The Memphis Race Riots of 1866

The Memphis Race Riots of 1866 immediately stemmed from policeman brutality towards African Americans on the night of April 30th, 1866. The policemen involved reportedly forced a party of men off of the sidewalk and in the process one of them officers tripped over one of the black men after he had fallen. As a result of this accident, the policemen then engaged in brutally beating the men they had forced off of the sidewalk with their revolvers. The volume of the fight attracted the attention of onlookers and more policemen became involved in the altercation. In the squabble, one officer injured his finger and another was hit with accidental discharge from the pistol of another officer. As a result of these injuries, the policemen began firing their weapons on the party of black men who had done nothing wrong. After the original group of black men had fled the scene the officers opened fire on anyone in the vicinity, including men, women, and children. More officers arrived and then they too joined in the attack on defenseless black people. These horrific events lasted, in a discontinuous fashion, until the fourth of May. In total, the number of people killed was forty-six, seventy people were injured, and five women raped. In addition to these crimes twelve churches and fourth schools were burned over the course of the riots.

In the aftermath of the riots, there were no consequences imposed upon the offending officers, as was the norm in the South. This lack of punishment, despite the identification of the perpetrators, was like what happened legally in regards to the lynchings that took place all over the South. With the government employees in favor of white supremacy, any white person essentially had free will to do whatever they wanted to any black person they encountered. All they had to do was accuse the black person of a crime and the town, or police force would come in to help harm the black person.  An important note is that all that had to happen was an accusation by a white person and harm upon the black person would commence. The black population was never privy to the right of a trial and were frequently, "conveniently", broken out of jail by the angry mob and then lynched. Similar to what happened with the lynchings previously mentioned, the officers involved in the Memphis Race Riots, simply accused the black men they attacked of not getting off of the sidewalk and then when he fell trying to get out of their way, for falling on the officer. In this time, a simple accusation, despite the lack of just cause would result in support from fellow white people and the party of black people involved would receive the short end of the stick almost every time.

The reason why these events took place and why they were allowed to happen by the civil authorities was the desire to keep the black population morally down. The pictures and significant amounts of knowledge the public possessed about these events and how nothing was done to punish the offending officers or lynchers demonstrated to the black community in the South that they were powerless. They hoped that this lack of power would keep them from coming up in society and seeing themselves as equal as whites. Unfortunately, these events continued for a long time after 1866 and those who harmed others in the name of racial superiority were never or rarely convicted, adding fuel to the issue of race and racial equality in America that is still prevelant today.

Bibliography
1. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-freedmens-bureau-report-on-the-memphis-race-riots-of-1866/
2. https://www.britannica.com/event/Memphis-Race-Riot

What does the differences between the colonies established by the European nations tell us? (Part 1)

When we look at the colonies established by the European powers in the New World, we can learn much more than simply where they had established their colonies. If we look at what the colonies of different European nations are composed of, how they are administrated, what their society look likes, and ask ourselves why it came to be that way, we will realize that it can tell us much more about the social conditions exiting within the European nations at that time.

Yes, religious motives, wealth, power, trade, resources, pride, and fame, are all powerful and well known motives, but I believe certain conditions existing within the European nations also affect the extend to which they colonize the New World.

In our reading, we are already aware of the difference between the colonies of the different empires. We read about how the English colonies were settler societies, which attracted enormous about of settlers, while the French colonies were literally commercial ventures made by companies who come to the new World to do business, especially with the Indians, and the Spanish colonies were hierarchical plantation systems and are often urban based. We also noticed some interesting aspects of the New World colonization. For example, while English indentured servants remained in the New World after their terms are up, the French indentured servants sent to Canada decided to move back to France once their contracts are finished.

Now, lets look at the social conditions within the mother country.

WE WILL START WITH THE ENGLISH SOCIETY

For England, we have already read in the book, there is the social crisis. The late Sixteenth century was a time of social crisis in England, with economic growth unable to keep pace with the needs of a growing population (3 million in 1550 to about 4 million in 1600). In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, landlords, introducing more modern farming practices such as crop rotation, also evicted small farmers and fenced in "commons" previously open to all, this cause English peasants to loose their plots of land that they had enjoyed a secure hold on. As this process, which was called the "enclosure" movement, continues, those who are evicted move into the cities. In the same time many problems arise, both as a result of the enclosure movement and due to other reasons....

