When Did the Civil Rights Movement Begin? Reconstruction & the Civil Rights Act of 1875
Today, Mary looks at an image from the Reconstruction era that challenges us to reconsider what we mean when we say “the civil rights movement.” Typically, if someone says, "Civil Rights Movement," we think of the 1950s and 1960s, but does the story go back further? Similarly, if someone mentions “the civil rights act” we think of the landmark legislation in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But this isn’t the only civil rights act to date nor is it the first.
Explore the 13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, and 15th Amendment (Reconstruction Amendments), the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and other primary sources surrounding the era or reconstruction and the continuous work to achieve civil rights for black Americans.
0:08 Hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Bridge from the Past. Art across US history. I’m your host, Mary, and this series is for students like you to get ahead in your US. History class by using images as a point of departure to think about complicated topics in our nation’s history. Today, we’re looking at an image from the Reconstruction era that challenges us to reconsider what we
0:31 mean when we say the Civil Rights Movement. Typically, when you hear the civil rights movement, you think of the 1950s, the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks. But does the story go back further than that? Let’s jump in and see. Our question is, when did the Civil Rights Movement really begin? And here’s our image.
0:52 The shackle broken by the genius of freedom. This is a lithograph which is basically a print, and it’s from approximately 1874. So I can see here the title the Shackle broken by the genius of freedom. So shackles are like handcuffs, something that would bind your hands or feet together, and the Genius of Freedom.
1:13 Okay, so it’s an interesting title, and there’s a lot going on in this picture. So I can see in the beginning there’s a lot of words that are kind of hard to read. I see a banner hanging here, and in the center of the image is Honorable Robert B. Elliott. So honorable is usually a term that’s applied to someone in some sort of office.
1:35 So perhaps this is a reference to a specific person. This guy right here looks like he’s talking, and they appear to be listening. So I’m not sure who that is. That’s one question that I have, and it looks like there are scenes of fighting at the top, and then down here at the bottom, there appear to be soldiers, sailors. I can see men on pedestals,
1:58 so I’m assuming they are significant, but I’m not sure who they are. So I have a lot of questions. And I can also see 1874. So I can see this is the time period after the Civil War. So there’s a lot going on here. I have a lot of questions, but as with any primary source, I need to take a step back and consider
2:18 the context before I can really dive in further. So let’s do that. What do I need to know to really dive into this image? Well, first of all, we’re talking about the period after the Civil War, which is Reconstruction. So there are really two big questions going on in the country during this time period of Reconstruction.
2:39 First, how to bring back the eleven states, former Confederate states, that succeeded from the Union, and also this huge question of how to redress the inequalities of slavery. Reconstruction has really divided into two time periods for this Presidential Reconstruction and also Congressional Reconstruction. So at first, Abraham Lincoln has said
2:59 about a plan for reconstruction, of course, he’s assassinated. And his vice president. Andrew Johnson becomes president. Johnson was a southerner, and even though he supported the abolition of slavery, he was really not sympathetic or interested in protecting the rights of former slaves. Many people in congress weren’t happy with Johnson’s approach at all.
3:23 So the Congressional reconstruction sort of takes over and is more aggressive in overriding the President’s veto in passing legislation to protect the rights of freedmen. So freedman is what the formerly enslaved people were referred to during this time period, and they also wanted stricter requirements to let the confederate states back into the league.
3:43 So in 1874, which is the date of our image, we are in Congressional Reconstruction. During Reconstruction, you have three amendments to the constitution path. The 13th amendment abolishes slavery. The 14th amendment declares anyone born in the United States a citizen. And as a citizen, you have the protection
4:05 of due process, and the laws are supposed to protect you equally. So due process is a pretty important concept if you’re talking about American history and American civics, it’s basically protections for you as accused of something. So the burden of proof is on the accuser. You have certain protections and certain processes trials, trial by jury that have to be followed.
