Civil Rights Dbq

Lack of civil rights for African Americans in the United States can be dated as far back as 1619, when African Americans were brought to Jamestown to work. Thankfully, many changes have been made throughout many different presidential terms ending slavery and bring civil rights to African Americans. Some of these stepping stones included the abolishment of slavery by Abraham Lincoln and the passing of the Civil Rights Act by Lyndon B Johnson. However, with these successes also came setbacks such as Theodore Roosevelt’s actions regarding the Brownsville incident. With this in consideration, it can be argued that a president such as Theodore Roosevelt hurt the civil rights movement while Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B Johnson were the two most

supportive and effective presidents in bringing civil rights to African Americans
Due to being the president during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln is well-known in the issue of civil rights.

However, he is known for doing great things for African Americans despite the immense amount of struggles he faced. Almost immediately after news of Lincoln’s election spread to the South, states began seceding from the Union because they believed their lifestyle-the use of slavery-was in danger . By the time Lincoln was in office, seven states-South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas-had all seceded. Lincoln made attempts to compromise but none could be made by the time of his inauguration. Southern States Lincoln fearing for his life so on his way to his inauguration he dressed in disguise, sneaking on a night train passing through the slave state of Maryland on his way to Washington, trying to avoid assassination (Brinkley 366). When Lincoln made his inauguration address he has no intention of interfering with slavery and says the constitution does not state whether congress can protect or prohibit slavery (Lincoln qtd. In “Abraham Lincoln Inauguration Address”). Lincoln also addressed

the secession issue. He told the people that no state can leave the Union because it is older than the Constitution and the government would “hold, occupy, and possess” federal property if need be in any seceded states (Lincoln qtd. in “Abraham Lincoln Inauguration Address”). In the entirety of his address, Lincoln provides facts more than opinions appearing more neutral to the slavery issue, however it is evident from other speeches Lincoln had made he was anti-slavery. He even said in a letter once “I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel” (Lincoln qtd. in “Letter to Albert G. Hodges”). This passion toward anti-slavery is what really made progress in abolishing slavery which would put African Americans on the path of gaining civil rights.
At the start of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln remained cautious to the idea of emancipation, but as the war began to pick up in momentum, so did Lincoln’s thoughts of emancipation.

It started in 1861 with the passing of the Confiscation Act, freeing all slaves held with “insurrectionary” purposes (Brinkley 372). As the war continued, the Union was loosing white soldiers volunteering to fight. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass began to argue that enlisting black soldiers could give the Union bodies to help them win (“Black Civil War Soldiers”). However, Lincoln was hesitant because he feared enlisting African Americans would lead to loyal border states secede, totally eliminating their chances at winning the war (“Black Civil War Soldiers”). Nonetheless, the war was nowhere near an end, the Union needed soldiers, and African Americans were enthusiastic about fighting. So Lincoln began to rethink his stance on black soldiers which led to the second Confiscation Act in 1862, allowing the president to enlist African Americans, including freed slaves, as soldiers (Brinkley 372). Because of laws like these, as the war progressed many northerners joined forces and leaned more toward emancipation. It was after a Union victory from the Battle of Antietam that Lincoln officially announced he intended to use his war powers to free all slaves in the Confederacy (Brinkley 373). And he backed up this statement when only a few months later he signed the Emancipation Proclamation stating

“by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons” (Lincoln “Emancipation Proclamation”). This forever freed all slaves in areas of the Confederacy minus those already under Union control: Tennessee, western Virginia, and southern Louisiana. The Proclamation also did not apply to any border slave states because they never officially seceded from the Union and were not subject to the president’s war powers. So while the proclamation’s powers were limited they still made a lasting impact because it declared war was being fought not only to save the union but to eliminate slavery. Even though African Americans faced troubles during the war, such as unequal pay and more grueling tasks than those for white soldiers, it was an astronomic change for their own life and for the lives of every African American after them. These changes are primarily credited to Abraham Lincoln, for he produced the Emancipation Proclamation and eventually the Thirteenth Amendment to the