Abraham Lincoln
Born in 1809, Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of America. After the civil war in America, the country was conceived in Liberty. It was dedicated to the proposition of equality whereby all men are and were created equal. Lincoln went on to the declaration of independence as the constitution had compromised slavery. The declaration declared the enduring national values and summarized the USA project liberty for all and quality of all. America was a very unique state as no other nation had been ever been founded on a commitment to liberty and equality. However, the declaration did not liberate all of the nearly 4 million slaves of the country automatically. The biggest effect was that Lincoln’s aim in the brutal civil war with the Confederacy was to stop slavery for the first time. The Civil War was a trial to see if a nation, based on such lofty ideals, could survive.
Earlier on at the Cabinet meeting of 22 July 1862, Lincoln had issued his initial preliminary request. The President however suggested waiting for the Northern states which had accepted to abolish slavery to win the war against the southern states that still wanted slavery to continue before releasing the document. Lincoln issued the preliminary proclamation a few days before the Union forces claimed victory. This claimed that the president released a final pledge to free his slaves if the southern states had not given up by January 1, 1863. Although Lincoln felt it was correct to free slaves, his declaration was a war move in the struggle against the Confederation. The announcement allowed black men to join the military forces. Nearly 200,000 African Americans finally fought for North. The proclamation also discouraged intervention on the Confederate side by making the abolition of slavery an objective of the Union.
Lincoln, who gained re-election in 1864. He realized that his war order was temporary. He called for Congress to change the constitutions and eliminate slavery permanently. On Jan. 31, 1865 the thirteenth Amendment was ratified on all Legislative Members, claiming that “in the United States no slavery or forced labour was to happen. Most states in America adopted the provision, slavery formally ended on Dec. 18, 1865. The Union won the Civil War. Slavery ended, and with it, the values of liberty and equality were given new birth. However, the struggle for liberty and equality continued and persists today. Lincoln foresaw this to remain a nation, dedicated to the proposition that all men all people are created equal, and the government of by and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Jeff Kennedy, the 35th US president will be remembered for his fight for Civil rights and segregation in America. This was as a result of the protest in the city of Birmingham. At the protests, the Birmingham Police Force came out to disperse the crowds and stop the demonstrations. The actions were broadcasted as videos and photographs were shown revealing to the citizens how the Police brutalized the protestors’ kids in the parks. Police sick dogs at gatherings and sprayed them with high pressured water from horses. The images were shocking to the Americans everywhere. This violence in Birmingham left him with no other option other than to change his course on civil rights. The way the police treated the protesters provided a glimpse into what America might be and he did not want that. President Kennedy was inspired by the bad racism in southern cities states. Following the pictures and broadcasts from the Birmingham protests. President Jeff Kennedy immediately proposed a comprehensive new civil rights bill that would be enacted into Congress. The statute would become the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This led to the civil rights activists challenging the southern state leader to do away with racial segregation as they had the support from the president.
Racial segregation was also witnessed in high education as a black student who was qualified to join the university was not allowed based on his skin color. By the Governor who thought that it was in his power to enforce laws that segregated blacks from joining schools meant for whites. Jeff Kennedy resolved this racial act by sending federal law authorities to ensure that the lack of students was enrolled in the university. Federal has then surpassed the State’s rights of racial segregation.
Jeff Kennedy’s speech on Civil rights changed the course of racism in the US. He addressed the issues black people faced and denied. Blacks were not allowed to eat in public restaurants, attend school freely, get employment with good pay, etc. He referred to Abraham Lincoln who freed them from slaves but there were not entirely free from oppression. The bill was later become an Act after his death whereby he was shot in a motorcade. The leaders enacted the bill into a right as a way of honoring his work in fighting to end racial segregation and thus providing everyone with equal rights.
Reference
O’Reilly, Kenneth. (1988). The FBI and the Civil Rights Movement during the Kennedy Years – from the Freedom Rides to Albany.” The Journal of Southern History 54 (1988) 201- 232. JSTOR.
Patterson, Thomas G., and William Brophy (1986). October Missiles and November Elections: The Cuban Missile Crisis and American Politics, 1962.” The Journal of American History 73 (1986): 87-119. JSTOR.