• including...
• Decrease of wages in English cities due to the influx of unemployed population
• Increase in crime, as the unemployed and evicted become rogues, vagabonds, and vagrants, looking for work.
• Increase in prices of goods in Europe, caused by the influx of gold and silver from the mines of Latin America into Spain
• As a result...
• 50% of population in England society live below poverty line

Also, Local communities bore the full burden of taking care of these poor people, and many within these communities strive to remove these poor people.

Then came the idea that America could be a refuge for England's "surplus" population, which means that by encouraging the surplus population to move to America could benefit the mother country and emigrants alike.

The horrible economic conditions in England was so bad, that despite the risk of traveling across the ocean to found and live in a society far from civilization and in harsh conditions, many Englishmen are willing to brace the danger and seek a new life. This is evident in the fact that with 4 and 5 million population, half of Spain and a quarter of France, England produced a far larger number of me, women, and children willing to colonize the New World. As a result, between 1600 and 1700, more than half a million people left England.

Of course, the religious persecution in England is also a big problem for many of the Englishmen, such as the Puritans, who sail all the way to America for religious freedom

Considering these problems, it is no doubt why English society become an enormous, in terms of population, rural, and agricultural based settler society.

WAS THE FRENCH SOCIETY ANY BETTER?

With barely any emigrants and French settlers, and with only few cities, such as Quebec, there are reasons why French colonized America so little.

The French see America as a barrier too cross rather than a land of opportunities and fear significant emigration would undermine France's role as a European great power. Unfavorable reports about America spread within the French society. These are all examples of disincentives that discourages French emigrants and could impact the extend to which French colonize the New World. However, if the internal situation is worse enough, like England, the French society might change its mind.

Lets take a look at the French society of this time

While England has around 4 million population in 1600, France has as much as 20 million. France Renaissance saw a spectacular cultural development. After the French wars of religion, we saw the issuing of the edict of Nantes by Henry IV, which granted religious toleration to French Huguenots. 96% of the French population were peasants...

(Unfinished)

HOW ABOUT THE SPANISH SOCIETY?

The Spanish hierarchical, plantation, and urban society can be compared to the Neo imperialism of the end of the 19th century, since the society in New Spain is mainly composed of hundreds of thousands of Native Indian workers working luxury resources or mining for valuable metals while the few Spanish colonists and conquistadors rule over them.

The Spanish colonization occurred earlier than the French and English colonization, so we need to look earlier for informations on Spanish society.

(Unfinished)





Note to readers and students:

I have to acknowledge that for some countries, the conditions of the society has much less impact on the colonization in comparison to the benefits offered for colonists. This is a very complex topic, I am a bit short on information and cannot spare more time on this for now, if any of you are interested, I would really appreciate it if you can add some interesting or related information in the comment section, I will try to add them into the post when I have time :)

I want to make this open ended, I hope it can encourage some good discussions!

The Ku Klux Klan: Past & Present

      The KKK was founded in the year 1866, a response to the emancipation of the slaves and the period following where they were granted civil, political, and economic rights. Fearful for the switch towards black supremacy, the KKK aimed to incite intimindtion and violence to shut down the momentum of Black leaders. Initially, the clubw as created as a social club in Pulaski, Tenessee. The the name is derived from the Greek work: "Kyklos" which means curcle. The confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first leader of the KKK. Because of the growing violence and power of the KKK, Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. This shut down membership and make it a crime to be involved in any ulterior activities with the KKK. Indeed, the writ of habeas corpus was suspended to shut down the Klan violence. However, although founded in the 1860s, the peak of its power did not emerge until the 1920s. The revival of the KKK proved to have a terrible fate on non-white communities.  By then, the membership was over 4 million people throughout the United States.
    Protestant Nativists in 1915 revived the KKK, as their sentiment soared from novels that romanticized the South and the terrorist group. However this second surge was not only against Blacks, but targeted Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreign individuals. Fears of immigration into America and communism (Bolshevik/Menshevik issue in Europe) caused the KKK to connect with many people. The symbol of burning a cross was now prominently established.  Many individuals incorrectly believe that the KKK violence occurred due to poor whites feeling inferior to many blacks rising on the social ladder. However, the organization had membership of small farmers, laborers, planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians, and even ministers. The areas where Klan activity was the most prominent had police officers either active within the Klan or refused to do anything to stop it. So, there were 2 prominent surges of the KKK. One, after the Civil War, and the second now after the rise of nativism. The 1930s Great Depression decreased membership, but it once again increased when the Civil Rights Movement incited this terror once again. Beating, shooting, and bombing of black and white activists was not uncommon in the 1960s.
     Now, the KKK remains aligned with many of its values it exhibited in the post-Civil War and Nativist eras. Currently, the group is active in 25 states, predominantly the Deep South. "According to the Southern Poverty Law Chapter, active Klan chapters operate in Half the US states... includes places like New York, New Jersey, and Illinois"(mic.com).Now, Klan membership is around 5k-8k people, in different chapters throughout the US. They are no longer a single group, but fragmented.
  The hatred, entitlement, bigotry, fascism, racism, sexism, homophobia etc. that these groups demonstrate physically and verbally is a horrible will forever be a blemish on the history of the United States.

