Module: HST5317 Race in the United States: Slavery to Civil Rights
By: Chloe Peck
Since the early nineteenth century, the resilient power of racism in America has been met with black resistance. This essay will be examining and comparing forms of resistance from black Americans; from the founding of the United States to more contemporary struggles. In particular, this essay will analyse Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, the ‘Long’ Civil Rights movement and America in the age of the Black Lives Matter movement. To assess and compare these forms of black resistance throughout African American history, this essay will look into their historical significance, potential, accomplishments and pitfalls.
Nat Turner’s slave rebellion of 1831 was a vital turning point in American society and African American history, with its legacy having strong ties to the emancipation of slavery in the United States. Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, also known as the Southampton Uprising, was one of the largest slave insurrections in America. The rebellion highlighted the key issues in slave antebellum society, instilling fear into slaveholder's hearts, and striking the match for the abolitionist movement. The Confessions of Nat Turner are one of the only sources highlighting Nat Turner’s motivations and reasonings for the rebellion, this primary source still remains as one of the most important insights into understanding slavery in the United States.
On the other hand, one of the pitfalls of Nat Turner's slave rebellion is the lack of historical sources and evidence of the rebellion that give an accurate insight into Nat Turner's motivations and drive for the rebellion. The only document from the rebellion which gives information on Nat’s reasoning behind the uprising is Nat Turner’s confessions. Despite this being a vital primary source, as Thomas Gray captured Turner’s confessions during his imprisonment, it is hard to know how much of these confessions came from Turner himself. The lack of insight from Turner himself through documentation allows for speculation of his motivations and reasoning behind the uprising, as these were not explicitly told during his confessions. Without explicitly notifying us of his motivations, it gives the movement less prominence, as it also fails to show the promises of the movement, and what it had hoped to achieve.
The rebellions bloody nature has given the slave insurrection the shock needed to make a historic impact. The uprising was incredibly violent, killing 55-65 people, of all ages and genders. The Southampton Uprising’s strong historical impact and significance can be seen as one of the rebellions accomplishments. Another accomplishment of the rebellion was that slavery and society was now being questioned, when before it had not even been given a second thought. The uprising was incredibly successful in creating a growing fear amongst slaveholders, causing them to start conversations about slavery, as now the existence of slavery was a threat to the slave holder’s survival; as long as slavery existed, the fear of another rebellion loomed over society. This shows a vital turning point for antebellum society, as slavery and its institutions had never before been questioned.
The legacy of Nat Turner’s slave rebellion can be traced to the emancipation of slavery in the United States. The historical significance of the rebellion can be seen through the growing abolitionist movement after the insurrection took place. Turner’s rebellion can be viewed as one of the first major resistance against slavery, and therefore struck the match for the abolitionist movement. The Boston abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison was initially inspired by and a follower of black abolitionists such as Nat Turner, and then gained a white abolitionist following. In 1831, notably the same year as the Nat Turner slave rebellion, Garrison published the Liberator. The Liberator was an abolitionist newspaper, with more religious and secular arguments against slavery, rather than political. In the 1830s, abolitionism became a mass movement which included ordinary people and women, which was a nightmare for the American establishment, as it included people of colour and women speaking publicly and freely. Slave resistance, abolitionist pressure and anti-slavery President Abraham Lincoln, brought about the emancipation of slavery in America. Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863; this was an executive order for all slaves in the US to be forever free and made the end of slavery a federal law and official policy of the US government. Nat Turner’s slave rebellion’s legacy can be seen throughout the abolition movement and the emancipation of slavery. The Southampton uprising was the first fight in the battle against slavery and race in America and paved the way for future black resistance such as the long Civil Rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The ‘long’ Civil Rights movement and era is another example of black resistance, with the movement changing the social, economic and political structure of American and African American society. The new perception of the Civil Rights movement is no longer that ‘The’ Civil Rights movement existed only between 1955-1965, but instead was a long and continuous movement of struggle and resistance dating as far back as the 1930s. The idea of the long Civil Rights movement can be shown through the Communist Party, who were committed to black equality as far back as the 1930s, and were heavily involved in organising black workers. This new view of the Civil Rights movement allows for an era of resistance to be viewed, instead of a decade.
The Civil Rights era can be viewed as a great success in creating new legislation for African American rights in society. The Civil Rights movement brought about major civil rights acts; the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the 1968 Housing Act. Each of these legislations attempted to deal with the racial issues at the time, tackling segregation, black poverty, improving black opportunities, and voting rights for African Americans. The accomplishments of the Civil Rights era can also be seen through the dismantling of the Jim Crow segregation era. The NAACP was the first group to publicly and specifically attack the legal basis of racial segregation of the Jim Crow era. The protest group won major legal cases against racial segregation, especially in regards to segregated schools.
