The African American Experience: From Slavery to the Presidency encapsulates the sometimes devastating and sometimes triumphant history of African Americans in each era by illustrating what their lives were like at the time. It explores political and economic history as well as other significant cultural, artistic, and scientific contributions made by African Americans. Recent accomplishments along with lingering prejudice and discrimination are discussed.

Table of Contents

• Slavery in America
• INTRODUCTION
• SLAVERY AND THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
• AFRICAN SLAVES IN THE AMERICAS
• KING COTTON AND THE EXPANSION OF SLAVERY
• SLAVE REBELLIONS
• THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT AND THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
• Civil War and Reconstruction Eras
• INTRODUCTION
• THE EXPANSION OF SLAVERY AND THE DIVISION OF AMERICA
• LINCOLN, THE CONFEDERACY, AND THE CIVIL WAR
• ECONOMIC AND LEGAL CONSTRAINTS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA
• THE RISE AND FALL OF BLACK POLITICS IN THE SOUTH
• The Rise of the Jim Crow Era
• INTRODUCTION
• THE REBIRTH OF WHITE SUPREMACY
• POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL DISPARITY
• THE AGE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
• VIOLENCE, THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT, AND THE RISE OF THE NAACP
• BLACK LEADERS
• The Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance
• INTRODUCTION
• ECONOMIC DEPRESSION AND THE MOVE NORTH
• THE BIRTH OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
• A LITERARY MOVEMENT
• VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
• THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL
• The Civil Rights Era
• INTRODUCTION
• WORLD WAR II, INDUSTRY, AND A SECOND MIGRATION
• THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT GETS MOVING
• MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• ANOTHER WAR, THE BLACK REVOLT, AND THE DEATH OF A DREAMER
• Barack Obama and the Idea of a Postracial Society
• INTRODUCTION
• BREAKING RACIAL BARRIERS IN THE ARTS, SPORTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT
• AFRICAN AMERICANS IN POLITICS AND POSITIONS OF POWER
• BARACK OBAMA
• CONTINUED SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL INEQUITIES
• TIMELINE
• GLOSSARY
• FOR MORE INFORMATION
• BIBLIOGRAPHY