Bibliography:
https://mic.com/articles/121628/7-facts-about-the-kkk-operating-in-america-today#.GUKMVgfDj
http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan

KKK: The Origins

First founded as a non-violent, white supremacy group by six Confederate veterans, their plans for the Ku Klux Klan were not malicious but rather just to remain as a secret fraternity group. However, as their influence and power grew along with the size of their members, the Klan became a terrorist organization, inciting fear within those they excluded.

The growth of the Klan can almost be attributed to one factor: the recruitment former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's. He was the one whose troops, at Fort Pillow, murdered hundreds of surrendering black troops during the Civil War. The KKK spread beyond it's founding birthplace of Tennessee to almost every Southern state and attracted people from all backgrounds, including governors, planters, and even criminals. They were identified by a trademark white robe and tall, pointed white hats which covered their faces and their identity. And they all shared one common belief, that the South ought to be restored to its former "glory" during the antebellum period, with blacks in their "rightful" place under the control of their white masters.

The sought to ratify this belief through a series of lynchings, murders, and outright acts of terror in order to send a message to the black populations, stating that they were entitled to nothing, not even a sense of safety in their own homes. Klansmen burned down churches and schools, publicly executed blacks, drove them off their own land, and whipped those who refused to work for whites. Freedmen lived in constant fear of these acts of violence, knowing that the smallest thing could incite them, like having a book in their homes or for not stepping off the sidewalk to allow whites to pass. All of this was conducted under the "blind" eye of the governments, as state and federal governments in the South had members of the Klan along them.

However, not all states turned a blind eye against the blatant racist actions of the KKK. In Tennessee and Arkansas, Klansmen were arrested and executed for their crimes if proven guilty. In Texas, Governor Edmund Davis created a police force consisting of both whites and blacks, and they made over 6,000 arrests of Klan members. In North and South Carolina, armed groups fought or threatened Klansmen, stopping them from committing more violence. Finally, the federal government passed the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, effectively ending Klan activity by 1872 until it was brought back in 1915.


https://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_kkk.html

The Social Origins of Eugenics

The period after the Civil War saw everyday people struggling to deal with the immense losses in both human lives and the economy the strife had cost. A series of depressions beginning in 1873 and a fluctuating economy left starving people desperately trying to find jobs just to buy basic necessities, like food and shelter. The social hierarchy left a majority of the wealth collected within the top social class, with a vast majority of the American people living in poverty while a rich few benefitted from investing in the stock exchange. With many struggling to even get through with their lives, Americans needed someone to blame for their hardships. And their answer? They blamed the "feebleminded," "degenerates" and the "mentally diseased," or those who they felt didn't belong in society.

This dangerous viewpoint eventually lead to the "science" of eugenics, its central ideals surrounding their beliefs that certain undesirable traits, such as mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, were linked to one certain gene. The findings of gene scientist Gregor Mendel certainly helped fuel this theory, even though he had only worked with pea plants, organisms far less complicated than human beings. Those who supported eugenics believed that since all these traits were linked to a certain gene, by tracking family lineages of those who possessed this gene, they could breed these genes out of their bloodlines and eventually eliminate it altogether.

The methods they took to eliminate genes were often to sterilize others who possessed the genes, making it impossible for them to breed and pass on their traits. This "science" was actually widely accepted and believed by the general public, who sought and found something (or someone) to blame for the economic and social hardships they had been put through. They blamed the "feebleminded" and "mentally diseased" for staining society with their undesirable traits, and by removing them from society, they believed that life would improve for the rest of society.

This belief carried on for over three decades, until Hitler and Nazi Germany used eugenics to justify their actions involving genocide of the Jews. However, as a "science" that was based mainly in assumptions and not the scientific process, it's widely discredited now. Instead of using gene research or other gene tracking software, they relied mostly on physical observations, using skull measurements, poor hygiene, and laziness as markers for "defective" people. However, during such a time of loss and economic instability, it's clear that the actual truth behind this "science" was secondary to the urge to find someone to blame for their hardships.


http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring02/Holland/Social.htm
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring02/Holland/Science.htm

Eugenics in America

Eugenics is the practice of deliberately selecting traits in humans to be passed onto future generations. Eugenics as we know it today began in the late 1800s, around the time Civil War Reconstruction was ending. This was also the time when Darwin's theory of evolution was becoming more widely accepted, and it was easy for people to transition from natural selection to human designed selection. However, along with the idea that some traits should be promoted among humans, there was also the belief that other traits should be deliberately weeded out. This came to be the defense of racial supremacy: there are certain races that are genetically superior, and others should be weeded out or excluded from reproducing with the superior races.

