It was King Henry VIII of England that inadvertently ignited the separatist-flame that would eventually lead

The granting of true civil and voting rights to blacks came as the culmination of a series of social and political events that occurred over the course of many years. People like Malcolm X, who led black Muslims in their fight against oppression and prejudice; Martin Luther King Jr. who led a nonviolent movement to change the ways in which black Americans were treated, and essentially to end segregation; and Rosa Parks, who refused to relinquish her seat to a white woman on a public bus, which led to the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama were all part of the black insurrection which ultimately resulted in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the granting of voting rights to black Americans, giving African Americans the freedom to act and think independently.

American history and the literature that has stemmed from these different periods has been, in essence, a struggle for individuality, and for freedom; freedom not merely to act and think separately but to live in exactly the manner in which one desires.

Until that point black Americans had lived in fear of white aggression, knowing any remotely hostile action taken by a black toward a white would be severely punished by authorities. In truth, no action had to be taken on the part of a black toward a white to warrant hostility from white Americans. Any hostile actions taken by whites toward blacks were looked upon without any feeling of remorse, whites had the freedom to act in any way desired toward blacks and to do so without regard for law or morality, unlike blacks who had the freedom only to think hostile thoughts toward whites, of which had there been any way to prove such thoughts, it is not entirely far-fetched to imagine there would have been a radical punishment for those thoughts. The extremely segregated situation between blacks and whites at the time was apparent, even in literature. Richard Wright wrote of an uncle whom during this period owned a small business which saw a great deal of profit, and as a result of that profit he was subject to a great deal of envy from local whites. In spite of this, Wright’s uncle continued to operate this business, though his life had been on many an occasion threatened. One morning however, his uncle failed to return from his saloon, and Wright later discovered his uncle had been murdered by the white men that had envied his success. This hostility was not uncommon among blacks and whites at the time, and though for years now, black Americans have been granted equal rights and given the freedoms possessed by whites for centuries, a limited hostility remains between blacks and whites today.

For years, England had imposed act after act upon the American public. These acts, which called for things such as the taxing of paper goods (Stamp Act, 1765) and the hindering of trade through the forbidden issuing of paper money by the colonies (Currency Act, 1764), placed shackles upon the colonists and their businesses, forever connecting them to their European counterparts. This, of course, enraged the American public and eventually resulted in revolution. “At this moment I resolved, for the first time to go to my master, enter a complaint, and ask his protection” (Qtd. In Sime, and McCambridge, 426). Much like this action taken by Frederick Douglass in “The Battle with Mr. Covey” Americans rose up against tyrannical government of Great Britain, and through revolution won their independence from Britain. The revolution

Some topics in this essay:
African Americans, David Thoreau, Edna Pontellier, Richard Wright, Dutch Separatists, Throughout American, Sime McCambridge, Catholic Jewish, VIII England, Chopin Chopin, black americans, voting rights, civil rights, american history, qtd sime mccambridge, equal rights, qtd sime, african americans, oppression prejudice, blacks whites, rights freedoms, bailey kennedy cohen, throughout american history, qtd bailey kennedy, religious civic freedom,