The US presidency and civil rights

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The US presidency and civil rights Mark Rathbone American presidents cannot always get their own way. How did different presidents affect the long battle for civil rights for America's black people?

1 The US presidency and civil rights Mark Rathbone American presidents cannot always get their own way. How did different presidents affect the long battle for civil rights for America's black people? ^Reconstruction, ): period of rebuilding after the American Civil War. The ' ^rmer Confederate states in the South were occupied by federal troops and a series of civil rights measures was passed by Congress. Centennial souvenir postcard of Abraham Lincoln, 1909, with Slave Emancipation theme. What influence did US presidents have on civil rights between 1865 and 1980? On 18 December 1865, the US Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which declared that, 'Neidier slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within die United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.' Lincoln The abolition of slavery was a fitting memorial to President Abraham Lincoln. His Emancipation Proclamation, which was announced on 22 September 1862 and took effect on 1 January 1863, freed few slaves immediately, but it made abolition of slavery a war aim and ultimately led to the passage of the 13th Amendment. Lincoln became a role model for future presidents who sought actively to promote civil rights. His actions demonstrated how a determined president could overcome strong opposition and vested interests to achieve progress in this field. As Lincoln was assassinated before the 13th Amendment was passed, it also showed that those who stood up for the cause of civil rights often had to pay a high price. The abolition of slavery was just the beginning of a long struggle to achieve full civil rights, not only for African Americans, but also for Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics and for trade unions. There was further progress in the Reconstruction era which followed the end of the Civil War, with the passage of several civil rights acts, but much of this ground was lost after the Compromise of 1877, which marked the beginning of many decades in which relations between Continuity and change; Similarity and difference ~U Before you read this Make a diagram illustrating Jthe division of.powers in the US Constitution. You should include: the president Congress ; the Supreme Court "S the states,who can overrule each of them? You also need a good overall picture of : the civil rights issue over the. 100 years from the Civil War to the 1960s. In particular, check that ybu know what:is meant by: Reconstruction, Jim Crow, : lynching and segregation.

Presidential election poster for Lyndon Johnson, 1964. racial groups, especially in the South, were characterised by segregation, violence and white supremacy.

2 Presidential election poster for Lyndon Johnson, racial groups, especially in the South, were characterised by segregation, violence and white supremacy. There were some signs that the tide was beginning to turn again in the 1930s, but it was not until the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board af Education case in 1954, that the civil rights movement began to make real progress. From the abolition of slavery at Lincoln's instigation in 1865, the attitudes of US presidents towards civil rights were sometimes positive, sometimes negative and sometimes apparently indifferent. But they were always an important factor in die progress of the civil rights movements. The attitude of the president often dictated the nature of the legislation that was passed during his period in,'ffice, the extent to which the federal government was willing to coerce state authorities and whether federal intervention enhanced or eroded civil rights. Even those presidents who appeared neutral on the issue had an effect, for in order to prevent progress towards greater civil rights a president merely had to do nothing; to push forward civil rights, he had to be more of an activist. Often the attitude of the president towards civil rights was heavily influenced by electoral considerations and public opinion. What is sometimes difficult to gauge is the relationship between public opinion and presidential decisions: when a change in policy occurred, was a president just reflecting a change in public opinion, or was he prepared to move ahead and lead? Roosevelt and Johnson Franklin D. Roosevelt was responsible for the first significant steps forward since the end of Reconstruction: the Citizenship Act and Indian Reorganisation Act of 1934 marked a real turning point in the treatment of Native Americans, the Wagner Act in 1935 recognised the rights of trade unions, and the establishment of the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department in 1938 was an important signal that the federal government took racial matters seriously. But the most significant of Roosevelt's actions in the field of civil rights was Executive Order 8802, issued in 1941, which declared, 'There shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defence industries and in government, because of race, creed, colour, or national origin.' This meant not only that posts in the federal government service were open to all, but also that any company which sought lucrative government wartime contracts was obliged to take steps to end discrimination in its employment practices. Roosevelt also established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to investigate incidents of discrimination. There were, however, limits to what he achieved in the field of civil rights. By Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, Roosevelt was responsible for the unjust internment of thousands of American citizens during the Second World War, merely because of their Japanese ancestry, and he was also content to fight the war with segregated Compromise of 1877: political agreement which brought Reconstruction to an end. There was a dispute over the result of the 1876 presidential election. The Democrats agreed to concede to Republican Rutherford Hayes if Hayes would withdraw federal troops from the South and end Reconstruction. He did. segregation: provision of 'separate, but equal' facilities for different races in education, transport and public places. In practice, the facilities were separate but far from equal and segregation was used to keep African Americans subservient. - -.]-'-'.;-: :j --"--:: ' / , The^history of civil[rights irirthe.usa is divided broadly into three periods: the Reconstruction era betweercl865 and 1877, when real progress was made; the period after 1877'-, when most of these gains were lost and segregation kept racial minorities in a subservient position;-the pedottfrom the11930s, and especially after the Brown.case of 1954, when civil rights were achieved, though often against bitter opposition. ' : Some presidents (Lincoln, tyndon Johnson) actively promoted civil rights. Other presidents (Andrew Johnson, Hayes) used their power to hold back progress on civil rights issues. A third category (Wilson, Eisenhower) were;not openly hostile, but failed to use their powers to promote civil:rights, thereby effectively holding back progress. Separation of powers in the US Constitution, means presidents dp not always get their way and can find their policies thwarted by ; Congressional opposition or by the Supreme Court. It can be argued that the progress of civil rights was determined by other factors, such as the strength of the civil rights movement, the ability and actions of its leaders, Supreme Court rulings and Congressional support, at least as much as by presidential attitudes. September 2005

