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'''Black history''' or '''African-American history''' is the history of the American population of black African descent, from the colonial period to the present. It was a narrow specialty until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s made it a high priority for historical research and teaching. It is now one of the largest fields of American history.  The history is one of struggle against slavery, segregation, racism and seconf class citizenship. The 2008 election of [[Barack Obama]] as president has been hailed as the culmination of the black struggle for political equality.

'''Black history''' or '''African-American history''' is the history of the American population of black African descent, from the colonial period to the present. It was a narrow specialty until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s made it a high priority for historical research and teaching. It is now one of the largest fields of American history.  The history is one of struggle against slavery, segregation, racism and second class citizenship. The 2008 election of [[Barack Obama]] as president has been hailed as the culmination of the black struggle for political equality.

==Colonial era==

==Colonial era==

see also [[Slavery]]

see also [[Slavery]]

==Revolution and early republic: 1775-1840==

==Revolution and early republic: 1775-1840==

The Declaration of Independence of 1776 said that all men are born free. Acting on that prinsiple, all the northern states abolished slavery between 1776 and 1805--these were the first places in the world where the government abolished slavery. (Britain abolished slavery in the 1830s.) However, with the cotton gin in the 1790s, slavery became highl;y profitable in the South and was not abolished. Indeed, it expanded rapidly due to demographic growth. In 1808 it became illegal to buy or sell slaves from abroad, but inside the U.S. South the trade was legal and flourished.

The Declaration of Independence of 1776 said that all men are born free. Acting on that principle, all the northern states abolished slavery between 1776 and 1805--these were the first places in the world where the government abolished slavery. (Britain abolished slavery in the 1830s.) However, with the cotton gin in the 1790s, slavery became highly profitable in the South and was not abolished. Indeed, it expanded rapidly due to demographic growth. In 1808 it became illegal to buy or sell slaves from abroad, but inside the U.S. South the trade was legal and flourished.

By 1800 most slaves had become Christians. However few followed the Episcopal or Presbyterian affiliations of most masters; rather by the 1830s most had become Baptists or Methodists, but with a distinctive difference.  Genovese (1974) identified the key features of the black version of Christianity as its raucous emotionalism, an absence of a sense of original sin or depravity, an emphasis on the role of Moses (who at times rivaled in importance Jesus), and an uneasy comingling with magic and conjuring. Genovese argued religion was increasingly central to the lives and self-identity of the slaves. "The religion practiced in the quarters gave the slaves the one thing they absolutely had to have if they were to resist. . . . It fired them with a sense of their own worth before God and man."<ref> Eugene Genovese, ''Roll Jordan Roll'' (1974) p. 283</ref>

By 1800 most slaves had become Christians. However few followed the Episcopal or Presbyterian affiliations of most masters; rather by the 1830s most had become Baptists or Methodists, but with a distinctive difference.  Genovese (1974) identified the key features of the black version of Christianity as its raucous emotionalism, an absence of a sense of original sin or depravity, an emphasis on the role of Moses (who at times rivaled in importance Jesus), and an uneasy commingling with magic and conjuring. Genovese argued religion was increasingly central to the lives and self-identity of the slaves. "The religion practiced in the quarters gave the slaves the one thing they absolutely had to have if they were to resist. . . . It fired them with a sense of their own worth before God and man."<ref> Eugene Genovese, ''Roll Jordan Roll'' (1974) p. 283</ref>

see also [[Slavery]]

see also [[Slavery]]

:shredded the planters' paternalist pretenses in the eyes of black people and prodded slaves and free people of color to create a host of oppositional ideologies and institutions that better accounted for the realities of endless deportations, expulsions and flights that continually remade their world.

:shredded the planters' paternalist pretenses in the eyes of black people and prodded slaves and free people of color to create a host of oppositional ideologies and institutions that better accounted for the realities of endless deportations, expulsions and flights that continually remade their world.

The political and constitutional debate among whites led to the secession of the Deep South and to the Civil War in 1861. The new Republican Party saw slavery as an evil that had to be eventually put on the road to extinction.  In the war, however, abolition became a tool to Union victroy, as startegized by [[Abraham Lincoln]]. He thrilled the anti-slavery forces by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863; the proclamation had the effect of freeing most of the 4 million slaves.

The political and constitutional debate among whites led to the secession of the Deep South and to the Civil War in 1861. The new Republican Party saw slavery as an evil that had to be eventually put on the road to extinction.  In the war, however, abolition became a tool to Union victory, as strategized by [[Abraham Lincoln]]. He thrilled the anti-slavery forces by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863; the proclamation had the effect of freeing most of the 4 million slaves.

===Reconstruction===

===Reconstruction===

Through 1961 and 1962 civil rights leaders pressured the [[John F. Kennedy]] administration to support a tough civil rights bill, seeking a sort of second Emancipation Proclamation that would employ federal power to wipe out segregation just as Lincoln's 1863 decree had abolished slavery. Kennedy, basically conservative and unwilling to offend his base of Southern white voters, refused to act.  Civil rights groups thereupon launched multiple mass demonstrations throughout the South. King and the SCLC staff would single out some notoriously segregated city with officials who tolerated violence; mobilize the local blacks with songs, Bible readings, and rousing oratory; and then lead them on protest marches conspicuous for their nonviolent spirit and moral purpose. Then the marchers escalated their demands--even fill up the jails--until they brought about a moment of "creative tension," when white authorities would either agree to negotiate or resort to violence. If violence broke out it would humiliate the moderate whites and redouble national pressures from church and activists for federal intervention. So far there was no violence on the part of blacks, but they were growing more and more frustrated and angry, with militants like [[Malcolm X]] calling for more extreme measures.<ref> Robert Terrill, "Protest, Prophecy, and Prudence in the Rhetoric of Malcolm X," ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 4#1 Spring 2001, pp. 25-53 in [[Project Muse]]; Akinyele O. Umoja, "The Ballot and the Bullet," ''Journal of Black Studies'' 29 (1999): 558-79; Sean Dennis Cashman, ''African-Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights, 1900-1990'' (1991), 184-215. </ref>

