The Black Codes

African American’s 1865 to Present

For over 500 years, people of African descent have shaped the course of American history. From the year 1501 to 1865 a total of 12 United States Presidents were slave owners. The group included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Andrew Jackson. President Jefferson and Madison both owned slaves but hoped the institution of slavery would one day die away. "A general emancipation of slaves ought to be gradual, equitable & satisfactory to the individuals immediately concerned, and consistent with the existing & durable prejudices of the nation," wrote Madison in 1819, after he had left the White House (Warner, 2005). Other presidents had less compassion for their slaves and ordered them
The control of white over black, however, seemed to be restored, as each of the newly elected state legislatures’s enacted statutes severely limiting the freedom and rights of the blacks. The “Black Codes” restricted the ability of blacks to own land and to work as free laborers and denied them most of the civil and political rights enjoyed by whites. The Supreme Court rulings allowed this to happen by restricting the power of the Fourteenth Amendment by ruling that although the government could not discriminate based on race, privately owned establishments could. Businesses in the South started creating “white only” spaces in public places that kept the African American people segregated. Their rights were limited and often they were often arrested for vagrancy, imprisoned and forced labor. Eventually, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, granting citizenship to African Americans and granted them equal rights with whites. The act protects all persons in the United States in their civil rights and provides the means of their vindication. Most Southern whites refused to accept African American people as equals, which brought about the creation of organizations fueled with racial hatred such as the Ku Klux Klan. The white supremacist group became a terrorist organization with the sole purpose of promoting
In 1972 The Equal Employment Opportunity Act is passed, prohibiting job discrimination on the basis of, among other things, race, and laying the groundwork for affirmative action. Since then even more progress has been made toward equal rights among African Americans. In 1984 Jesse Jackson was the first African American man to make a serious bid for U.S. presidency. He tried again in 1988 and loss to Michael Dukakis. Colin Powell was the first African American to be named chair of the Joint Chiefs of the U.S. military. Centuries ago, this was never an option. Because of the many people, movements, and those willing to fight for equal rights, this was made