The best example of eugenics promoted by a government has to be Nazi Germany. Hitler was a huge believer in eugenics, and he made sure German citizens people of the pure "Aryan" race. However, Hitler himself commended another country on its eugenicist progress: the US.
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American eugenicist scientists claimed that people of Eastern and Southeastern European descent must be "lower" races because they had higher proportions in jails and mental institutions than other ethnicities. Although this was a classic mix-up of causation versus correlation, this was used as scientific evidence to support the Immigration Act of 1924. The Act restricted the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southeastern European countries allowed into the US. 

Even more ominous, though, were the forced sterilization programs embraced in the name of eugenics. As proud as Californians may be about our just and liberal state, "Beginning in 1909 and continuing for 70 years, California led the country in the number of sterilization procedures performed on men and women, often without their full knowledge and consent" (UCSB link). These sterilizations were done mainly on prison populations, but it was also driven by anti-Asian and anti-Mexican sentiments. In other parts of the US, race also played into coerced sterilization. Native Americans, black people, and Mexicans were disproportionately targeted by these practices. Why? Because eugenics was used as a justification for marginalizing minority populations. While groups of people may end up disproportionately represented in prisons or mental institutions due to their circumstances (like histories of discrimination), eugenicists assumed their faults were due to the inherent nature of this group of people.

But the craziest thing about the eugenics craze is the Buck v. Bell case that went to the Supreme Court in 1927. A Virginia law requiring the women be sterilized if they were diagnosed with weak mindedness was upheld in the US Supreme Court. Chief Justice Holmes' opinion summed up the nation's acceptance of eugenics nicely: "Three generations of imbeciles are enough" (History.state.gov link).
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Though eugenics has largely been debunked, it just goes to show that America is not the haven of equality and acceptance of diversity that we wish it was.

https://www.britannica.com/science/eugenics-genetics 
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act 
http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/015287/politics-female-biology-and-reproduction 
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/unwanted-sterilization-and-eugenics-programs-in-the-united-states/ 

Movies...do people always believe what they watch?

Ponder.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sd-movies-history-american-made-tom-cruise-20170927-story.html

The $20 Bill

Back in April 2016, millions of Americans rejoiced when Obama Secretary Jacob J. Lew said that Harriet Tubman, renowned black abolitionist, would replace Andrew Jackson as the face of the $20 bill. During a conference with reports, Lew said women “for too long have been absent from our currency.” Since 1896, women have not been featured on major United States paper currency. In a note first issued in 1865, Pocahontas graced the back of the national $20 bill in an image, and Martha Washington, the initial first lady of the United States, appeared on $1 silver certificates in 1886, 1891, and 1896. Tubman, however would be the first black person - male or female - ever featured not as slaves.

During the turbulent 1850s, Harriet Tubman became renowned as a famous “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. She was born a slave in Maryland’s Dorchester County around 1820, and in 1849 she fled, leaving her free husband of five years, John Tubman, and her parents, sisters, and brother. From there, she made 19 trips back and forth from the South, escorting over 300 slaves to freedom without losing a fugitive or allowing one to turn back. Once, she proudly proclaimed to Frederick Douglass that in all of her journeys she “never lost a single passenger.” She also served as a scout, spy, and nurse during the Civil War. After the war, she returned to Auburn, New York, and dedicated herself to helping blacks forge new lives in freedom. She turned her residence into the Home for Indigent and Aged Negroes, caring for her parents and other needy relatives. In 1896, she spoke at the organizing meeting of the National Association of Colored Women in Washington, D.C. in which two generations came together to celebrate the strength of black women and to continue their fight for equality and respect. Tubman herself was the oldest member present, and was a mortal representation of the their strength and struggle. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913 at age 93. She is buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York.

The proposed $20 bill would replace Andrew Jackson with Tubman. In August of 2017, however, new Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin put Harriet Tubman’s role on the $20 in question. He told CNBC “Ultimately we will be looking at this issue. It’s not something I’m focused on at the moment.” Instead, he is concentrating on making sure any tweaks to U.S. currency bills thwart counterfeiters: “The No. 1 issue why we change the currency is to stop counterfeiting. So the issues of what we change will be primarily related to what we need to do for security purposes. I’ve received classified briefings on that. And that’s what I’m focused on for the most part.”

