In America, early in the seventeenth century, the first slaves were traded. These people, kidnapped from their families in Africa, were sold for profit to wealthy settlers in the 'New World'. They were much cheaper than servants and a very profitable 'cargo' for the slave traders. Slavery was more widespread in the southern states of America because there were large tobacco plantations and later, cotton plantations. These were very labour intensive (needed a lot of workers) and slaves were the cheapest option. Many people in the northern states did not agree with slavery and, in 1861, some... Show more

In America, early in the seventeenth century, the first slaves were traded. These people, kidnapped from their families in Africa, were sold for profit to wealthy settlers in the 'New World'. They were much cheaper than servants and a very profitable 'cargo' for the slave traders.

Slavery was more widespread in the southern states of America because there were large tobacco plantations and later, cotton plantations. These were very labour intensive (needed a lot of workers) and slaves were the cheapest option.

Many people in the northern states did not agree with slavery and, in 1861, some of the southern states joined together and formed the Confederate States of America.

They split from the United states. One of the key issues was slavery. This split lead to the American Civil war. The northern states won and slavery was abolished. Even when slavery ended, black Americans had fewer rights than most white Americans, so they weren't much better off. White politicians made it hard for slaves to leave the plantations. Blacks and whites were segregated, in other words, there were areas where ex-slaves were not allowed.

Segregation was the norm during the century or so that passed between the abolition of slavery and the granting of equal civil rights to blacks in the USA. Many white Americans had difficulty with seeing black people as free and equal. In 1919 a black boy was stoned and drowned after swimming in part of a lake reserved for whites! Following the end of the civil war, many whites in the south were angry about the abolition of slavery. A hate group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was formed. They murdered many freedmen and laws passed in 1870 and 1871 helped to stop their crimes.

Despite that, things still didn't settle down. The period from 1877 to the early part of the twentieth century have been called the 'nadir of American race relations'. Nadir is the opposite to the word apex so what this phrase means is that race relations could not have been any worse. The definitions of white and black were not clear either, for example, Irish Protestant immigrants doing manual labour were not regarded as whites.

The USA is known as the 'land of the free', yet black Americans had to campaign long and hard in history for equal civil rights. Things were starting to change by the 1950s, for example, in 1954, the US government passed a law that it was no longer legal to segregate schoolchildren. The 1950s and 1960s saw many protests by civil rights groups. The majority of these were peaceful, for example, sit-ins. In 1960, students formed the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) to organise them.

As well as the SNCC protests, many other civil rights groups were campaigning. In the city of Montgomery, Martin Luther King Jr. set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Their aim was to end all forms of segregation. In 1963, Birmingham in Alabama was said to be the most racially segregated city in America. The town authorities obtained a legal ban on civil rights protests but the SCLC protested anyway. Many people were arrested, including Martin Luther King.

There were many protests surrounding racial unrest and civil rights in the USA. By 1966, the emergence of the Black Power Movement enlarged the aims of the Civil Rights Movement to include racial dignity and freedom from oppression by white Americans. Black Power was not a single organisation. It was a slogan used by many different civil rights groups who believed in armed self-defence. The phrase 'Black Power' had already been used in the 1850s by Frederick Douglass but he used it to refer to slave labour.

The Black Power movement had a special salute. The salute was famously made at the 1968 Olympic games by two black athletes (they came first and third in the 200 m sprint). It wasn't only the salute that mattered. The clothing that they wore (and exactly how they wore it) symbolised the struggle for equality. They were expelled from the Olympics and the US athletics team. The athlete who was second came from Australia and he supported their actions. He was not picked for the next Olympics, despite having qualified.

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