13th, 14th and 15th Amendements

The statement that, “Despite the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th amedements, for most African-Americans reconstruction was a failure”, may seem like an exaggeration or a generalization, but in many senses this statement was true. Sure the African American were now free citizens with the right to vote, but the status that they had wished to obtain, and the status that they did obtain are so different that reconstruction could be deemed a failure, not a complete failure, but a failure nonetheless. The statement mentioned above is reasonably valid, although conditions did seem to improve for a short while, many of the seeming “accomplishments” of reconstruction were cancelled out by other factors such as racism and impoverishment of black people.
The irony of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 is that it really didn’t emancipate anyone, the slaves in the border states of the union were not affected, in fact the only slaves that were affected were those inside of the confederate states who didn’t care what Abraham Lincoln said, because they felt they were no longer part of the United states. The achievement of the 13th amendment was that it , unlike its forbearer, did end the ownership of men by other men through the more literal definition of slavery. However slavery can come in other forms than the direct owenership of master and slave. With little or no money, education or opputunites many former slaves ended up working as sharecroppers or working for their former masters. As far as their living conditions were concerned, not much if anything improved, historians have alikened the conditions of sharecroppers in the south to the serfs of Russia. Also the restrictive Black codes still made African-Americans feel as if they were inferior to their white counterparts. Under these laws they were treated as second-class citizens, denied the right to vote, and often forced to sign oppressive land contracts with conditions that sounded very similar to the slavery that they had just been “liberated” from. Although they were freemen they still were treated as inferior and it is in this way that the 13th amendement failed.
After congress got wind of the Black Codes they set out to suppress them through the Civil Rights Bill which would grant African-Americans the citizenship they had been denied. It was promptly vetoed by Andrew Johnson, whose veto was soon overrun by congress. This episode would later add to the tension which would lead to Johnson’s impeachement. The 14th amendement passed by congress took the Civil Rights Bil a step forward as it not only guaranteed civil rights freemen, but reduced a southern state’s number of representatives if they refused to give freemen the vote. However like many of the seeming victories during reconstruction this one was also met by a counter in the south. Many southern states still withheld the vote from its African-american citizens, and in the compromise of 1877 the amendement was weakened when it declared that it protected only from government abuse of these rights, but individual abuse from such organizations as the KKK were not covered. In many senses this amedement did little to protect or help African-Americans.
Perhaps the biggest opposition to the reconstruction being a failure for the African-Americans comes in the 15th amendement when they are finally granted the right to vote. Despite violent threats and protests from such groups as the KKK, many African-american men (women, to their chagrin, had still not achieved the vote) took to the polls and organized politically through such organizations as the Union League, and many blacks even held office. Times were changing and the African-americans helped attribute to that change. Still in 1877 things looked bleak for the African-american cause as it was put on hold without full equality for freement being reached. It was in this way that many of the goals of equality for forsaken as persecutions of African-Americans continued.
To say that the despite the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, reconstruction for most African Americans was a failure may seem to be harsh, but in many senses this statement is perfectly valid. The 13th and 14th amendements provoked little change as each of them was met with a rebuttal in the south. With the emergence of the 15th amendement, true change and reform was finally able to take place, but the end of reconstruction brought with it the end of congressional reform for freemen for the time being. The 15th amendement was a big step for the civil rights movement, but not big enough. It’s like running 400 meters in a mile-long race, the 15th amendement was able to push forward some of the goals of freemen, but there were so many other goals that still needed to be accomplished. It is in this sense that reconstruction was a failure for most blacks. Many postitive changes were made as they achieved freedom, citizenship and the right to vote, but equality still lay far ahead.

