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Life in the USA Land, History and Language American History
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A Lasting American Tragedy
The Civil War is a great tragic fact of American life. People in the North rarely refer to it, but it remains a live issue in the South. Some of the state flags of southern states incorporate the Stars and Bars of the Confederate flag. The slaves were all freed as a result of the Northern victory. There was a brief period after the war, called Reconstruction, during which blacks began to exert their rights, but by 1876 whites had taken over the southern states again and began to brutally repress blacks, keeping them unschooled, poor, and unable to vote without risking violence and lynchings (illegal hangings of blacks by angry mobs of whites). Faced with persecution in the South that was often worse than slavery, many blacks moved to the cities of the North, where they would soon face new problems. The Civil Rights movement, which attracted great attention during the 1960's under the inspired leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped reverse some, but not all, of the injustices suffered by black people in America in both the South and the North. The black struggle is still a major issue. Next Section: The Growth of American Industry Land, History and Language: Chapter Home
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