Essays and Research Papers on Slavery & Civil Rights

This 5 page paper argues that the KKK should not be allowed to exist. Although freedom of speech is supported, the argument embraces the fact that murder is illegal and the KKK has been tied to several racially motivated killings. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This 12 page paper delves into the makeup of the societies composed of escaped slaves during the Civil War period. Slave life is compared with life in maroon communities. Bibliography lists 10 sources.

A 5 page paper which considers how Frederick Douglass would define human nature (something he failed to do in "My Bondage and My Freedom"), compare this definition with those offered by Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and the Black Codes, to determine why these authors make their respective claims about human nature and analyze what larger arguments are ...

This 5 page paper considers the speech made by this escaped slave to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, Rochester Hall, Rochester on the 5th of July 1852 " What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?". The speech is considered for the way it attracts the audience, the methods used by Douglass to increase ...

This 5 page paper provides an overview of Douglass's 1852 speech given in Rochester, New York. A thorough analysis of the rhetoric is provided in light of the political climate of the day. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 5 page paper which offers a comparative critical analysis of "The Confessions of Nat Turner" and "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" in the context of James Baldwin's comment that, "All you are ever told in this country about being black is that it is a terrible, thing to be. Now, in order to ...

This 4 page paper considers the race relations related in the book Myne Owne Ground by T.H. Breen and Stephen Innes. This paper considers the nature of race relations in the 17th century, with a focus on the relationship between families and the relationship between freed blacks and white indentured servants during this era. ...

This 5 page paper looks at this infamous work after defining concepts of culture and racism. These elements are discussed as it pertains to the book. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

(8pp). What we will be looking at in this discussion are basically two issues that have somehow become enmeshed: According to Davis (1998), more than 70 percent, of the imprisoned population, are people of color. It is rarely acknowledged, that the fastest growing group of prisoners are black women, and that Native American ...

7 pages in length. That hate crimes are still occurring in society today does not surprise some. But the fact that there are organizations attempting to recruit mainstream Americans into believing that one color of skin is preferable to another is completely beyond the thinking of some of us. What can be done to stop this violence? ...

This 5 page paper looks at the teachings of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau. Differences and similarities between the three are noted. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This 5 page paper argues for affirmative action and cites several relevant cases. Fourteenth Amendment implications are duly noted. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

5 pages in length. Stampp was among the first of authors to publicly acknowledge that slavery was a profit making institution that provided to help the South in many economic ways. His book points out some true but troubling information regarding the economic boon of slavery. This is an interesting topic that not many authors were willing to ...

(7 pp). Although, the number of African American slaves grew slowly at first, by the 1680s they were essential to the economy of Virginia. During the 17th and 18th centuries, African American slaves lived in all of England's North American colonies. Before Great Britain prohibited its subjects from participating in the slave trade, between ...

A 5 page paper discussing the violation of family ties as an anti-slavery argument. The very nature of the system of slavery was such that families rarely were able to stay together. Most slave owners viewed their slaves as "stock," to be bred in pairs that held promise of producing healthy, strong workers. Linda Brent was ...

This 5 page paper explores he effect of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the macro-economic situation in the American colonies as well as England. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This seven-page-paper presents an in-depth discussion and outline of the Freedom Riders of 1961. Opening with an explanation about the Supreme Court decision to desegregate public transit facilities and detailing what happened when two bus loads of multiracial travelers tested the order the paper moved through a chronological timeline for the reader. Bibliography lists six sources.

This 7 page paper looks at W.E.B. DuBois's the Souls of Black Folk and Booker T. Washington's Atlantic compromise address. The two works are compared and contrasted. No additional sources cited.

5 pages in length. A perfect society would reflect an attitude of equality -- rather than one of segregation -- toward the myriad ethnicities that exist in today's world; however, as much as humanity has moved away from racism, there have been just as many issues that have stalled its enlightenment. Anne Moody's "Coming ...

A 5 page paper which looks at Eldridge Cleaver’s contribution to the Black Power movement of the 1960s as exemplified in his autobiographical work, Soul on Ice. The writer considers the effect Cleaver’s writings had on both Black and White consciousness at the time and whether he could be considered a revolutionary hero. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 8 page paper considers the way in which both Ralph Emerson, in his work Self Reliance, and Frederick Douglass, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and considers the way in which both individuals present a self-examination of their character traits that specifically cause social rebels to succeed or fail. No ...

(8 pp) Frederick Douglass' life spanned nearly eighty years, from the time that slavery was universal in American states, to the time it was becoming a memory. Douglass freed himself from slavery, and through decades of tireless efforts he helped to free millions more. His life was a testament to courage and persistence that ...

A 5 page paper discussing ways in which the principles of nonviolent demonstration can call attention to and require negotiation of racial injustices that have been long institutionalized. Modern Peru holds the remains of colonial racial stratification as did the US in 1963 when Martin Luther King wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" defending the use of the ...

This 5 page paper explores the validity of an 1851 diagnosis of Dysaesthesia Aethiopica that was assigned to unruly slaves as it applies to the character Sixo in Toni Morrison's Beloved. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

This 5 page paper evaluates Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The psychological impact of slavery is discussed and slave culture is incorporated. Many quotes are provided. No additional sources cited.