Japanese American families arriving at an internment centre in Washington State, ^1942.' Thousands :of such citizens were interned during the Second World War.

3 Japanese American families arriving at an internment centre in Washington State, ^1942.' Thousands :of such citizens were interned during the Second World War. grandfather clauses: voter registration laws in.<5&. Southern states requiring an applicant to prove his grandfather had the right to vote. A means of excluding African Americans from voting, as the majority of their grandfathers were slaves. 'Jim Crow' laws: named after a stereotypical black music hall character, these laws imposed segregation in many Southern states after the end of Reconstruction. Ku Klux Klan: a white supremacist secret society notable for its vicious acts F terrorism against African Americans. Tulsa Riot: worst riot in American history. In an assault on the successful African American business district of Tulsa organised by the Ku Klux Klan, 600 businesses, 21 churches and several schools were completely destroyed. Perhaps as many as 3,000 African Americans were killed. armed forces. It was left to his successor, Harry S. Truman, to end both these practices. Lyndon Johnson played a positive role in pushing a series of important acts through Congress. The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in voter registration, in employment, in hotels and restaurants and in education. The 1965 Voting Rights Act empowered the federal government to replace local registrars with federal registrars in areas where discrimination in voter registration was present. This meant that at last African Americans were not prevented from voting. In 1967, Johnson also appointed Thurgood Marshall a Supreme Court Justice, the first African American to sit in the Supreme Court. Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon, was not an obvious ally for the civil rights movement, but he began a policy of compensating Native Americans for past injustices by, for example, returning Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo people in Hayes and Nixon On the other hand, some presidents used their power to hold back civil rights. Andrew Johnson vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act and other pieces of civil rights legislation. Although Johnson's You can find information on all the US presidents mentioned in this article at the White House site: presidents. There is a useful and detailed timeline of the civil rights movement from the 1954 Brown case to the present day at under 'History and government'. For a collection of useful essays and articles giving a wider perspective, going back to the nineteenthcentury origins of the civil rights movement, see successor, Ulysses S. Grant, was more helpful towards African American civil rights, he pursued military action actively against Native Americans in the Plains Wars. Rutherford Hayes ended Reconstruction in 1877, after winning one of the most corrupt election campaigns in American history. The result was that, with federal troops withdrawn from the Southern states, they were free to reverse the civil rights gains of the previous 12 years. Through poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses, African Americans were prevented from voting and 'Jim Crow' laws imposed segregation of public facilities throughout the South. Thus Hayes's action set back the cause of African American civil rights for half a century or more and he also set a precedent by approving the use of federal troops to end the Great Railroad Strike of With their laissez-faire attitude to the role of the federal government, the Republic presidents of the 1920s, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, failed to curb the racial violence of the revived Ku Klux Klan and their isolationist and anti-immigration policies encouraged entrenchment of racist attitudes. Harding did nothing in response to the 1921 Tulsa Riot, Coolidge's 1924 National Origins Act banned immigration from Asia completely and Hoover gave no encouragement to the anti-lynching Wagner-Costigan Bill of Richard Nixon's presidency, despite his positive effect on Native Americans, was in other respects less favourable to the cause of civil rights. He opposed actively the bussing of pupils to achieve a better racial balance in schools and his appointment of four conservative justices altered the balance in the Supreme Court, ending the liberal era of the Warren Court, an effect still felt today. Wilson and Eisenhower In between these two extremes were presidents who were not openly hostile to civil rights, but who failed to use their powers to promote them, thereby holding back progress. Woodrow Wilson was liberal on international issues, as his advocacy of a League of Nations at the Versailles Conference shows, but he was notably silent on domestic civil rights issues. Dwight Eisenhower was slow to take action to promote desegregation of schools after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education in Questioned by reporters, he pointedly refused to endorse the decision. In private he said that appointing Earl Warren as Chief Justice was 'the biggest damn fool mistake I ever made', and that the Court's decision had 'set back progress in the South at least 15 years'. He did send troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, but reluctantly and only when it became apparent that there was a major threat to public order. Eisenhower's 1957 Civil Rights Act, which followed this incident, was a limited and ineffective measure.

