Biography of Strom Thurmond, Segregationist Politician

Strom Thurmond was a segregationist  politician who ran for president in 1948 on a platform opposed to civil rights for African Americans. He later served 48 years—an astonishing eight terms—as a U.S. Senator from South Carolina. In the later decades of his career, Thurmond obscured his views on race by claiming that he had only ever been opposed to excessive federal power. Early Life and Career James Strom Thurmond was born December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina. His father was an attorney and prosecutor who was also deeply involved in state politics. Thurmond graduated from Clemson University in 1923 and worked in local schools as an athletic coach and teacher. Thurmond became Edgefield Countys director of education in 1929. He was  tutored in law by his father and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1930, at which point he became a county attorney. At the same time, Thurmond was becoming involved with politics, and in 1932 he was elected as a state senator, a position he held in 1938. After his term as state senator ended, Thurmond was appointed a state circuit judge. He held that position until 1942, when he joined the U.S. Army during World War II. During the war, Thurmond served in a civil affairs unit, which was charged with creating governmental functions in newly liberated territories. The position was not a sedate one: Thurmond landed in Normandy aboard a glider on D-Day, and saw action in which he took Germans soldiers prisoner. Following the war, Thurmond returned to political life in South Carolina. Running a campaign  as a war hero, he was elected governor of the state in 1947. Dixiecrat Presidential Campaign In 1948, as President Harry S. Truman moved to integrate the U.S. military and embark on other civil rights initiatives, southern politicians responded with outrage. The Democratic Party in the South had long stood for segregation and Jim Crow rule, and as Democrats gathered for their national convention in Philadelphia, southerners reacted fiercely. One week after the Democrats convened in July 1948, leading southern politicians gathered for a breakaway convention in Birmingham, Alabama. Before a crowd of 6,000, Thurmond was nominated as the groups presidential candidate. The splinter faction of the Democratic Party, which became known in the press as the Dixiecrats, pledged opposition to President Truman. Thurmond spoke  at the convention, where he denounced Truman and claimed that Trumans program of civil rights reforms betrayed the South. The efforts of Thurmond and the Dixiecrats posed a serious problem for Truman. He would be facing Thomas E. Dewey, a Republican candidate who had already run for president, and the prospect of losing the electoral votes of southern states (which had long been known as The Solid South) could be disastrous. Thurmond campaigned energetically, doing all he could to cripple Trumans campaign. The strategy of the Dixiecrats was to deny both major candidates a majority of electoral votes, which would throw the presidential election into the House of Representatives. If the election went to the House, both candidates would be forced to campaign for the votes of members of Congress, and southern politicians assumed that they could force candidates to turn against civil rights. On Election Day  1948, what became known as the States Rights Democratic ticket won the electoral votes of four states: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Thurmonds home state of South Carolina. However, the 39 electoral votes Thurmond received did not prevent Harry Truman from winning the election. The Dixiecrat campaign was historically significant as it marked the first time the Democratic voters in the South began to turn away from the national party over the issue of race. Within 20 years, Thurmond would play a role in the major realignment of the two major parties, as the Democrats became the party associated with civil rights and the Republicans veered towards conservatism. Famous Filibuster After his term as governor ended in 1951, Thurmond returned to private law practice. His political career seemed to have ended with the Dixiecrat campaign, as establishment Democrats resented the danger he had posed to the party in the 1948 election. In 1952, he vocally opposed the candidacy of Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson. As the issue of civil rights began to build in the early 1950s, Thurmond began speaking out against integration. In 1954 he ran for a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina. Without support from the party establishment, he ran as a write-in candidate, and against the odds, he won. In the summer of 1956, he received some national attention by once again urging southerners to split off and form a third political party that would stand for states rights, which meant, of course, a policy of segregation. The threat didnt materialize for the election of 1956. In 1957, as Congress debated a civil rights bill, southerners were outraged but most accepted that they did not have the votes to stop the legislation. Thurmond, however, chose to make a  stand. He took to the Senate floor on the evening of August 28, 1957 and began speaking. He held the floor for 24 hours and 18 minutes,  setting a record for a Senate filibuster. Thurmonds