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Iluminating Time Periods

Illuminating Time Periods
Throughout the years America has gone through many changes, those being both political and cultural. Although America has changed, it has only progressed towards a more equal and free society. Through the analyzing of the American periods of the 1910's and the 1960's, it can be concluded that America has evolved into one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith reveals the southern postwar discrimination against blacks and the actions of the Ku Klux Klan. The Autobiography of Malcolm X shows us the life of Malcolm Little and his transformation into the strong civil rights activist Malcolm X. The controversial film, The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith, portrays the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as honorable and noble. After viewing this work and researching I found that this film did not accurately portray its time period in which it was published. Although the Ku Klux Klan was active and blacks did endure constant discrimination during the 1910's, the Ku Klux Klan clan was very racist and violent.
By 1965 the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak with the release of the Autobiography of Malcolm X. In the book Malcolm X talks about his life to Alex Haley, the author of the book, and ends with his assassination in 1965. With the release of the book Americans read, first hand, on how African Americans were being treated around them. Americans also read how some African Americans thought according to Malcolm’s experiences. Both the Birth of a Nation and The Autobiography of Malcolm X illuminated the time in which they were released and were extremely influential on the American society.
After the end of the civil war in 1877, America was faced with the task of reconstruction and the equalization of the American public, that being both blacks and whites. With the victory of the Union in the civil war, Southern blacks were granted the right to vote by the constitutional amendments. White...