To what extent did the early Progressive movements reform
American society 1890-1919?
To what extent is reform needed in these areas today?
My topic: Improving status of African Americans
My subtopic: Improving social status of African Americans
Thesis: The progressive reform to improve the social status of
African Americans have shown to spark the uniting of African
Americans to be able to empower their voices and make change.
However, even today racism exists, and reform is necessary to
create an environment that fosters equality.
Progressive EraWhat was wrong?
Brackman, Harold.
"African Americans."
Encyclopedia of
American Cultural and
Intellectual History​,
edited by Mary Kupiec
Cayton and Peter W.
Williams, Charles
Scribner's Sons,
2001. ​U.S. History in
Context​,
http://link.galegroup
.com/apps/doc/BT23500
30072/UHIC?u=s0518&xi
d=e7aba1d5​. Accessed
19 Feb. 2018.
US History in Context- National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People
- The early 1900s was a “​period in American
history replete with grotesque torture,
mutilation, castration, and rampant homicide
committed by whites upon blacks”
->​ African Americans were being violently
treated by whites. The status of African
Americans prevented them from having a role
in society that was accepted by whites.
- “​White supremacists from janitors to judges
justified mob ​violence​ as necessary in order
to punish alleged black murderers and rapists
lest they be acquitted by jury trial”
->​ Blacks did not receive fair trials, which
spurred the constant use of lynching by
whites on blacks. Whites justified their
violence by putting blame on blacks for
crimes they did not commit. It was clear that
their status terrible, and they did not
deserve this.
- “After a black man was charged with
murdering a white man in Livermore, Kentucky,
tickets were sold at a local theater to
witness and participate in his lynching. The
audience in the orchestra could fire
unlimited shots into Will Porter's lifeless
body, while those in the gallery were limited
to only one”
-> ​Mob mentality grew immensely during this
period of time. Many people justified their
participation in these mobs solely from the
fact that others were being violent too.
Groups of whites joined together and
committed horrible acts of violence. A clear
divide between races still existed in the
nation; whites still looked down on blacks.
US History in Context- African Americans
- “Jim Crow segregation was imposed and the
freedmen were reduced to the status of
second-class citizens”
- “African Americans were terrorized into
accepting the rigid system of Jim Crow racial
subordination, as lynchings of blacks
increased from 12 in 1872 to 255 in 1892”
- “Southern culture became increasingly
violent in the late nineteenth century, with
blacks often victimized by other blacks as
well as whites”
-> ​Jim Crow laws caused blacks to be seen as
inferior to whites. After winning their basic
citizen rights, those rights were essentially
stripped from them as they lost their ability
to participate politically and have a fair
social status.
Attempts/goals
to improve
condition
US History in Context- National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People
- NAACP “​was founded in 1909 by an
interracial group of intellectuals,
"National Association
for the Advancement
of Colored People."
Violence in America​,
edited by Ronald
Gottesman and Richard
Maxwell Brown,
Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1999. ​U.S.
History in Context,
​
http://link.galegroup
.com/apps/doc/BT23500
11269/UHIC?u=s0518&xi
d=4fbb3458​. Accessed
19 Feb. 2018.
reformers, and socialists dedicated to
achieving fully the civil and political
rights of ​African Americans​ as guaranteed by
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments”
Robinson, Greg.
"Niagara Movement."
Encyclopedia of
African-American
Culture and History​,
edited by Colin A.
Palmer, 2nd ed., vol.
4, Macmillan
Reference USA, 2006,
pp. 1652-1653. ​U.S.
History in Context,
​
http://link.galegroup
.com/apps/doc/CX34447
00945/UHIC?u=s0518&xi
d=fb02864d. Accessed
19 Feb. 2018
- The NAACP “entreated the U.S. attorney
general to take action, and organized protest
meetings to raise money for antilynching
efforts”
->​ Many people were unhappy with the status
of African Americans during the early 20th
century. Like many times before, the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were not
being enforced. The main mission of the NAACP
was to ensure these rights of African
Americans were retained.
- “The NAACP waged legal battles over other
crucial issues: due process in jury trials,
restrictive covenants, disenfranchisement
laws, equalization of teachers' salaries, and
segregation of public schools, although
antiviolence proved to be its most widely
supported strategy before the 1940s”
-> ​The NAACP had to deal with many different
problems that African Americans faced.