Through 1961 and 1962 civil rights leaders pressured the [[John F. Kennedy]] administration to support a tough civil rights bill, seeking a sort of second Emancipation Proclamation that would employ federal power to wipe out segregation just as Lincoln's 1863 decree had abolished slavery. Kennedy, basically conservative and unwilling to offend his base of Southern white voters, refused to act.  Civil rights groups thereupon launched multiple mass demonstrations throughout the South. King and the SCLC staff would single out some notoriously segregated city with officials who tolerated violence; mobilize the local blacks with songs, Bible readings, and rousing oratory; and then lead them on protest marches conspicuous for their nonviolent spirit and moral purpose. Then the marchers escalated their demands--even fill up the jails--until they brought about a moment of "creative tension," when white authorities would either agree to negotiate or resort to violence. If violence broke out it would humiliate the moderate whites and redouble national pressures from church and activists for federal intervention. So far there was no violence on the part of blacks, but they were growing more and more frustrated and angry, with militants like [[Malcolm X]] calling for more extreme measures.<ref> Robert Terrill, "Protest, Prophecy, and Prudence in the Rhetoric of Malcolm X," ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 4#1 Spring 2001, pp. 25-53 in [[Project Muse]]; Akinyele O. Umoja, "The Ballot and the Bullet," ''Journal of Black Studies'' 29 (1999): 558-79; Sean Dennis Cashman, ''African-Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights, 1900-1990'' (1991), 184-215. </ref>

Nonviolent confrontation failed politically in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, where white authorites were equally nonviolent. In 1963 it succeeded in Birmingham, Alabama, where Police Commissioner Eugene ("Bull") Connor turned  

Nonviolent confrontation failed politically in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, where white authorities were equally nonviolent. In 1963 it succeeded in Birmingham, Alabama, where Police Commissioner Eugene ("Bull") Connor turned  

fire-hoses and police dogs on the marchers--in full view of reporters and television cameras. The civil rights activists thus exposed racist hatred to the scorn of national and world opinion. Jailed during the demonstrations, King wrote his classic "Letter from Birmingham Jail," the most influential and eloquent expression of the goals and philosophy of the civil rights movement.<ref>Edward I. Berry, "Doing Time: King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail." ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 9#1 Spring 2005, pp. 109-131 in [[Prokect Muse]]</ref> King's great speech, "I Have a Dream" during the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, galvanized the movement, putting forth a goal of an integrated color-blind society.<ref> Mark Vail, "The 'Integrative' Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech," ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 9#1 Spring 2006, pp. 51-78 in [[Project Muse]]; Alexandra Alverez, "Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor," ''Journal of Black Studies'' 3 (1998):337–57</ref> President [[Lyndon Johnson]], a long-time supporter of civil rights, had replaced Kennedy and he seized the moment to mobilize a majority coalition of northern Democrats, Republicans, white churches, and white labor unions to break a Senate filibuster and pass 1964 [[Civil Rights Act]], which desegregated public facilities. Overnight Jim Crow vanished, with little protest or violence.

fire-hoses and police dogs on the marchers--in full view of reporters and television cameras. The civil rights activists thus exposed racist hatred to the scorn of national and world opinion. Jailed during the demonstrations, King wrote his classic "Letter from Birmingham Jail," the most influential and eloquent expression of the goals and philosophy of the civil rights movement.<ref>Edward I. Berry, "Doing Time: King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail." ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 9#1 Spring 2005, pp. 109-131 in [[Project Muse]]</ref> King's great speech, "I Have a Dream" during the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, galvanized the movement, putting forth a goal of an integrated color-blind society.<ref> Mark Vail, "The 'Integrative' Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech," ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 9#1 Spring 2006, pp. 51-78 in [[Project Muse]]; Alexandra Alverez, "Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor," ''Journal of Black Studies'' 3 (1998):337–57</ref> President [[Lyndon Johnson]], a long-time supporter of civil rights, had replaced Kennedy and he seized the moment to mobilize a majority coalition of northern Democrats, Republicans, white churches, and white labor unions to break a Senate filibuster and pass 1964 [[Civil Rights Act]], which desegregated public facilities. Overnight Jim Crow vanished, with little protest or violence.

However, within days of the passage of the powerful new law, rioting broke out in black ghettoes, as the civil rights leadership discovered it could not control the angry masses.  Nor could it control the radical students in SNCC and like-minded groups who were moving rapidly to the left, rejecting alliances with whites, discarding the goal of integration and demanding instead black separatism and "Black Power."<ref> Akinyele O. Umoja, "1964: The Beginning of the End of Nonviolence in the Mississippi Freedom Movement," ''Radical History Review'', Jan 2003; 2003: 201 - 226. online in [[Duke journals]]</ref>

However, within days of the passage of the powerful new law, rioting broke out in black ghettos, as the civil rights leadership discovered it could not control the angry masses.  Nor could it control the radical students in SNCC and like-minded groups who were moving rapidly to the left, rejecting alliances with whites, discarding the goal of integration and demanding instead black separatism and "Black Power."<ref> Akinyele O. Umoja, "1964: The Beginning of the End of Nonviolence in the Mississippi Freedom Movement," ''Radical History Review'', Jan 2003; 2003: 201 - 226. online in [[Duke journals]]</ref>

==Recent years==

==Recent years==

[[Category:United States History]]

[[Category:United States History]]