America I am

The title "America I am" means the struggles of the African-Americans. At the exhibit I saw the evidence of the risks that people took to help or hinder the African-Americans' freedom. During the long and terrible years of slavery there was a woman, named Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman lead slaves to freedom by cleverly passing through the Underground Railroad. Years later, Abraham Lincoln became the president of the United States and passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which did not free slaves, but instead allowed slaves to join the Union. The document that abolished slavery was the 13th amendment. However even though slaves were emancipated they still felt the harshness of segregation. This segregation ranged from white only foundations and areas to more serious acts of violence. The most heinous example of these acts of violence would occur as a result of the Ku Klux Klan, the KKK murdered several African-Americans. However a man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out about these senseless and violent acts with his famous "I have a Dream" speech. On January 26, 1956 Dr. King was arrested during a sit-in at a resturant, waiting to be served when the resturant did not serve african americans. After being released from prison he was shot and killed by James Earl Ray. As time went on segregation was reduced and as a result African-Americans and Whites went to the same same foundations and areas.