Questions - - ' - : Is it right to say that -Democrat presidents have been more prepared to act-on eivil: rights than Republicans? Roosevelt took office in 1933.

4 Questions - - ' - : Is it right to say that -Democrat presidents have been more prepared to act-on eivil: rights than Republicans? Roosevelt took office in Why do you think he left it until 1941 to outlaw racial discrimination in government employment? This article leaves out the campaigns by black civil rights leaders like W; E. B. DeBois, Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. How important do you think these leaders -^ were in deciding whether or not a -. ':. \.::i president would take action on civil rights? To what extent did the working of the US : - Constitution help or hinder the achievement of civil rights for black Americans? Presidents only acted on civil rights if:it was in their political interests to do so. Does the evidence in this article:support:'::' that claim? Separation of powers In assessing the roles of presidents, whatever their attitude to civil rights, it must be remembered that the power of the president is not limitless. Separation of powers in the US Constitution means that presidents do not always get their way and can find their policies thwarted by Congressional opposition or by the Supreme Court. For example, Harry Truman's veto of the anti-trade union Taft-Hartley Act 1947 was overridden by Congress. In the case USA v. Cruickshank in 1876, the Supreme Court struck down the federal Enforcement Acts of , undermining an important piece of Reconstruction legislation. This, however, could work both ways, and while, as in the above examples, the action of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Congress or the Supreme Court could damage the cause of civil rights, presidents opposed to civil rights did not always get their way. For example, Andrew Johnson's attempts to veto the 1866 Civil Rights Act and other pieces of civil rights legislation were overridden by Congress. A president with a sympathetic Congress and a liberal Supreme Court had a huge advantage in efforts to push forward civil rights. But it still took personal commitment, political courage and readiness to take an activist role on the part of the president himself to exploit these favourable factors. Perhaps the best example of this was Lyndon Johnson. He was quick to take advantage of a swing in public opinion in favour of action on civil rights after the Ku Klux Klan's horrific bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in September 1963 and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 2 months later. He was helped by the massive scale of the personal mandate he won in the 1964 presidential election and the gains made by his party, the Democrats, in congressional elections at the same time. The liberal-minded Supreme Court, still under the leadership of Earl Warren, was not likely to stand in the way of civil rights legislation. With all these favourable factors in place, Johnson was able to secure the passage of two of the most effective and far-reaching civil rights laws in US history, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Even historians who are critical of the civil rights records of most US presidents, such as Kenneth O'Reilly and Desmond King, acknowledge Johnson's sincerity and achievement. Conclusion Civil rights, then, were at times helped and at times held back by the actions of presidents. To push forward civil rights, a president had to be Important presidents in the story of civil rights Abraham Lincoln ( ) Republican Andrew Johnson ( ) Democrat : Ulysses S. Grant ( ) Republican Rutherford Hayes ( ) Republican _ Woodrow Wilson ( ) Democrat Warren Harding ( ) Republican Calvin Coolidge ( ) Republican Herbert Hoover ( ) Republican Franklin D. Rqosevejt:(i933-45):,Democrat Harry S. Truman:( )Democrat Dwight D. Eisenhower ( ) Republican John F. Kennedy ( ) Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson (i963-69) Democrat Richard M Nixon ( ) Republican: bussing: the transfer of pupils from one area of a city to schools in another. Warren Court: periods in the history of the Supreme Court are often referred to by the name of the chief justice at the time. Earl Warren ( ) presided over a series of liberal judgements in civil rights cases. Little Rock, Arkansas: in 1957 a white mob prevented the admission of nine African American students to a high school, encouraged by Governor Orval Faubus, who deployed the Arkansas National Guard to bar the students' way. President Eisenhower took over direct command of the National Guardsmen and sent 1,000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne to enable the African American students to enrol. veto: the president can veto (refuse to approve) a bill passed by Congress. However, a two-thirds majority of both Houses of Congress can overrule this and ensure that the bill becomes law. Taft-Hartley Act: rescinded some of the rights granted to unions by the 1935 Wagner Act. September 2005