marathon speech brought  him national attention  and made him even more popular with segregationists. But it did not stop the bill from passing. Changing Party Alignments When Barry Goldwater ran for president in as a Republican in 1964, Thurmond broke from the Democrats to support him. And as the Civil Rights Movement transformed America in the mid-1960s, Thurmond was one of the prominent conservatives who migrated from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. In the election of 1968, the support of Thurmond and other new arrivals to the Republican Party helped  secure the victory of Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon. And in following decades, the South itself transformed from a Democratic stronghold to a Republican bastion. Later Career Following the tumult of the 1960s, Thurmond forged a somewhat more moderate image, leaving behind his reputation as a segregationist firebrand. He became a fairly conventional senator, focusing on pork barrel projects that would help his home state. In 1971, he made news when he became one of the first southern senators to hire a black staff member. The move, his obituary in the New York Times later noted, was a reflection of increased African American voting because of legislation he had once opposed. Thurmond was easily elected to the Senate every six years, only stepping down a few weeks after reaching the ago of 100. He left the Senate in January 2003 and died soon after, on June 26, 2003.   Legacy A few months after Thurmonds death, Essie-Mae Washington-Williams came forward and revealed that she was Thurmonds daughter.  Washington-Williams mother, Carrie Butler, was an African-American woman who, at age 16, had been employed as a domestic worker at Thurmonds family home. During that time, the 22-year-old Thurmond had fathered a child with Butler. Raised by an aunt, Washington-Williams only learned who her real parents were when she was a teenager. Though Thurmond never publicly acknowledged his daughter, he provided financial support for her education, and Washington-Williams occasionally visited his Washington  office. The revelation that one of the Souths most ardent segregationists had a  biracial daughter created controversy. Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson commented to the New York Times, He fought for laws that kept his daughter segregated and in an inferior position. He never fought to give her first-class status. Thurmond  led the movement of southern Democrats as they  migrated to the Republican Party as an emerging conservative bloc. Ultimately, he left a legacy through his segregationist policies and the transformation of the major U.S. political parties.   Strom Thurmond Fact Facts Full Name: James Strom ThurmondOccupation: Segregationist politician and U.S. Senator for 48 years.Born: December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina, USADied: June 26, 2003 in Edgefield, South Carolina, USAKnown For: Led the Dixiecrat revolt of 1948 and embodied the realignment of the two major  political parties around the issue of race in America. Sources Walz, Jay. Carolinian Sets Talking Record. New York Times, 30 August 1957, p. 1.Hulse, Carl. Lott Apologizes Again on Words About 48 Race. New York Times, 12 December 2002, p 1.Clymer, Adam. Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100. New York Times, 27 June 2003.Janofsky, Michael. Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter. New York Times, 16 December 2003.James Strom Thurmond. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 15, Gale, 2004, pp. 214-215. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

George Orwell s The Road - 2362 Words

George Orwell’s 1984, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, are both authors’ horrible depictions of the future. Even though both of the depictions are undesirable, the authors’ visions are quite different. Cormac McCarthy wrote about how some unknown force has destroyed America and life is becoming worse because of death and crime everywhere. George Orwell wrote about a government with too much power and life is becoming discreetly worse. From an outsider’s point of view life seems pretty bleak, but to the people controlled by the government life seems great because they are being brainwashed to like the government and are constantly under watch in order to make sure they don’t plot against the government. In George Orwell’s 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is in a totalitarian future where the government is always watching everyone, and have the power to change the past and make people believe things like 2+2=5 if the government says so. Winston is one of the few people who don’t like the government and is part of a brotherhood against it, but people like him are captured and tortured until they are brainwashed to like the government. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a man and his son are in a post-apocalyptic future where an unknown force has burned through America and bandits and thieves stalk the highways. In George Orwell’s depiction of the future, the government is torturing anyone against them, including people who just think anything bad about their leader, â€Å"BigShow MoreRelatedReview Of George Orwell s The Road 1923 Words   |  8 PagesReview on George Orwell – The Road to Wigan Pier Course – BA Hons (With foundation) Community studies. 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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl free essay sample

