African American Reconstruction African American History

Once freed, African Americans believed that the rights of a citizen were granted to them. They truthfully believed this because after a brutally fought war, basic rights such as education, land, and employment were so modest, they were undeniable. Even though they were proclaimed as free, their place is society remained unaffected. The Freedmen's Bureau became one of the earlier agencies to provide support for newly freedmen. The agency offered education, advice and protection to its members. The most significant asset of the bureau was education. The literacy rate of African Americans rose about twenty percent due to the organization. Some freedmen even attended colleges to earn degrees. Many white Southerners viewed the African American attempt at education as a waste of time. They condemned the efforts of their social improvement. With much criticism by racist whites and inadequate funds, the Freedmen's Bureau concluded by 1872 injuring African American hopes of social equality. Another goal of African Americans was the ownership of land. To the freedmen, land ownership was equivalent to economic independency. However, they were mistaken. Economic independency was an unrealistic goal in the southern environment. As former slaves, African Americans were very familiar to the agricultural life style. As a result of Sherman's raids across the south, large plots of land were left uninhabited. Vast amounts of freedmen took the opportunity to occupy these lands. In 1866, Congress also passed the Southern Homestead Act giving African Americans access to public lands in five southern states. Contrary to what the freedmen believed, land ownership did not ensure financial success. Most land owned by African Americans was small and had an inferior value compared to white farms.

National Museum of the American Indian (The Smithsonian Institution, Term Paper

National Museum of the American Indian (The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.) - Term Paper Example as the past were key aspects of the design concept: â€Å"it needed to be a living museum, neither formal nor quiet, located in close proximity to nature.† The location which was chosen for the museum contained a stream, and this natural feature, along with the directions of the street outside and the natural north, south, east and west directions were taken into account. This is because native Indian culture places high value on harmony between all aspects of human life and the natural world and even more radically: â€Å"the grounds surrounding the building are considered an extension of the building and a vital part of the museum as a whole.†2 The Seattle born architect, Johnpaul Jones, who is of Choctaw, Cherokee and Welsh heritage, consulted with a widely drawn group of native elders and they decided very early that the building and surrounding area would be different from the neoclassical or modernist museum styles: â€Å"The museum doesn’t have a straight line in it, and is meant to look as though wind and water carved its curves†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 3 These curved external walls are the first feature to strike the visitor who arrives on foot: â€Å"Theres a monumental new presence rising above the elm trees on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., - and its not like anything else youll see there. Its as if a vision from an ancient cliff city of the desert Southwest - five stories worth of honey-colored limestone, rough hewn as if by the wind yet flowing like a river of curving cantilevered walls - had been plopped down at the back door of the U.S. Capitol.†4 The site was examined by the native elders, who identified a central point and buried a secret object there. This spot now lies at the centre of the domed Potomac atrium which lies to the east of the entrance area. The entrance was not located to face the Mall, but instead it looks east towards the rising sun and, incidentally, towards the U.S. Capitol. The stream was honoured with the creation of a fountain and a