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John F. Kennedy's influence on the US
John F. Kennedy's influence on the US
John F. Kennedy's influence on the US
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Essay one Mao Zheng (Vivian) The song,"We Shall Overcome" is a golden chant during the Civil Rights movements and the speech "we shall overcome" is about The dignity of everyone American. President Lyndon B. Johnson was giving this speech on 15th March 1965,and addressing the unequal rights this issue and arguing the American people to join and overcome their differences. His speech was so successful to convince congress to pass a law that banned racial discrimination in voting polls by the variety of strategies .Strategies include the order in which President Johnson states a couple of issues, the use of strongly emotionally charged words, logos, and his own special experience and credibility as a presidential Even a hundred year ago , …show more content…
the equality of every human being was promised and yet the African American was not equal .The "We Shall Overcome "speech was given by former president Lyndon B. Johnson during the civil right era.The day that the speech was given was a day after the million man march and martin Luther king Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech.At the 15th Amendment which was already ratified by congress in 1870, the government guaranteed all of the citizens the rights to vote regardless of race ,colors .However,only 20 percent of eligible African Americans voted until 1957 ,because of some intimidation and discriminatory requirements, like poll taxes and literacy tests .In January 1965 King and other local African Americans join an equal voting rights campaign in Selma where in spite of how many times the local African Americans tried to register for voting ,only 2 percent of them could finally vote.They had chosen to focus its efforts in Selma because they think that in the Selma the law for equal rights has been implemented notorious brutality which would attract the whole country's attention so that could pressure President and Congress to pass a new national voting rights law. In the same year February, the state trooper shot a 26- year old young man Jackson as he tried to protect his mother from the trooper's nightstick.In order to response the death of him,activities set out in Selma, to march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery in March. Several days before this speech was given, a group of Black inequality civil protesters were attacked in Selma.The local citizens and also the national guards ,troopers attacked them. As for the speaker ,In 1963,after the assassination of Kennedy,Lyndon B.
Johnson became United States president . After he became president ,Johnson announced his blueprint for America to be a "Great Society , with an end to poverty and racial injustice." Johnson thought he should make the civil rights bill passed through congress. However, at the same time , Johnson was warned by other Southerners that he was staking his own political career on passing this bill into law. Johnson believed that discrimination was morally wrong and he wanted to change it and then to lead to reintegrate south into this whole nation on economic, political and spiritual these parts. In this speech ,Johnson attempts to guarantee every American the rights to vote , argue every American should overcome their differences and its time for all of Americans to take an action and stated the rights must be opportunities …show more content…
. In this successful speech ,Johnson started with representing this speech is about the dignity of everyone to catch his audience attention immediately,since everyone has their own unique lofty soul which deserved to be respected .Johnson also uses a significant amount of pathos throughout his address to persuade the audience to agree with the bill he was trying to pass. Firstly,Johnson repeated "there are no African American problems, there are no southern problems ,there are no northern problems ,there are only Americans problems." This repetition strongly united every audience ,reminding everyone that they are same ,they are all the part of this country .Secondly,"We shall overcome " is "As A man whose roots go deeply into the southern soil,I know how agonizing racial feelings are."Johnson used his own special experience in life to convince every audience in very strongly emotional charged words .He didn't say "northern ,or southern should overcome "instead "we shall overcome " bring everybody in this country into this issue and to reconsider about it so that could pave the way for his audience to accept his opinion and makes it is more effective to call for everybody 's action to solve the problems.