English: The Cure Essay

The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the movie The Cure are simililar in that they both tell a story of a friendship that rises above prejudice, and a journey in which both friends are changed forever. In the beginning of both stories the main characters (Huck and Eric) feel that they are better than, and exert certain premtive ideas towards, the supporting character of the stories (Jim and Dexter) who later become their closest friend. As both stories continue Huck and Eric learn to challege the beliefs of their timeperiods and come to respect and befriend the people they formerly looked down on with fear or disgust. Both stories also feature a journey for the friends down the Mississippi river that helps them grow as people and as friends. Along the way they meet some rapscallions, for Huck it’s the King and Duke, for Eric it’s Pony and Jim, and they end up stealing and escaping from their traveling nuicences, Huck steals $6,000 dollars and puts it in a coffin while Eric steals $300 and runs off with it. Also in both of the journeys the leads try to find freedom for their friends. For Jim its escaping north and for Dexter its finding a cure for AIDS. Along the way towards their goals both sets of friends grow stronger as friends and as people.
Although The Cure and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are very similar (Brad Renfo who played Eric in The Cure even went on to do Huck and Tom playing Huck Finn in his next movie), there are some major differences in both stories mainly focused on the time periods of each and the medium through which both stories are told. In Huck Finn the issue dealt with is that of slavery and the racial prejudices between blacks and whites, while The Cure deals with prejudice of people with AIDS and the fear of obtaining the disease. Huck Finn is told through the medium of an episodic novel it can take more time with the story and indulge in more sidestories throughout the journey. The Cure on the other hand is told through a movie format. While it does have a similar episodic feel at times, their encounter with the school bullies being one and they’re escapades at the grocery store being another, it is not able to go into few if any sidestories that don’t have much to do with the main plot. Finally the endings of both stories are very different from eachother. At the end of Huck Finn, Jim finally receives his freedom after much hoopla from Tom, another friend who enters into the picture later on, and the ending is relativiely happy, although Huck must return to society. In The Cure Eric must also return to society, but the ending isn’t quite as “happy”. Dexter returns from the trip down the Mississippi sick and dies soonafter. However the twist of the story is that in a way Eric had freed Dexter by being his friend, so instead of finding his freedom by becoming AIDS-free at the end of the movie, instead Dexter is able to find a momentary freedom from his AIDS at the beginning when Eric became his friend. Both stories tell the tale for friendship, but through very different ways.
The two things I learned from reading Huckleberry Finn were the importance of challenging the common morals and beliefs of society and the importance of friendship. Throughout the story Huck learns that it is often better to listen to your heart than to do what society wants you to. In a scene where he writes a letter to Miss Watson to turn in Jim he tears up the letter after writing it realizing that he can never do the “right thing” and betray his friend when it seems so wrong. The same is true for real life. If something feels wrong even though people and society are pressuring one to do it anyway, one should take a moment to think things through before blindly following the constraints of society. Think of it, if we had never had people who were willing to change society this much, we would still have slavery, women would be considered inferior to men, our country would still be part of England, or our country would not exist at all because the world is “flat”. Such ridiculous or inhumane notions seem laughable or inhumand now, but they were solid facts in olden times. It makes one wonder what beliefs we hold today that may be considered out-of-date in the next 20 or 50 or even 100 years. The importance of friendship is also a stong lesson which can be pulled from this book. Huck and Jim share a bond which though which they are able to learn so much from eachother. Huck learns to overcome his prejudice of blacks, while Jim becomes a father figure to Huck and guides him on his journey. The two of them become like family and when Jim gets in trouble, nothing will stop Huck from saving him (well except for Tom’s escape plan, but that’s unimportant). Our friendships should be as strong, and no factor such as race, gender, religion, or anything else should matter or prevent us from forming these friendships that will last a lifetime.
The movie The Cure really made me think about the prejudices that we impose on people today and the ignorance and innocence of youth and its consequesnces. In The Cure the characters early on talk about how AIDS is a “gay disease”, or can be caught by just by talking to a person. However AIDS can be caught by anyone big or small, though not by talking to a person who has it, but only by a blood transfusion or sexual realations with a person who has it. Both of these things were far from what Eric and Dexter did, yet Eric’s mother still insisted that he never see his friend again. This just proves that even today there are stupid prejudices in the world, and the ignorance that fuels them does nothing to help. The innocence and ignorance of youth is another theme which is esibited on their quest down the Mississippi for a cure. They believe that a mysterious doctor which they read about in a tabloid holds the cure for Dexter’s disease. They then try various plants to cure his disease, which end up nearly poisoning Dexter. After that they head down the Mississippi trying to find the doctor, but end up failing and Dexter only grows sicker. Yet despite the negative consequences of both tries, the innocence and sense of adventure in their friendship brings Dexter out of his bubble and allows him to escape from his disease for a time. Their hopes and innocence in a way are a temporary cure for Dexter.