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author Harriet Jacobs (also the main character in book), paints a very powerful, and emotion picture of what the institution of Slavery was like for the slave and master in America, and the toll that it took on the human soul. Before reading this book, I was given a list of questions to ponder on while reading. These questions ranged from, compare and contrast survival techniques used by two characters in the book, to was this work difficult to read and understand? After reading the book, I feel that I have a good grasp on the answer to the different questions, and will answer them now. The two characters that I will compare and contrast their survival techniques are Harriet Jacobs, also known as Linda in the book, and her Uncle Benjamin. Linda once said that Benjamin had â€Å"a spirit too bold and daring for a slave† (p. 18). This is very evident in the technique Benjamin uses to survive while being a slave. During one event in the book, Benjamin’s master called for him, and he did not obey his master’s order quickly enough. When Benjamin finally came, â€Å"his master was angry, and began to punish him by whipping him† (p. 19). Benjamin and his master fought and Benjamin threw his master to the ground. At this time in our country it was illegal for a slave to put his hands on his master, and â€Å"that in court his word would not be taken against any white man’s† (p. 93). Benjamin did not care about any laws, because he felt like he should have the benefits of what a free man had during this time. Benjamin felt that he had every right to hit his master, because his master hit him first, and Benjamin was just trying to defend his self. Even if that meant he could be punished by death, Benjamin did not care, because he had too much pride, and also he wanted his freedom. This is where Linda and her Uncle differ. I am not saying, that Linda did not want her freedom, she did. Linda did not understand why she and her fellow brothers and sister had to be a slave. Linda also realizes that she could not solve her problems by getting in physical fights with her master. She knew that she needed to be more cunning than that. Linda knew that if she put her hands on her master, there was nothing anybody could do for her because she would be guilty by the definition of the law at the time. She knew that throwing her master to the ground, could get her in a lot of trouble, and was completely opposite f Benjamin in this regard. When Linda was physically punish by her master for the first time she did not hit him back. She sprung back to her feet and exclaimed, â€Å"you have struck me for answering you honestly. How I despise you! † (p. 36). Linda knew how to play the game. After she got hit, she kept that anger bottled up inside of her, and used it to motivate her. She realized that her master was not her friend and that he will always be the enemy. Another question that I was supposed to answer in this paper was how did men and women experience the institution of slavery differently from each other. The male slaves in the book were whipped more than the women. They also sent male slaves to jail for extended amounts of time. At one point in the book, Linda master sent Benjamin to jail for so long that the â€Å"long confinement had made his face too pale, his form too thin† (p. 23). I can not imagine being locked up in a jail and deprived of sunshine so long that my face turned pale. It had to be terrible for male slaves back then. With that being said, â€Å"slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women† (p. 66). Female slaves on top of being punished with a hard crack of a whip, they had to fear the master trying to rape them and that is something the men did not have to worry about. Linda said that her master â€Å"began to whisper foul words in my ear† (pg. 26), when she was only fifteen years old. Her master was trying to lay the foundation down, so when he felt like taking advantage of her body (rape) he would have already broken her down. Linda could never get away from her master advances; My master met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him, and swearing by heaven and earth that he would compel me to submit to him. If I went out for a breath of fresh air, after a day of unwearied toil, his footsteps dogged me. If I knelt by my mother’s grave, his dark shadow fell on me even there (p. 27). These unwanted advances took a toll on the minds of female slaves. No matter what they did, they could never get away from their master. It had to be a very terrible experience that only female slaves had to deal with. Also, if the female slaves in the book had any children, they had to worry about the master selling their children anytime they wanted to because the children belong to the masters and not the slave parents. I am not saying that male slaves did not care about their children, but women carry their children in their stomachs for nine months, and will always have a greater connection with their children than their father. While reading this book, my heart want out to the female slaves that had to adore such hardships in there life. I could not and will never understand completely what