thier activities by the enforcement laws passed by President Grant in 1871. Later in 1896 the Supreme Court declared segregation as consitutional. Stating the separate but equal doctine. It meant that the whites and blacks would be separate but would have equal facilties. Theoretically the facilites were to provide equalitiy but in reality the white facilities were better equippe. The Jim Crow laws as they were nicknamed allowed the segregation of public facilities like schools, resturants, pools, buses, train etc.

KKK confronts black community

     The African American group have been both mistreated and discriminated aganist. Thou laws were passed to protect their rights they have always gotten the shorter end of the stick. African American still today seem like they have to prove themselves to society.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_kkk.html
http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/login.do
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/293514/rising_out_of_oppression_the_identity.html?cat=9

History of the African Americans

      The first Africans came to America  in 1619; they were brought to Jamestown, Virgina. They were taken in as slaves to work the cotton fields. As slaves they were tortured, beaten and discriminated against. When slavery was abolished in 1865 the African Amercians were free to live their lives. Unfortunately, since the abolishment of slavery African Americans have continued to struggle to gain rights and fight discrimination.

African Americans during the late 1800s

     The African Americans have been in America for the past 392 years. They were brought to work the cotton fields of the south. During the civil war African Americans were given the opportunity to gain some respect from the white people by fightning in the war. This was one of the things that helped African Americans to freedom. The African Americans were officially freed from slavery in through the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This act granted the citizenship to all persons born in the United States. Even with citizenship the African Americans were still being discriminated against. Fortunately, this group was very strong, not allowing the mistreatment of others keep them from moving forward. They have formed groups like the NAACP that has helped fight for their civil rights. According to the Census 2010, African Americans make up the largest minortiy in the U.S with a population of 12.6%.

NAACP meeting

   

 African Americans have grown as a strong group; they have been granted rights but sadly, their stuggles with discrimination have not ended. Many and great accomplishments have been reached but there are many more to be reached. The struggle will continue until everyone, African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, Native Americans are viewed just as part of the human race. 

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/media/repository/premium_content/EBOOK/50000003/32/10/mhssg_main.html?stateCode=AL

http://2010.census.gov/partners/partners/current-partners.php

Reviews!!!

 Mykaella's essay was very interserting. It covered many different aspects about the Native Americans. This essay explain how the indians were mistreated and how they came to be the way they are now. Mykaella wrote about how the Native Americans were forced to assimilate and how everything was changing around then.

Paulette's essay was really good. It had alot of information about the mistreatment of the Native Americans. She wrote about how the white settlers used violence to get what they wanted. This constant violence against the indians caused the Wounded Knee Massacre. I agree with her opinion that the Native American should have kept their identity, pride and traditions.

In Andy's essay I learned how the Native Americans were tricked into signing the contracts made by the U.S. government. The U.S. promised the indians many benefits if the left to the reservations but they did come through at the end. Many indians went hungry in this reservation and many dieaese were spread. Andy's essay was very interseting to read.

Ashley's essay was very interseting. I agree with her opinion that the white people were trying to get rid of the Native Americans. The white people knew the issues of the indian but contiuned to ignore them. I also feel bad for the indian because even today they still are struggling to survive.


Cristian's essay was really interseting. His essay was very detailed and descriptive. He also included some pictures to go along with the essay. Cristian's essay also spoke of how the lands of the Native Americans was taken away and how they were forced to assimilate.

The Changed Lives of the Native Americans

      The Native Amercians during the 1800s were believed to be savages who needed to be assimilated. Well that was according to the white settlers that came across the Native Americans during the 1800s in search of land and gold. The white settlers forced the Native Americans to give up their land. Along with their land the indians had to give up their customs and religion.

      The Native American tribes like the Dakota Sioux were forced out of their land into reservations. A reservation is an area of land the U.S. government gave the indians to live on. The Treaty of Traverse de Sioux of July 23, 1851 promised the Native Americans schools, food, land etc. But when the tribes got to the reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota th promises made by the U.S. were not kept. Many indians went hungry, there many dieases among the indians and alot of chaos in the reservations.

       Along with having their land taken away, the Native Americans were forced by the white settlers to assimilate. Assimilation means to conform or to become similar to. The white settlers made the Native Americans image and change their name to a christian name. The indian men had to cut their long ponytails. Both men and women were obligated to change te way they dressed so that they could look like the white man. Native Americans were also obligated to learn and speak the English language. The indian childern were to attend the schools that were in the reservations.

      One of the biggest assimilations was the religion. Native Americans had to convert to christianity. When things got really bad in the reservations the Native Americans turned to a new religion called the Ghost dance religion, created by an indian named Wovoka in 1888. Wovoka preached of a day when the world would end, all the Native Americans would came back, ending the days of  the white man. This alarmed the white settlers causing what we know now as the Wounded Knee Massacre. Because the Native Americans contiuned to dance after the white officals banned the Ghost dance, over 150 indians were killed including tribe chiefs Sitting Bull and Big Foot.

      The arrival of the white settlers in the Native American land marked the beginning of the struggle of the indians. The lives of Native Americans as they knew if had to come to an end in order to conform what others thought to believe was the "right" way to live.





sources:http://www.lastoftheindependents.com/wounded.htm
             Movie: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee