Essay on Civil Rights

Essay on Civil Rights Essay on Civil Rights Essay on Civil RightsThe development of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s – 1970s contributed to the consistent transformation of the US society through the elimination of inequality in basic human rights between white Americans and African Americans as well as other racial minorities. In this regard, Rosa Parks protest and desegregation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 were the major developments of the Civil Rights Movement aiming at the elimination of inequality between white Americans and African Americans as well as other racial minorities.Rosa Parks protest was one of the turning points in the US history on the way to desegregation. Prior to her protest and refusal to give in the seat in the ‘white’ part of the bus to a white man, the segregation was taken for granted (Hine 154). The segregation created conditions for the racial divide in the US which could have grown wider and turn into a sort of apartheid conducted in th e SAR (Garrow 382).In this regard, the open protest and open manifestation of civil disobedience by Rosa Parks had triggered the active social struggle of racial minorities for desegregation in the US. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that segregation affected not only the public transport but also other fields, such as education (Dalfiume 101). The desegregation movement, which started in terms of the Civil Rights Movement due to Rosa Parks and similar manifestations of public protest against segregation, contributed to the elimination of racial inequality and desegregation of the US, including not only transportation system but also schools and other fields, where segregation used to be deeply-rooted and progressing (Shockley 132).The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal act introducing the principle of racial equality in terms of human rights and liberties in the US (Korstad Lichtenstein 792). The introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major l egal act that eliminated racial inequality and banned discrimination based on racial differences in the US (Yuill 276). The introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplished the long lasting struggle of African Americans for equal rights and liberties compared to the white majority.The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was another major legislative change that granted African Americans with equal rights compared to the white majority and, more important, laid the ground for better economic conditions for African Americans because real estate was and still is the milestone of the economic independence of Americans (Dann 69). In such a way, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was not only the political but also economic law that formally created conditions for the equality of white Americans and African Americans (Branch 71). This is why this legal act was one of the major changes brought by the Civil Rights Movement that had opened new, wider opportunities to stand on the equal ground compar ed to the white majority.On the other hand, the introduction of the Fair Housing Act still failed to provide African Americans with better economic opportunities to close gaps between them and white Americans. In this regard, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 attempted to prevent discrimination in the US on the ground of the racial background of Americans. The Civil Rights Act eliminated discrimination in the field of employment that meant that African Americans had got the opportunity to get better jobs and earn more. The Fair Housing Act provided them with equal right to buy and own houses without any restrictions caused by their racial background.In such a situation, the major problem African Americans faced was the lack of education which prevented them from obtaining better jobs. But, in this regard, the elimination of segregation could have closed the gap between white and non-white students because formally they had got equal educational rights because of the elimination of segreg ation initiated by Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists (Hine 156). However, the problem of African Americans’ inequality was resolved only partially because the elimination of segregation did not bring them economic opportunities to obtain higher education (Robnett 1668). The lack of the good education virtually annihilated their rights to the equal employment compared to white Americans granted in terms of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lack of well-paid jobs and real access of African Americans to those jobs deprived them of constructing or purchasing houses on the equal ground to white Americans, the right granted to African Americans in terms of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.Thus, the major advancements in the Civil Rights Movement, such as desegregation driven by Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Fair Housing Act of 1968, provided African Americans with equal rights and liberties compared to white Americans but still they fa iled to eliminate the economic disparity between the two racial groups, at least in a short-run perspective. On the other hand, these major developments contributed to closing gaps between white Americans and non-white Americans since all of them have got equal rights and liberties and, in the course of time, African Americans and other racial minorities attempt to eliminate the persisting inequality.