it would be like to have my body taken anytime and my children snatched away from me whenever the master wanted too. It was hard for slaves to make their life meaningful under such harsh conditions, but they did. Many slaves including Linda’s grandmother kept her sprites high by keeping her faith in God. Linda grandmother strived to show Linda that it was â€Å"the will of God: that He had seen fit to place us under such circumstances; and though it seemed hard, we ought to pray for contentment† (p. 17). Linda grandmother always believed that God put her here in this situation for a reason. These slaves did not own anything. They could not own anything because they were property themselves. All they knew in life was slavery. They knew that their great-grandparents were slaves, their grandparents, and parents were slaves also. Master could take anything and everything from them at a drop of a hat, but the one thing that their master could not take from them was their faith in God, and that is why so many slaves put everything thing they had into God. They hoped that one day all of the pain would stop, and they would be seated next to God in heaven, because there had to be a better place for them, than hell on earth. There are two aspects of slavery, which I believe Jacobs to identify as the worst. The two aspects are sexual abuse and having your kids taken away from you. Jacobs says that the sexual abuse starts around the time when a female slave turns fifteen or sixteen years old. She says that the master and his sons, and overseer start to fill the female slave’s minds with evil thoughts. Talking about sex to a female that is so young is criminally wrong, but the master was trying to undo all of the right, that the slave parents instilled in their child. The master hoped that if he filled her mind with nasty thoughts, she would more easily be swayed to give up her body. Jacobs also felt that when slave masters sold their female slave children it also was a terrible experience. In the book, Jacobs describes the experience of seeing a female slave have all eight of her children sold on the slave market in the same day. Linda said that the female slave, who kids were sold at the market, did not have the will to live anymore. Who can blame her for felling like this? This female slave did not only have one of her children sold, but all eight. This has to be a very traumatic experience in a female slave’s life. The women that I have spoken with say that they would rather kill their own children rather then their master sell them into slavery. I can not understand why anybody would ever want to love or be love by somebody under those circumstances. To me, there is no point to ever having children if you were a slave. Another question that I was asked to answer after reading this book was, what impact did the system of slavery have on the self-image and actions of both blacks and whites? There is a passage in the book that explains the impact perfectly: The slave holder’s sons are, of course, vitiated, even while boys, by the unclean influences every where around them. Nor do the master’s daughters always escape. Severe retributions sometimes come upon him for the wrongs he does to the daughters of the slaves. The white daughters early hear their parents quarrelling about some female slave. Their curiosity is excited, and they soon learn the cause. They are attended by the young slave girls whom their father has corrupted; and they hear such talk as should never meet youthful ears, or any other ears. They know that the women slaves are subject to their father’s authority in all things; and in some cases they exercise the same authority over the men slaves (p. 46). The whole system of slavery was a perpetual cycle for both blacks, and whites. The son’s of the master did as his father did, and verbally and sexually abuse the slaves. And the daughter did as the mother did and hate the slaves, especially female slaves, for being the eye of affection for both the master and son. Jealous, greed, and passion filled both races lives at the time, and the people that got hurt the most were the young children, both white and black. It was so much hatred going around from both parties that I do not know how everybody did not just kill each other. I really enjoyed reading this true life book about the institution of slavery. Most often slaves are described in my different history classes I have taken over the years as just that, slaves, when in fact these slaves were human beings. I feel that everybody should read this book, because it paints a vivid picture of the human side of slavery. With that being said, I feel that this book was difficult to read at times, seeing that it was a first person narrative. To often the author would switch points of views speaking and I would be confused. I still would not go as far as saying that I would want the book to be written from a different perspective, because I feel that we as readers would loss some of the up close and personal feel of the book. I also do not feel that the words of the book should be modernized. I feel that when the author used the language of â€Å"back in the day†, you could connect to it more. It actually added to the mental images that I have in my mind. It helped me understand what they were going through more, hearing them talk how they talked back in the day.