Jackson’s historical legacy is quite different from that of Tubman’s. He serves as a populist hero and is still celebrated with Thomas Jefferson as one of the founding fathers of the Democratic Party. But he also orchestrated the removal of Native Americans from lands east of the Mississippi River, sending them on a march still remembered as the “Trail of Tears.” He also caused one of the deepest recessions in American history by preventing a new charter for the Second Bank of the United States.

He also strongly opposed the use of paper money.

http://www.newsweek.com/history-women-currency-tubman-anderson-450414

http://time.com/money/4303112/harriet-tubman-20-bill-when-available/

http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/31/news/harriet-tubman-20-bill-mnuchin/index.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/31/treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchin-just-put-harriet-tubmans-role-on-the-20-bill-in-question.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/us/politics/mnuchin-harriet-tubman-jackson-money.html?mcubz=0

Slaughterhouse Cases

The Slaughterhouse Cases are somewhat overlooked in history, but played a huge role in the definition and usage of the newly established 14th Amendment, which essentially established that no states shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens in the United States, deprive a person of natural liberties without due process, and grant equal protection under the law. In short, the cases ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment protection of "privileges and immunities" only applied to the rights that were in the Constitution, and did not include rights that the states issued. This was the first Supreme Court interpretation on the 14th Amendment, which was part of the reason why it was one of the most important addendums to the U.S. Constitution.

A year after the 14th Amendment was passed, Louisiana's state legislature gave a single corporation a monopoly of the New Orleans slaughtering business. As a result, the slaughterhouses took action and brought the case to court, arguing that the monopoly was infringing on their 14th Amendment rights, and deprived them of property without due process, as well as abridged their privileges and immunities as a citizen of the United States.

Supreme Court further ruled that the Louisiana slaughterhouse law did not violate the 14th Amendment's equal opportunities and due process clause. The Court argued that the butchers who were suing could still earn a legal living in the area by slaughtering, so their property was not being deprived. Furthermore, the Court lawed that the 14th Amendment only banned the states from depriving blacks as a racial group from equal opportunities, and did not guarantee that all citizens should have equal economic opportunities.

The Court ruled on a five-four majority in favor of the state of Louisiana, limiting the 14th Amendment. Justice Samuel F. Miller declared that the Amendment's purpose was to protect the freedmen, and the government did not assume control over all civil rights over the states. States still maintained legal rights over its citizens, and the federal protection of civil rights that was granted in the 14th Amendment did not expand to property rights of businesses.

This decision had a large contrast with the general trend towards a powerful federal government, and limited the 14th Amendment's protection of the privileges and immunities clause.

Sources:
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_slaughterhouse.html
https://www.britannica.com/event/Slaughterhouse-Cases
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

Seneca Falls Convention of 1848

On July 19, 1848, two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, spearheaded the first formal women’s rights convention in American history. The two day event, which hosted about 300 people, was held in the Wesleyan Chapel in New York. All five women credited with organising the convention were also active in the abolitionist movement, and Frederick Douglass was present as well.

In the decades preceding the convention, both middle and upper class women across America were conscious of significant differences between themselves and their male counterparts; for example, the fact that they were not allowed to vote or own property. By the middle of the 19th country, a group of Quaker women, as well as other non-Quakers, joined to address the state of inequality between the two sexes, mostly in terms of daily interaction and “inalienable rights” similar to those stated in the Declaration of Independence. The event, hastily organized and only publicized by personal visits and newspapers, was set as a two day event in Central New York. Prior to the convention itself, some of the women, as well as their husbands, drafted The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, modeled after the Declaration of Independence. In the document, they detailed the “injuries and usurpations” that men had inflicted upon women and demanded that women be granted all of the rights and privileges that men had already possessed. including the right to vote. This was the first time in United States history that female suffrage had been mentioned on paper.

Of the 68 women that signed the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, only one woman, Charlotte Woodward Pierce, lived to see the 19th amendment passed, granting American women the right to vote. She was 18 or 19 when she attended the convention, and she was in her early 90s by the 1920s. Unfortunately, Pierce was unable to actually vote on Election Day in 1920, as she was ill and confined to her bed, but she donated a trowel to the National Women’s Party in 1921 as they broke ground on their new headquarters.

https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-19/

https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/first-wave-feminism-and-the-seneca-falls-convention/