History HomeWork

Historical Roots of the Black Lives

Matter Movement

Racism, Black Islam,

Black Nationalism, & the Black Civil Rights

Movement in U.S. & World History

The Columbian Exchange (1500-1800)

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The Atlantic Slave Trade (1500-1900, esp. 1700-1850)

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The Industrial & Social Revolutions (1750-1945, esp. 1830-1900)

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The Great Migration(s) (1850-1925)

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Western Imperialism & World Dominance (1800-1991)

(1) Slavery

(2) The American Revolution (1776-83)…

(3) Later rise of the KKK, black lynchings, & ‘Jim Crow’ segregation laws following Civil War Emancipation amidst…

(4)Religious & scientific racist theories…

(4) all gave rise to the development of Black (Muslim & Christian) identity movements & freedom struggles.

The French Revolution

1789

The American Revolution

1776

1776-1783: American Independence – “All men are created equal”?

(1) Free the slaves & make them U.S. citizens

(2) Free the slaves & send them back to Africa

(3) Consider them sub-human and leave them in chains

“It will probably be asked, Why not retain and incorporate the blacks

into the state…? Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites;

ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have

sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made;

and many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in the

extermination of the one or the other race.

“To these objections, which are political, may be added others,

which are physical and moral. The first difference which strikes us is

that of colour.”

-- Thomas Jefferson,

“Notes on the State of Virginia”

1781-82

1783 petition for return to found “settlement”

------------------------------------- 1787 ‘Free Africans’ of Boston

Petition for return to Africa to “form themselves into a civil society, united by

a political constitution.” --------------------------------------------------

Sierra Leone & Liberia

The Haitian Slave Revolt

& Independence

for Haiti

1790-1804

1800 - Gabriel Prosser

----------------- 1820 –

Denmark Vesey -----------------

1831 - Nat Turner

1817 - Andrew Jackson & the American Colonization

Society (ACS)

Anti-Abolition & Deportation of ‘Free Blacks’

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(cf. 1830 Indian Removal Act)

“Ours is the government of the white man. The great misfortune of what was formerly Spanish America, is to be traced to the fatal

error of placing the colored race on an equality with the white. …Are we to associate

with ourselves as equals, companions, and fellow citizens, the Indians and mixed races of Mexico? I would consider such an association

as degrading to ourselves and fatal to our institutions.”

(Sen. John Calhoun, Southern Democrat, 1848)

1842 = Alexander McCain. Slavery Defended from Scriptures.

1852 = Josiah Priest. Bible Defense of Slavery.

1853 = Author comte de Gobineau. The Inequality of the Human Races.

1861 & 1868 = J.H. Van Evrie. White Supremacy and Negro Subordination.

1899 & 1911 = Houston Stewart Chamberlain. The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century.

1916 = Madison Grant. The Passing of the Great Race.

“God superintended the formation of two of the sons of Noah in the womb of their mother. In an extraordinary and supernatural manner, giving to these children such forms of bodies, constitutions of natures and complexions of

skin as suited his will. Japheth he caused to be born white, while he caused Ham to be born black, a color still further removed from the

red hue of his parents than was white.” (Josiah Priest, Defense of Bible Slavery, 1852)

“God’s nomenclature of creation included birds, fowls, creeping things, cattle, beasts,

Adam and Eve. Beasts were not four footed, but two footed, including the

apes. Since the Negro is quite definitely not in the family of Noah, but is presently with us today, he must have been in the Ark. But since only Noah’s family has

descended from Adam, the conclusion is certain, the Negro is inevitably a beast.

“…consequently he has no soul to be saved, and in fact does not even

need to be the object of our evangelistic effort.”

(Buckner H. Paine, The Negro, 1867)

1850 – Fugitive Slave Act

All blacks required to prove they were free

or be subject to claim by slave owners.

1857 - Dred Scott Case U.S. Supreme Court “Negroes…had no rights which the white man

was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to

slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever profit could be made by it. …Negroes of the African race…were not intended to be

included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution.“ (Chief Justice R.B. Taney)

1857

_______________ following the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the end of the Civil War (1865).

__ The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) arose __ Black lynchings began to dramatically increase __ Immigrants from Europe and other parts of the world began to pour into the U.S. in search of land and jobs.

1877-1896: End of Reconstruction,

Rise of 'Jim Crow' Segregation Laws

In the 1896 Supreme Court Case of Plessy vs. Fergusun, the court ruled that _____________ facilities were in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.

__ ‘only racially integrated’ __ ‘separate but equal’

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11 & Acts 17)

God separated the peoples & nations according to their

languages

Edward Wilmot Blyden _________. (MS)

__ was an African American from the Caribbean who had moved to the West African nation of Liberia in 1851.

__ was an educator and politician.

__ concluded that Islam, as opposed to Christianity, had succeeded in producing genuine black civilization, self-respect, high morals, industry, deep spirituality, and social unity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

__ was the author of a book in 1887 on ‘Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race’ which continued to be read long after he died in 1912. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

__ became a source of knowledge and inspiration in the Garvey movement and other organizations committed to the political self- determination of black people.

1895-1930: Black Nationalist Revival 1897: American Negro Academy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1909: W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) & the NAACP ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1913) 1925: Timothy Drew Ali founds Moorish Science Temple in Newark, NJ (black dignity and supremacy over whites). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1914: Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) established by Marcus Garvey. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1920-30s: 2nd KKK re-grouped and active through U.S.

Elijah Muhammad (1934Æ), as leader of the Nation of Islam, _______.

__taught Black dignity & Black supremacy, God himself was Black

__ preached the need for economic and financial independence, encouraging believers to establish and patronize their own businesses.

__ emphasized the need for black political self-determination.

__ taught his followers that the total separation of the races would be the only lasting solution to racism.

__ told them not to vote in U.S. elections or serve in the U.S. Military.

__ insisted they were members of the Nation of Islam, not the United States.

1930s: Great Depression -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1930s: ‘The Great Debaters’ (Wiley College) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1940s: Malcolm X jailed & converted to Black Islam -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1941-1948: World War II & Truman’s military desegregation order ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1954-1970s: Black Civil Rights Movement & Black Nationalist ('Black Power') Resurgence (MLK, Jr. & Malcolm X)