In this speech ,the good use of logos takes lines straight from the constitution proving that the legislation passed a long time ago haven't been implemented at all ,such as Johnson mentioned "As African Americans ,even a college degree cannot be used to prove that they can read and write.For the fact is that the only way to pass these registrations is to show a white skin" which was a very effective way to leave the audience a "bang" enabling them to realize the unequal rights the African Americans had been suffering.And because there are unequal rights issues existed ,he encouraged everyone to act now in obedience to the oath to support and defend that constitution which completely supports his main purpose of this speech. As a president ,Johnson supported by most people of this country and he was the only one could stand up for all the people in this country .Thus to persuade all congress to pass the bill, none could be more credible as him . At the beginning ,he argued everyone not only the congress members but also every American individual to listen , to response and to take real actions.Around the end of the speech where he mostly increased his own credibility ,he stated his own vision of this great country and what kind of president he wanted to be ,"not who wants to built empires or sought grander or extended dominion"but the one to make help everyone single citizens in this nation to have a better life ,to help them educate young kids, to feed the hungry .He presented all this to let everyone know he is the one could bring them a better life so that to persuade everyone to believe in him to take actions with him. All in all,Johnson's speech was very successful to reshape everyone's attitudes towards the issues by many effective strategies.For example , the pathos he used to bring people emotion ,sympathy,as well as empathy for this issue to reshape the attitudes and the structure of this society;the logos he listed completely supported his main purpose which is to convince the congress to pass the voting polls bill ;As well as using ethos ,his own credibility as a president, as the one who desires to make this nation to be a better place.After Lyndon gave his speech congress decided to pass his bill that banned the action of racial poll discrimination .
America was about halfway divided by Civil Rights. There was the North, the side that supported it the most, and then there was the South, the side that was mostly against the bill. Johnson had been born and raised in the South having a different way of seeing Civil Rights. compared to all the Mexican Americans,
When Johnson took over the Presidency following the assassination of Kennedy, he was determined to push through the Great Society agenda. President Johnson used the recent death as a reason to quickly enact laws for social reform in memory of Kennedy. Despite Republican opposition, Johnson was able to get the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 passed through congress,
During Johnson’s presidency, the federal government significantly extended its domestic responsibilities in attempt to transform the nation to what Johnson called the “Great Society,” in which poverty and racial intolerance ceased to exist. A previously unsurpassed amount of legislation was passed during this time; numerous laws were passed to protect the environment, keep consumers safe, reduce unfairness in education, improve housing in urban areas, provide more assistance to the elderly with health care, and other policies to improve welfare. Johnson called for a “War on Poverty,” and directed more funds to help the poor; government spending towards the poor increased from six billion in 1964 to twenty-four and a half billion dollars in 1968. Not only did Johnson improve the American economy and greatly reduce poverty, but he also advocated for racial equality; he managed to get Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making segregation illegal in public accommodations/institutions. He also enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, prohibiting literacy tests in areas in which the amount of voters was under a certain number, which forced many southern states to allow more blacks to vote. As a result of his presidency, the poor and minorities enjoyed significant benefits from the more favorable legislations and more successful American legislation.
Lyndon Johnson was a teacher at WElhusen Elementary School in Coltulla Texas. During this time he seen that the children's parents are giving them all they can, an they are hardworking people. Having money, eating, and learning was difficulties to them at this time, but the Civil Rights Acts guarnteed all Americans the right to use the facilties. The White House wasn't LBJ's the natural habbit, he wasn't used to the luxary. Texas is a long from way from the White House, and their attitude was a lot different than he was used to. Johnson put in a lot of effort to changing things in American.
Johnson, having grown up in a poor southern household, sympathized with the south yet, abhorred the planter class. In his Reconstruction plan, he issued a blanket pardon to all southerners except important confederate figures who would have to personally meet with the president in order to be forgiven and given citizenship. . Slaves in America had been promised freedom, and through the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom from slavery is technically what they received.... ... middle of paper ... ...
As soon as Johnson was made president he began to disagree with Congress, particularly those Congressional members of his opposing party. Later, he even broke ties with his own party citing the fact that he wouldn’t endorse a new amendment to the Constitution granting blacks the rights of citizenship. Congress did not approve of President Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction. The Wade Davis Plan returned power to the same people who had tried to break the Union by granting them amnesty. The Congress mainly opposed this plan because it contained no provision to protect the free slaves. The Freedman’s Bureau Act was intended to help former slaves to shift from slavery to emancipation and assured them equality before law.
After all, Lyndon Johnson had successfully achieved his main goal of getting many supporters from the south and it changed the nation towards a positive direction after the speech.
