Easy text: African Americans - from Slavery to Civil Rights

The first Africans arrived in America in 1619. They were not slaves but servants contracted for a number of years to the English settlers and they worked in return for their board. The slave trade developed in the 18th century. Africans were brought against their will and transported to the American colonies under terrible conditions. There they were sold as slaves to work on the plantations mainly in the southern states. A white slave owner was free to do whatever he wanted with them as they were considered to be his property. He could sell the slaves, divide up their families, punish or kill them.

The slave trade was made illegal in the North in 1808 and eventually during the Civil War (1861 – 65) the president, Abraham Lincoln, signed the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) making all slaves free. However, this was not the end of the problems for African Americans. They were discriminated against and suffered oppression for another hundred years. In the South, there were laws which said that they were not allowed to own land, to vote or to mix with whites. This is called segregation and the laws were called Jim Crow laws. Many African Americans migrated to the North in the early 20th century. This was called the Great Migration. But even in the North, blacks were generally worse off than whites. They had lower incomes, higher unemployment and poorer educational opportunities.

The Civil Rights Movement 1955 – 1968 grew from the desire to abolish racial discrimination against African Americans. There were sit-ins, demonstrations and boycotts arranged in areas which were reserved for whites in buses, trains and restaurants. One of the leaders for the Civil Rights Movement was Martin Luther King. He fought against discrimination using peaceful and non-violent means. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and in 1968, less than four years later, he was assassinated. Other black leaders like Malcolm X, were more militant. In August 1963, over 200,000 people took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. There Martin Luther King gave his famous speech, “I Have a Dream”. This and other protests led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The new law banned discrimination in public places. Blacks and whites could now go to the same schools and use the same public facilities, such as parks, buses, restaurants, etc.

At the time of the American Civil War, every seventh American was an African. Today, there are 38.1 million (2009) African Americans, or 12.6% of the population. More than half of the African Americans have raised their standard of living, have improved their economical status and have better education and work opportunities. However, many of the blacks live in large cities with high rates of social problems such as unemployment, illiteracy, drug addiction, crime and violence. Many African Americans are leading figures in politics and business and, of course, in the fields of entertainment and sport. They have come a long way from slavery to the inauguration in 2009 of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.

This text is an easy version of From Slavery To Civil Rights and African Americans Today.