| The period immediately following the
Civil War was a time of great hope for Blacks in America. It was also a time of
momentous{{U}} (21) {{/U}}change, as the nation sought to{{U}} (22)
{{/U}}those liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights to all Americans,
Black and White. The Thirteenth Amendment{{U}} (23) {{/U}}slavery, the
Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed all citizens equal protection of the laws, and
the Fifteenth Amendment declared that no one could be{{U}} (24)
{{/U}}the right to vote "{{U}} (25) {{/U}}race, color, or precious
condition of servitude." In subsequent decades,{{U}} (26) {{/U}}, it
became all too apparent, at least to Blacks and a (n){{U}} (27)
{{/U}}small number of concerned Whites, that the promise contained in these
amendments were not being{{U}} (28) {{/U}}By century's end, racial
segregation was still an inescapable fact of American life, in the North{{U}}
(29) {{/U}}the South. There was an important stage that showed the struggle to close the gap between constitutional promise and social reality. In turning to civil disobedience (非暴力反抗), leaders{{U}} (30) {{/U}}Martin Luther King, Jr. made{{U}} (31) {{/U}}possible for all victims of racial injustice to take action in a way that was direct and forceful,{{U}} (32) {{/U}}also peaceable. And through the power of their mortal example, they soon won widespread support for their cause.{{U}} (33) {{/U}}these developments, Congress took steps to{{U}} (34) {{/U}}the full meaning of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. The enactment of these measures{{U}} (35) {{/U}}marked the end of the civil rights movement. There was still much to be done. |