4. Civil RightsWhat Are Civil Rights?Slide 3Civil Rights of African AmericansPolitics of Black Civil Rights: Height of Slavery (1808–1865)Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Politics of Black Civil Rights: Reconstruction (1865–1877)Rights Lost: The Failure of ReconstructionPolitics of Black Civil Rights: Jim Crow Era & Segregation (1877–1933)Democratic Party Sponsorship of Civil Rights (1933-1940s)Democratic Party Sponsorship of Civil Rights (1933-1940s): The New DealDemocratic Party Sponsorship of Civil Rights (1933-1940s): African Americans and the New Deal CoalitionThe Emergence of a Civil Rights Coalition (1940s-1950s): NAACP’s Litigation StrategyThe Emergence of a Civil Rights Coalition (1940s-1950s): Brown Trumps PlessyThe Emergence of a Civil Rights Coalition (1940s-1950s)The Civil Rights Movement (1960s)The Civil Rights Movement (1960s): The Birmingham DemonstrationThe Civil Rights Movement (1960s): The 1964 Civil Rights ActThe Civil Rights Movement (1960s): The Voting Rights Act of 1965The Era of Remedial Action: The 1970s to the PresentSlide 23Slide 24Slide 25Legacy of the Civil Rights MovementLegacy of the Civil Rights Movement Equal Rights for Women: The Right to VoteModern History of Women’s RightsSlide 29Rights for HispanicsGay RightsChallenging Tyranny4. Civil RightsWhat Are Civil Rights?•Civil rights: the protections by government or that government secures on behalf of its citizens–Government must act to protect•Civil liberties: the protections from government power –Protected when government does not act–Provided by ConstitutionWhat Are Civil Rights?•Originally, civil rights were ‘civic rights’ or protections against arbitrary action by the British Crown (government)•‘Civil rights’ was not commonly used until 1760s•Modern-day civil rights include safeguards against any effort by government or dominant groups in a community to subjugate another group and take unfair advantage of it.Civil Rights of African Americans•African Americans faced two major obstacles in securing rights:–The Constitution•reserves authority to the states (voter eligibility)•separation of powers (difficult to strike against intrastate tyranny)–Politics based on self-interest•government controlled by “men” not “angels”Politics of Black Civil Rights:Height of Slavery (1808–1865)•Late 1807, Congress passed a law ending the importation of slaves–Southern representatives in Congress didn’t contest•Over next decade, slavery remained side issue since South had veto over national policy (due to regional balance in Senate)•But regional balance requires matching state entry into Union•Missouri Compromise (1820)–Missouri petitioned Congress for admission as a slave state–Congress matched with entrance of Maine as free state–Tensions as North attempts to fence in slavery and South realizes only matter of time until no longer keep veto power in national policyPolitics of Black Civil Rights:Height of Slavery (1808–1865)•North starts to realize its interest in eradication of slavery •Wilmot Proviso –Proposed banning slavery in recently acquired territories–Slavery depressed wages for free, white workers–Introduced twice in House and passed both times, but failed in evenly divided Senate•Missouri Compromise of 1850–South complaining of unreturned runaway slaves, North disgusted with slave auctions in DC–California petition for admission as free state, which threatened South veto power–Fugitive Slave Law•Compelled northerners to honor the southerners’ property claims to slaves•Allowed residents of territories to decide for themselves whether to apply for statehood as free or slave statePolitics of Black Civil Rights:Height of Slavery (1808–1865)•Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) –Supreme Court (7-2) determines national government cannot prevent slavery in the territories–Lower courts attempted to extend decision to rule that state laws banning slavery was unconstitutional–Whole nation would be open to slaveholding•Republican Abraham Lincoln wins 1860 presidential election–“Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men” slogan–Republican, antislavery control of House and narrow majority in Senate–Lincoln announced that the national government would not tolerate “the minority [South] over the majority”Politics of Black Civil Rights:Height of Slavery (1808–1865)•Civil War (1861)–South seceded (SC first in 1860), with 10 more by 1861–First shots fired April 12, 1861 off Fort Sumter (Charleston, SC)–Claimed more than 600,000 soldiersPolitics of Black Civil Rights:Reconstruction (1865–1877)•Civil War Amendments–13th Amendment (formal emancipation; 1865)–14th Amendment (granted citizenship; 1868)–15th Amendment (guaranteed the right to vote; 1870)•But access to ballot box limited even in Union states–Some states barred voting–Special criteria: property ownership and literacy–Freedom not equal to citizenshipRights Lost: The Failure of Reconstruction•Republicans dominated Southern legislatures for a few years–ended when white Democrats won back control of Tennessee and Virginia–all former Confederate states had reverted to white Democratic control by 1877•African Americans began to lose power–vigilante violence (Ku Klux Klan and other groups)–Waning commitment from northern Republicans •passed laws, but provided no enforcement•Reconstruction officially ended with the election of 1876•Republicans pledged to end Reconstruction to win election•federal troops pulled out of the South in 1877Politics of Black Civil Rights: Jim Crow Era & Segregation (1877–1933)•Jim Crow laws–focus to disenfranchise and segregate African Americans•institutionalized segregation–electoral laws to limit blacks from voting•white primary•poll tax•literacy tests•grandfather clauses provided to protect poor and illiterate whites–Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)•upheld systemic segregation as constitutional•separate but equal doctrineDemocratic Party Sponsorship of Civil Rights (1933-1940s)•Great Depression ended Republican dominance in national politics•Shift from Republican vote to Democrat–Most African American voters supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential electionDemocratic Party Sponsorship of Civil Rights (1933-1940s): The New Deal•FDR and the Great Depression–The New Deal•evenhanded treatment of black community•government assistance•rooted out racial