inspirational leaders

Essay by delanielombardoUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, November 2014

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Delanie Lombardo

Professor Rozek

History 17B

25 September 2014

Leaders of Inspiration

In the 1800s race was a major topic of discussion, and slavery was the law of the land. After the Civil War ended, the United States entered a period of Reconstruction lasting from 1865 to 1877. During Reconstruction, there were a lot of significant changes and serious attempts to change how the United States functioned in regards to race. The federal government made efforts for the freedom of African Americans and the protection of their rights with the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendment. African Americans made significant progress, but in 1877 Reconstruction came to an end as part of a political deal. Consequently, in the South, Whites believed they were superior to people of color. There was a wide spread of songs and theater portraying African Americans as ignorant, foolish, and childlike. In addition, laws were put in place to prevent African Americans from voting such as poll taxes and literacy tests.

The South became known as Jim Crow where Whites and Blacks were segregated, and they made sure African Americans could not assert themselves in any way. In addition, lynching became a widespread form of terrorism against many African Americans. Although many African Americans after Reconstruction were doctors, ministers, teachers, and writers, they were still trapped in a hostile world looking for leadership. African Americans' found leadership and inspiration in a man by the name of Booker T. Washington. He was a spokesman and leader who wrote the "Atlanta Compromise" in 1895. Several years later in 1903, W. E. B. DuBois, a political leader advocated African Americans rights in his essay "The Souls of Black Folk." These two men were great leaders of the Black community in the time of Post-Reconstruction. Washington and DuBois...