Running head: HISTORY 1

Movements in the America

Student

Institution
HISTORY 2

Movements in America

Comparing the Movements in America

The different movements in the United States have played an outstanding role in the

realization of the equal rights. The people have explored the strength that lies in numbers from

their own good. The achievements realized through these efforts are outstanding. The nature of

accomplishments has been on the better side of the individuals that led the movements. One

notable leader that was born out of the similar movements was Martin Luther King Jr. He was

the leader of the movement that was fighting for the equal rights of the African Americans in the

United States. The paper will, therefore, compare three different movements. It will focus on the

goals that the movements had, the tactics employed, their successes and ultimately the failures

that they went through if any.

The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement is one that was outstanding in the United States’ history. The

characteristics of the movement stood out because of the widespread support it received within

the United States and beyond. The leaders of the movement were out to realize the best for the

black people who were being oppressed by the laws that were favoring the white Americans

(King Jr, 1963). The movement had a goal of ensuring that the black people were subjected to

discrimination. The tactics employed by the movement included the civil action and the protests

that were carried throughout the United States. All communities were the same and required the

same level of rights. According to King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice

everywhere.”(King Jr, 1963)

The movement employed civil disobedience and the students played an essential role in

the struggle. The movement was successful in its efforts since it created more rights for the
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people and made it possible for the black Americans to live similar lives to the white citizens.

The movement ensured that it depicted clearly the legality of their actions. The writings of King

Jr. indicate, “An unjust law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on

itself” (King Jr. 1965). The failures that the movement encountered were together with the death

of its leaders. The white extremists who were not impressed by the actions assassinated senior

leaders including Luther King Jr. He had spent some time of incarceration in Birmingham.

The Feminist Movement

The Feminist movement, on the other hand, was fixated towards ensuring that the women

were subjected to equal rights as men. The black women were being subjected to unequal rights

as compared to their male counterparts. Their situation was described as double jeopardy because

they were women as well as being black (Beal, 1995). The women were against the aspect of

being subjected to indoor enclosures that were meant to confine them to their domestic

environments. They are described as slaves of slaved because the men were castigated and were

thus left with no one to protect them.

According to Beal, “Unfortunately, neither the black man nor the black woman

understood the true nature of the forces-working upon them” (Beal, 1995). The black men were

chastised by the society and could not perform their roles as expected by the women. The black

community thus developed into matriarchal without the help of the men. Black women have

experienced abuse from the system and subjection to unequal treatment. Immigrants were

making it difficult for the laborers to enjoy their rights. The goal of the movement was to ensure

that the oppression meted to the women was stopped. The movement was bent towards providing

that the women could shed off the yoke of oppression that they were being subjected to. The

movement moved to ensure that the women have well educated about their rights as well ways of
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providing that their rights were observed. It looked to ensure that every member of the

community participated in the struggle. The movement began a new style of a revolution that

was not violent as most of the riots have been. The successes of the movement were not to be

realized shortly.

The movement, however, opened the eyes of the oppressed to the level of understanding

what their roles are in ensuring that they are saved from oppression. It provided that traditional

routines were changed despite living in a very corrupt society. The movement's failure can be

seen in the lack of the realization of the goals of the movement in the short term. The group was,

however, focused on ensuring that the future American society would give respect to the black

women.

Wealthy Farm Owners Movement

The movement by the wealthy farm owners was another phenomenal movement. The

campaign was meant to save the farms that were being taken over for the development of

essential infrastructure. The big farm owners were changed into squatters within a short time.

The movement was against the presidential approval of the Agricultural Relief Bill. Threats and

strikes by the black workers were affecting the industry negatively. According to Thurston,”

Time ah started there was lots of Negro workers there, you know, had been in the

yards since they were brought from the South to help break the big strike, well, they'd let me

pick up the trade, helping them on the job” (Thurston 2001). The bill was meant to put control in

the hand of the Secretary of Agriculture. The law gave him total control of the commodity and

the agricultural industry. The cotton industry was the most affected by the implementation of the

bill (Thurston, 2001). The bill was threatening the agricultural sector, and its effects would be

felt across the whole country.

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The goal of the movement was to ensure that the bill is rescinded and nullified. The

leaders of the movement used the tactic of writing numerous letters to the president. The notes

were meant to bring the president to the fore concerning the suffering that the farmers were

experiencing. The movement, therefore, managed to bring the president of the United States into

the fore for rescuing the farmers from the suffering. The disadvantage of the movement is that

people had known their rights and accessing cheap labor was a problem. According to Thurston,”

What I mean is that everything is brought before the people today” (Thurston, 2001).

Comparing the Movements

All the movements had similar characteristics in the manner that they were implemented.

All of them were inspired by goals that the leaders wanted to achieve. The only difference

emerged from the tactics that were implemented and the targets that were achieved. The success

and the failures of the movement could be gauged by the goals that were set to be achieved.

Immigrants were presenting a new challenge to the movements. They brought a new perspective

on the way the issues were being handled by the different groups. They were advertently unable

to be contained. They were preferred to the citizens since they offered cheap labor. The

movement by the reach farm owners was however determined to end the issue immigrants. One

of the letters recorded by Bierstadt indicated that, “There was the need to ensure that the all the

legal frameworks are implemented to control the influx of the immigrants from Mexico”

(Bierstadt, 1922)

Successful Movement

The American civil rights movement was the most successful. It was able to create an

environment for equal rights for all the citizens of the United States despite their skin color. The
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movement was able to create an equal society that was even included in the law. The importance

of the movement is that it made America a unified society.

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References

Beal, F. (1995). Double jeopardy: To be black and female. Words of fire: An anthology of

African-American feminist thought, 146-55.

Bierstadt, E. H. (1922). Aspects of Americanization. Stewart Kidd Company.

King Jr, M. L. (1963). Letter from Birmingham city jail.

Thurston, T. (2001). American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project,

1936–1940< http://lcweb2. loc. gov/ammem/wpaintro/index. html>. National Digital

Library Program, Library of Congress. Reviewed December 2000–March 2001.