4:28 And you’re also going to see the passage of the 15th amendment, which is designed to ensure that African Americans are not denied the right to vote. So on top of these amendments, you also have important pieces of legislation that are up for debate during Reconstruction. So you have the freedman’s bureau that’s created, which is basically to provide
4:52 assistance to people who are destitute by the civil war. So blacks and whites alike. And the freedman’s bureau is going to take an active role initially in redistributing land to African Americans. And its biggest legacy is arguably in education and educating formerly enslaved. You’re also going to see in this period civil rights legislation.
5:14 So civil rights are rights that we enjoy as citizens, so the right to have a seat on the bus or a train, or the right to go to a movie theater or a place of amusement. You have two important pieces of civil rights legislation passed during Reconstruction. One in 1866, which basically declares all persons born in the United States to be citizens.
5:37 Very similar to the 14th amendment. You can see that was passed a little bit later. So first it was legislation, then it’s enshrined in our Constitution. And the civil rights act of 1875 is introduced in 1870. So it’s going to be debated for a long time. And it was basically a bill outlying
5:57 racial discrimination in juries, schools, places of amusement, so theaters, places where you could stay, like hotels and so public accommodations. So a big piece of legislation introduced during reconstruction in 1870. It’s up for debate. This is where we are in time.
6:17 Let’s go back into our image. So I am going to start by focusing in right here. So the Honorable Robert B. Elliott is a congressman. He’s a congressman from South Carolina, and he’s actually representing the same district that John C. Calhoun represented.
6:37 So you may remember him in US history. He was the guy who writes that slavery is a positive good. Now you have this man, an African American man, representing that same area in the United States Congress. Elliott is giving a speech debate to put forward arguing for the passage of this civil rights bill.
6:57 And you can see up here is a very famous quote from his speech. It says, what you give to one class, you must give to all. So he’s a very passionately arguing for the passage of this legislation. I’m going to zoom out, back out for a second and show you a picture right here of Robert Brown Elliott.
7:19 So here he is right here. And this is from the collection of the House of Representatives. And on the right you have a picture of other African American representatives and senators who served in Congress during the Reconstruction period. So Robert the Elliot was the youngest. He’s actually 30 or 31 when he takes office. And he was very well educated and he was a wonderful speaker.
7:42 So lots of people wrote about and praised his eloquence in his speech. So this lithograph, this print that we’re looking at here is basically honoring his speech and how what a convincing argument he made for the passage of the civil rights bill. If you zoom in on some of these people here to the left, this is Abraham Lincoln.
8:03 It’s kind of hard to make out, but this is Abraham Lincoln. The capital is in the background and he’s holding the Emancipation Proclamation. Over here is Charles Sumner. So Sumner introduced the civil rights bill in 1870 and one of his famous quote of Sumners is below the quality of rights is the first of rights.
8:23 So this civil rights bill of 1875 is actually also referred to as the summoner bill. If I zoom back out for you guys, I can show you over here you have a picture of African Americans serving in the Civil War. So you have soldiers, you have sailors, and it’s basically saying these men fought and died for this cause.
8:47 And now this is basically we’re arguing for equality of rights. Down here, I’ll zoom in for you on this last image. At the bottom you have a farm scene. So it’s a little hard to make out, it’s a little greeny, but it’s an American slave labor of the past.
9:07 Free labor is of the present. So we toil for our own children and not those of others. So you can see these people are they’re working for themselves, right? Slavery is a thing of the past and what needs to be done to ensure that African Americans enjoy equal rights? It’s the passage of this legislation.
9:27 So the legislation does pass in 1875, but it is watered down. So originally Sumner suggest wanted no discrimination in juries, in schools. This is actually removed from the legislation, and this is going to be an ongoing fight in American history that’s taken up
9:50 with a vengeance in the civil rights movement of the 20th century. But it didn’t start there. So we started by asking how this image can help us think about when the civil rights movement moves began. And we learned that there are important figures in this fight that maybe we haven’t heard about for sure, but this fight really goes back beyond
10:12 Rosa Parks, beyond Martin Luther King, as important as they are. So now I’m going to throw it back to you. There is so much more to this story. So what questions do you have? Or what should we talk about next? Be sure to comment with your thoughts below, like and subscribe to our channel to get access to all sorts of videos to help you in your history in civics classes all year long,
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