The African-American civil rights movement was a cruel time for the African American race to endure due to the harsh discrimination and segregation that they faced. This movement fought for the rights and the equality of African Americans in the United States. With all that was going on, African Americans turned to music for motivation, courage, inspiration and strength to overcome the difficult obstacles that they would soon face. “Non-violence marchers faced beating, hosing, burning, shooting, or jail with no defense other than their courage and songs” (Hast 45). “It's been a long, a long time coming/ But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will” (Cooke, Sam. A Change Is Gonna Come). Music was their greatest hope for change in the near future and is the thing that kept them fighting for what they deserved. They came together with each other due to the lyrics of many different songs that kept the civil rights movement alive and known. Music painted a vision that they could picture and look forward to; it was a dream that they could fight for. “Music empowered African Americans to hold tight to their dream of racial equality” (Jeske). A genre of music that bought society together during this movement was folk.
He was also a huge factor in helping abolish discrimination. By signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Johnson made it clear that discrimination in the United States was coming to an end. Then, he signed the Voting Rights Act, which gave all Americans the right to vote regardless of a person’s race, a person’s color, or a person’s knowledge. After that, he abolished the poll tax which stated that citizens no longer had to pay a tax to go to the polls and vote for a president. He was also the president during the Vietnam War.
In response to the bill, Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Bill. He claimed that blacks should not be citizens and that Congress was trying to infringe on the States’ rights with the bill. Johnson strongly opposed large aspects of the Reconstruction due to his stubbornness and bigoted tendencies. As an immediate result of the executive action, Congress voted to override the veto and make the Civil Rights Bill law in 1866.
...ights for African Americans as well as a political rights for the people, his goal was to abolish slavery and felt that “all men created equally” should uphold for everybody, everybody that was man at least. Johnson the president, in the beginning proved to be loyal to his radicals by chastising the confederacy making sure there would be repercussions for their actions. Also his amnesty plan to reinstate the south states was far harsher than that of Lincoln's. Johnson’s sanctions deprived confederacy officers, people in high power, and anyone who owned valuable assets could be subject to confiscation. The purpose was to shift political power in south and reward it to freed blacks and white southerners who stayed neutral during the war. Hahn states in his article that, “During reconstruction, black men held political offices in every state of the former confederacy”
As President, Johnson decided to follow Lincolns plans by granting amnesty to almost all former confederates; establishing a Provisional government; and ratifying the thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery. However, Johnson was not the same man as Lincoln for he was quite unpopular, especially with Congress. As the south was in a transitional period, its politics were changing as well. First, the Reconstruction Act allowed blacks to v...
...s speech made an immense impact on the injustices of segregation and discrimination against people.
The NAACP used their platform in society to move away from Black Nationalism into their own agenda of welfare and interracial political campaigning (Redmond 64). As with “Ethiopia”, the anthem was used to unite the political aspirations of the NAACP. Because of its presence in the black community in the south, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” brought in that demographic that was missing from the NAACP. Without this the organization would not have been the powerhouse that it became which in turn helped with the agenda and brought the NAACP into the national foreground. While being a political stepping stone, the anthem brought together Japanese achievements that would in turn help with black culture (Redmond 82). Because of the interest in the anthem, the cultures of Japan and black America would help further the NAACP. Japan’s prominence in the world gave the blacks the international platform that they needed that gave more stability to their position as a political and cultural standing in society. “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” anthem showed that some of these anthems had their benefits to a political organization. Redmond stated the song “has retained the institutional title of anthem in the Black United States (273-274). Anthems can be beneficial to the political organization that they stand for and this song proves that. By staying in prominence “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” has established the NAACP as an organization is still influential today even though it has a long history that could have ended it trajectory into mainstream
Aside from the presidential reconstruction, the Congressional Reconstruction was also taking place. The Congressman disagreed with both Lincoln and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction. Their main two goals was to integrate African Americans into society by granting them citizenship and the right to vote, and the second goal was to destroy the political powers that former slaveholders had in the South. They first implemented these ideas by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws. Although the black codes came about and Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, Congress had the power to override his veto. This shows that even though the President is the leader of the nation, the Constitution guarantees that Congress has some measure of influence over the President and may chose to block his procedures, Check and Balances. With success, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the country. All citizens were entitled to equal protection under law and be given their rights. The Congress agreed that if the Confederate states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment they could come back into the Union. Having not followed the Congress request, Congressed passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This forced the Confederate states to undergo Reconstruction as the Congress wanted. To ensure that Southerners could not change their state constitution in the future, they passed the Fifteenth Amendment and the last congressional Reconstruction law, another Civil Rights