The Civil Rights movement was distinct in its emergence of non-violent mass protests. The direct-action protests highlighted a new era of struggle and resistance. Unlike Nat Turner's bloody slave insurrection, the civil rights movement took on a new phase of resistance, with non-violent protests inspired by individuals such as Gandhi, catching the attention of the media. One of the movements main successes was its use of the media. The movements non-violent direct-action protests such as the bus boycotts, marches and sit-ins gained media attention which propelled the movement into the public and government’s eye. Sociologist Doug McAdam argues that the movements bus boycotts represented the genius of the new black movement, based on independent local centres tied together by the black church, connecting together the North and South in the movement.
Similarly, to Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion, the Civil Rights movement had individuals who were seen as the figures of the movement. Nat Turner can be seen as the face of the slave rebellion, who inspired and mobilised black slaves, the figures of the Civil Rights movement can be seen to be doing a similar thing. Martin Luther King Jr. is viewed as the main leader and figure head of the movement, with other important individuals such as Rosa Parks having a key role in the campaign. Having a defining figure of the movement was integral for the movement’s success, as it gave the movement focus, leadership and a centre. However, this can also be seen as one of the pitfalls of the movement.
The use of key figures with charismatic personalities for the movement’s media spotlight came with its own consequences; as it denied other key players of the movement the attention and appreciation they deserved. For example, women were heavily involved in the grass roots Civil Rights movement. Women were the shock troops of the movement, organising and mobilising the black masses. Yet, the march on Washington did not include any women in the line-up. The Civil Rights movement can be seen to have marginalised women, with women of colour struggling to be heard in both the Civil Rights movement and the Women’s Rights movement. Key women involved in the movement include Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diane Nash and Claudia Jones.
Despite Doug McAdam’s view that the black church united the North and South in the movement, Jacquelyn Dowd Hall expressed that once the media had turned towards the black power uprisings in the North, the cameras had turned away from the South and its popular struggles, ignoring the evolving movement and campaigns. Showing that the movement could only be focused on either the North or South at any one time, due to the disadvantages of the mass media.
Overall, the Long Civil Rights movement was a successful era, bringing about legislative change which impacted ordinary African Americans, ending the Jim Crow segregation era, and creating a template for future non-violent movements.
The Black Lives Matter movement is an international activist movement, originating from African Americans, campaigning against violence and systematic racism towards the black community. The movement was founded in 2013, and like the Civil Rights movement (and unlike Nat Turner’s bloody slave insurrection), is a non-violent campaign.
Again, like the Civil Rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement uses the mass media, and social media to propel the movement into the eyes of the world. The movement kicked off by using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the release of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012. However, more notably, the movement became nationally and globally recognised during the street demonstrations of 2014, after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Unlike the Civil Rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement is less about changing and passing specific laws and legislation but is more about changing the fundamental orders of society, that result in systematic racism and violence towards the black community. However, the Black Lives Matter movement is being seen as the new Civil Rights movement, embodying and addressing some of the same issues previous black liberation movements have fought for. The BLM movement can be seen as a success through their social media campaigns and street protests, by impacting America’s political and social spheres, by moulding discussions about race and justice in America.
One of the pitfalls and common criticisms of the BLM movement is the lack of coherent goals. Due to the BLM movement being a decentralised movement, unlike the Civil Rights movement which had leaders and a clear hierarchical structure to the movement, there is no specific set of goals, promises or aims. This can be compared to Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, as the lack of sources and inexplicit confessions, stopped the movement from having clear motivations and reasonings behind it. Although the BLM movement has some key figures involved in the movement’s origins and campaigns, the lack of hierarchical structure allows for the group to splinter and fail to be united by a clear set of goals.
Another pitfall of the BLM movement, similar to the Civil Rights movement, is the campaigns insufficient focus on women. Despite some of the key figures of the BLM movement being women, one of the main concerns of the movement is its insufficient focus on women. It has been recognised that the movement does not have the energy towards women who have been presented with racial violence, compared to men. Some argue that more organisation and demonstrations have taken place for the killings of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin than the killings of Kayla Moore and Rekia Boyd. This has resulted in a splinter group, which focuses on racial violence against women using the hashtag #SayHerName.
Despite these shortfalls of the movement, the BLM movement is still in its infancy compared to the Civil Rights movement, and has already had an impressive impact on the foundations of society and discussions about race and justice in America and around the globe, and will no doubt have a strong impact on history as well.
Throughout African American history, racial segregation, discrimination and violence has been met with black struggle and resistance. Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, the ‘Long’ Civil Rights movement and the more contemporary Black Lives Matter movement are all examples of black resistance, dating back to the dark days of slavery. All three of these examples of black resistance show success in terms of changing the conversation about race. Although all examples have shortfalls in their movements, they also have undoubtedly successes from the emancipation of slavery, legislative change and fundamental societal change. Each of these movements have had significant historical impacts, leading to new resistance movements forming, further changing the foundation of race and society in America, which will no doubt continue even after the Black Lives Matter movement.
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