Category: African American History

African American History

Revisit: THE THREE-FIFTHS CLAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION (1787)

Often misinterpreted to mean that African Americans as individuals are considered three-fifths of a person or that they are three-fifths of a citizen of the U.S., the three-fifths clause (Article I, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution of 1787) in fact declared that for purposes of representation in Congress, enslaved blacks in a state would be counted as three-fifths of the number of white inhabitants of that state. Continue reading Revisit: THE THREE-FIFTHS CLAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION (1787)

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African American History, Events

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA RACE RIOT (1919)

The race riot of Charleston, South Carolina in 1919 was a part of a series of race riots that year, known as the “Red Summer.” The migration of blacks out of the south, the end of World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the illness and near incapacity of President Woodrow Wilson, and the 1918 influenza epidemic that killed more than 600,000 in the United States led to widespread social instability. These events lead to fears of social and political upheaval which contributed to racial tensions and violence as whites sought scapegoats and blacks, emboldened by their own progress, sought to defend their rights. Continue reading CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA RACE RIOT (1919)

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African American History, Events

Revisit: PORT ROYAL EXPERIMENT (1862-1865)

The Port Royal Experiment, the first major attempt by Northerners to reconstruct the Southern political and economic system, began only seven months after the firing on Fort Sumter. On November 7, 1861 the Union Army occupied South Carolina’s Sea Islands, freeing approximately 10,000 slaves. As the Confederate Army and white plantation owners fled, Northerners began to capitalize on their possession of an area world famous for its cotton. During … Continue reading Revisit: PORT ROYAL EXPERIMENT (1862-1865)

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