However, the biggest problem of the early
1900s was the violence being committed
against blacks. As such, the NAACP focused
their resources on preventing the violence
that was occurring so much.
US History in Context- Niagara Movement
- The Niagara Movement was made up of a
“small but articulate group of radicals to
challenge the then-dominant accommodationist
ideas of Booker T. Washington”
->​ The primary idea that Booker T. Washington
promoted was that the economic status of
African Americans was more important to
improve than the social and political status
of blacks. The Niagara Movement, similar to
the NAACP, focused on the opposing viewpoint.
Blacks were being clearly oppressed by whites
through acts of violence. Because of this, it
was more necessary to prevent violence than
work on improving the economic status of
blacks.
- The Niagara Movement’s “Declaration of
Principles” “went on to urge African
Americans to protest the curtailment of civil
rights, the denial of equal economic
opportunity, and denial of education; and the
authors decried unhealthy living conditions,
discrimination in the military,
discrimination in the justice system, Jim
Crow railroad cars, and other injustices”
- To them, “Persistent manly agitation is the
way to liberty”
->​ During the early 1900s, many African
Americans felt voiceless due to the constant
reoccurence of immoral acts committed against
them. The Niagara Movement believed that one
of the solutions to this problem was to try
and voice all African Americans. Urging them
to speak out, The Niagara Movement hoped to
gain full African American support and stand
as a unified group fighting for their rights.
My evaluation of
how successful
reforms were
US History in Context- Niagara Movement
- The Niagara Movement challenged the
“then-dominant accommodationist ideas of
Booker T. Washington”
- Hopes to reconcile the Niagara Movement
radicals and the accommodationists sparked
the creation of “the Committee of Twelve for
the Advancement of the Interests of the Negro
Race, but the committee fell apart due to the
belief of Du Bois and Trotter that Washington
was controlling the organization”
- “There was from the start determined
opposition by Booker T. Washington—he
prevented sympathetic white newspapers, and
even many black ones, from printing the
declaration—which dissuaded many blacks from
joining or contributing funds”
-> ​Although its intentions were well, the
Niagara Movement did not last long because of
the opposition from Booker T. Washington. The
prevention of the Niagara Movement’s
Declaration of Principles from being printed
caused the Movement to lose possible
followers. This only allowed for the Movement
to grow so big, and the reason for its
decline can be pointed to its lack of a
support.
- “Despite its predominantly white leadership
and centralized structure, the NAACP was
really the successor to the Niagara Movement”
->​ Although the Niagara Movement did not do
much itself, its legacy sparked the creation
of the NAACP, a group which retained the same
ideals and was larger. Its increased size and
participation allowed for more to get done.
Current/modern
issues in this
topic
http://www.naacp.org/
latest/naacp-death-pe
nalty-fact-sheet/
NAACP Death Penalty Fact Sheet
- “​African Americans are disproportionately
represented on death row and among those who
have been executed”
- “for every ten people executed, more than
one person has been exonerated”
-> ​Still today, African Americans are being
http://www.history.co
m/topics/naacp
http://www.naacp.org/
latest/naacps-real-st
ate-union-refuted-tru
mps-misleading-claims
-rallied-black-commun
ity-vote-november/
treated unfairly during litigation.
History.com- NAACP
- “Today, the NAACP is focused on such issues
as inequality in jobs, education, health care
and the criminal justice system, as well as
protecting voting rights. The group also has
pushed for the removal of Confederate flags
and statues from public property”
->​ Even today, the NAACP is still active,
promoting equality for blacks and improvement
of social status of African Americans.
NAACP.org- “NAACP’s ‘Real State of the Union’
Refuted Trump’s Misleading Claims, Rallied
Black Community to vote in November”
- “panelists at “The Real State of Our Union”
called attention to key Trump policies that
plague the Black community: voter
suppression, an unequal criminal justice
system, and the ostracizing of immigrants”
- “The powerhouse panel urged participants to
wield their power in the polls this November,
using the midterm elections as a means to
steer the country back on the course towards
freedom and equality for all”
->​ The efforts of the NAACP have helped to
empower blacks to use their right to vote to
help better the country. These efforts prove
to be effective, for many groups have been
recently protesting