Frederick Douglass (1817-93): ex-slave Abolition campaigner. After the Civil War he held various government posts. Booker T.

5 Frederick Douglass ( ): ex-slave Abolition campaigner. After the Civil War he held various government posts. Booker T. Washington ( ): educationalist, reformer and advocate of self-help for African Americans. Martin Luther King ( ): charismatic activist and speaker for civil rights during 1950s and 1960s who won the Nobel peace prize in He was assassinated in prepared to move ahead of public opinion and take an activist role. Presidents could prevent progress towards greater civil rights merely by doing nothing. However, it can be argued that presidential attitudes were not the only, or necessarily the most important, factor. The progress of civil rights was often determined by other factors, such as the strength and unity of the civil rights movement, the ability and actions of leaders like. Further study 7King, 0. (1995) Separate and Unequal:. Black Americans and the U.S. Federal Government, bxford. A study which argues that, until the 1964 Civil Rights Act,-the federal government actively defended segregation. O'Reilly, K. (1995) Nixon's Piano: Presidents and Racial Politics from Washington to Clinton, free Press. A study of the relationship between the presidency and civil rights, which argues that, With only two exceptions (Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson), all US presidents have allowed electoral expediency to deter them frorn tackling racial injustice. Patterson, J. T. (1996) Grand Expectations: The United States , Oxford; An authoritative and very readable general account of postwar US history, which covers civil rights issues welj.i ; ;- '" /'- " : ' '-:;r:-:-t": Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Supreme Court rulings and Congressional support, at least as much as by the actions of presidents. Mark Rathbone is Head of History at Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset. He is the author of numerous articles on British and American history and contemporary British politics. Pauley, G. E. (2001) The Modern Presidency and Civil Rights, Texas. An examination of the importance of presidential rhetoric on '- -', racial tissues from Roosevelt to NixonV Rathbone,.M. (2004) 'The US Supreme Court and Civil Rights', History Review 48, M_arch An "analysis of the role of the Supreme'; Court in the history of Civil Rights. Shult, S. A. (1999) American Civil Rights Policy from Truman:to Clinton, M. E. Sharpe. A study of the roie of postwar presidents in civil rights policy.. Willpughby, D. and Willoughby, S. (2000) - The USA 19±7-A5, Heinemann. A good general textbook on US history in this part of the period. ESSENTIAL/WORD DICTIONARIES The perfect reference companion for your A-level studies, each Essential Word Dictionary clearly defines the key terms and concepts that you will need to understand at AS and A2. Most of the entries also include:» further explanation and illustration where required examiner's tips on how to apply problematic terms and concepts cross references to related terms and concepts See the form in the centre pages of this magazine for the full list of dictionaries and for details of how to order. You can see sample pages of each dictionary and order online at To contact our Sales Department, telephone

Facts About the Civil Rights Movement. In America

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