Alexander Hamilton: An Analysis Of The Civil Rights Movement

Alexander Hamilton, an iconic Founding Father, once stated, “There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans desired the liberty granted to them in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and they rose above human nature in acts of heroism and bravery when they decided to protest the abuse of their voting rights. African Americans were able to successfully obtain the passage of the Voting Rights Act by organizing into the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), with impacts both locally and nationwide. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was led by Martin Luther King Jr. and sixty other African American ministers, and it was designed to spark peaceful protests within African American churches. This group acted on a regional and on a national scale, sparking protest from the pulpit of African American churches. According to the
Upon meeting Alabama law enforcement, the protesters were assaulted with tear gas and violence (Kiela). This march gave the civil rights movement national attention, as President Johnson called for federal civil rights legislation. Both groups accomplished great things, as the SCLC sparked peaceful protests and the SNNC created programs that assisted blacks in passing the literacy test for voting. The two groups had very different structures and methods, however, together they were able to bring about the Voting Rights Act, and it is debatable if one group could accomplish such feats, as some people may not have been drawn to the philosophies of the SCLC, but they could have been very drawn to the loose membership policies of the