History of Christmas Traditions in the 19th Century

History of Christmas Traditions in the 19th Century The history of Christmas traditions kept evolving throughout  the 19th century, when most of the familiar components of the modern Christmas including St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, and Christmas trees, became popular. The changes in how Christmas was celebrated were so profound that its safe to say someone alive in 1800 would not even recognize the Christmas celebrations held in 1900. Christmas Traditions: Key Takeaways Our most common Christmas traditions developed during the 1800s:The character of Santa Claus was largely a creation of author Washington Irving and cartoonist Thomas Nast.Christmas trees were popularized by Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert.Author Charles Dickens helped establish a tradition of generosity at Christmas. Washington Irving and St. Nicholas Early Dutch settlers of New York considered St. Nicholas to be their patron saint and practiced a yearly ritual of hanging stockings to receive presents on St. Nicholas Eve, in early December. Washington Irving, in his fanciful History of New York, mentioned that St. Nicholas had a wagon he could ride â€Å"over the tops of trees† when he brought â€Å"his yearly presents to children.† The Dutch word â€Å"Sinterklaas† for St. Nicholas evolved into the English â€Å"Santa Claus,† thanks in part to a New York City printer, William Gilley, who published an anonymous poem referring to â€Å"Santeclaus† in a children’s book in 1821. The poem was also the first mention of a character based on St. Nicholas having a sleigh, in this case, pulled by a single reindeer. Clement Clarke Moore and The Night Before Christmas Perhaps the best-known poem in the English language is â€Å"A Visit from St. Nicholas,† or as it’s often called, â€Å"The Night Before Christmas.† Its author, Clement Clarke Moore, a professor who owned an estate on the west side of Manhattan, would have been quite familiar with the St. Nicholas traditions followed in early 19th century New York. The poem was first published, anonymously, in a newspaper in Troy, New York, on December 23, 1823. Reading the poem today, one might assume that Moore simply portrayed the common traditions. Yet he actually did something quite radical by changing some of the traditions while also describing features that were entirely new. For instance, the St. Nicholas gift giving would have taken place on December 5, the eve of St. Nicholas Day. Moore moved the events he describes to Christmas Eve. He also came up with the concept of â€Å"St. Nick† having eight reindeer, each of them with a distinctive name. Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol The other great work of Christmas literature from the 19th century is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In writing the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Dickens wanted to comment on greed in Victorian Britain. He also made Christmas a more prominent holiday and permanently associated himself with Christmas celebrations. Dickens was inspired to write his classic story after speaking to working people in the industrial city of Manchester, England, in early October 1843. He wrote A Christmas Carol quickly, and when it appeared in bookstores the week before Christmas 1843 it began to sell very well. The book crossed the Atlantic and began to sell in America in time for Christmas 1844, and became extremely popular. When Dickens made his second trip to America in 1867 crowds clamored to hear him read from A Christmas Carol.  His tale of Scrooge and the true meaning of Christmas had become an American favorite. The story has never been out of print, and Scrooge is one of the best-known characters in literature. Santa Claus Drawn by Thomas Nast The famed American cartoonist Thomas Nast is generally credited as having invented the modern depiction of Santa Claus. Nast, who had worked as a magazine illustrator and created campaign posters for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, was hired by Harper’s Weekly in 1862. For the Christmas season, he was assigned to draw the magazine’s cover, and legend has it that Lincoln himself requested a depiction of Santa Claus visiting Union troops. The resulting cover, from Harper’s Weekly dated January 3, 1863, was a hit. It shows Santa Claus on his sleigh, which has arrived at a U.S. Army camp festooned with a â€Å"Welcome Santa Claus† sign. Santa’s suit features the stars and stripes of the American flag, and he’s distributing Christmas packages to the soldiers. One soldier is holding up a new pair of socks, which might be a boring present today, but would have been a highly prized item in the Army of the Potomac. Beneath Nasts illustration was the caption, â€Å"Santa Claus In Camp.† Appearing not long after the carnage at Antietam and Fredericksburg, the magazine cover is an apparent attempt to boost morale in a dark time. The Santa Claus illustrations proved so popular that Thomas Nast kept drawing them every year for decades. He is also credited with creating the notion that Santa lived at the North Pole and kept a workshop manned by elves. The figure of Santa Claus endured, with the version drawn by Nast becoming the accepted standard version of the character. By the early 20th century the Nast-inspired version of Santa became a very common figure in advertising. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria Made Christmas Trees Fashionable The tradition of the Christmas tree came from Germany, and there are accounts of early 19th century Christmas trees in America, but the custom wasn’t widespread outside German communities. The Christmas tree first gained popularity in British and American society thanks to the husband of Queen Victoria, the German-born Prince Albert. He installed a decorated Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841, and woodcut illustrations  of the Royal Family’s tree appeared in London magazines in 1848. Those illustrations, published in America a year later, created the fashionable impression of the Christmas tree in upper-class homes. By the late 1850s reports of Christmas trees were appearing in American newspapers. And in the years following the Civil War ordinary American households celebrated the season by decorating a Christmas tree. The first electric Christmas tree lights appeared in the 1880s, thanks to an associate of Thomas Edison, but were too costly for most households. Most people in the 1800s lit their Christmas trees with small candles. The First White House Christmas Tree The first Christmas tree in the White House was displayed in 1889, during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison. The Harrison family, including his young grandchildren, decorated the tree with toy soldiers and glass ornaments for their small family gathering. There are some reports of president Franklin Pierce displaying a Christmas tree in the early 1850s. But the stories of a Pierce tree are vague and there doesnt seem to be contemporaneous mentions in newspapers of the time. Christmas Tree and Family, 1848. Benjamin Harrisons Christmas cheer was closely documented in newspaper accounts. An article on the front page of the New York Times on Christmas Day 1889 detailed the lavish presents he was going to give his grandchildren. And though Harrison was generally regarded as a fairly serious person, he vigorously embraced the Christmas spirit.   Not all subsequent presidents continued the tradition of having a Christmas tree in the White House. By the middle of the 20th century, White House Christmas trees became established. And over the years  it has evolved into an elaborate and very public production. The first National Christmas Tree was placed on The Ellipse, an area just south of the White House, in 1923, and the lighting of it was presided over by President Calvin Coolidge. The lighting of the National Christmas Tree has become quite a large annual event, typically presided over by the current president and members of the First Family. Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus In 1897 an eight-year-old girl in New York City wrote to a newspaper, the New York Sun, asking if her friends, who doubted the existence of Santa Claus, were right. An editor at the newspaper, Francis Pharcellus Church, responded by publishing, on September 21, 1897, an unsigned editorial. The response to the little girl has become the most famous newspaper editorial ever printed. The second paragraph is often quoted: Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. Church’s eloquent editorial asserting the existence of Santa Claus seemed a fitting conclusion to a century that began with modest observances of St. Nicholas and ended with the foundations of the modern Christmas season firmly intact. By the end of the 19th century, the essential components of a modern Christmas, from Santa to the story of Scrooge to strings of electric lights were firmly established in America.