NIAGARA MOVEMENT

The 'Niagara movement' was a civil rights organization founded near the Niagara river in 1905. The Niagara Movement eventually became the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.

Contents

History

Declaration of Principles

See also

External links

History

The Niagara Movement was founded in 1905 by a group led by W. E. B. Du Bois, John Hope, Fred L. McGhee, and William Monroe Trotter. They called for full civil liberties, an end to racial discrimination, and recognition of human brotherhood. Buffalo residents William and Mary B. Talbert helped DuBois and Trotter locate a suitable venue for the inaugural meeting, which took place in Fort Erie, Ontario, from July 11 until July 14, 1905. They met on the Canadian side of the Niagara River because Du Bois specifically desired a resort-like setting. The movement renounced Booker T. Washington's accommodation policies set forth in his Atlanta Compromise speech, delivered in 1895.
The Niagara Movement eventually split into separate committees and divided among the states. After one year there were few members and money was dwindling. Their second meeting, the first to be held on U.S. soil, took place at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the site of John Brown's raid. The three-day gathering, starting on August 15, 1906 at the campus of Storer College (now part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park), discussed how to secure civil rights for African Americans and was later described by Du Bois as "one of the greatest meetings that American Negroes ever held." Attendees walked from Storer College to the nearby Murphy Family farm, site of the historic fort where John Brown's quest to free four million enslaved blacks reached its bloody climax. This meeting became the foundation for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The first white member, Mary White Ovington, joined the group after the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.

Declaration of Principles

The members of the Niagara Movement had many beliefs and principles. Suffrage was important, as was the right to protest for their political rights. The members believed that all Americans have the right to the same treatment and economic opportunity. Education was of high priority; they believed that high school, as well as college, should be available to all, with no discrimination. The members demanded a justice system without discrimination. They had hope that all could live a healthy life- in healthy homes. Protest against inferiority was a must. Through everything they had faith in their church. Lastly, their were 7 duties that the Niagra Movement thought all men should have: the duty to vote, the duty to respect others, the duty to work, the duty to obey laws, the duty to be clean and orderly, the duty to send children to school, and the duty to respect themselves and others.

See also

★ Nadir of American race relations

★ NAACP

External links

★ Niagara's Declaration of Principles

★ Mystery Solved! (Why the Movement met in Canada instead of Buffalo)

★ www.math.buffalo.edu

★ Details from the 1908 Niagara Conference at Oberlin

★ www.aaregistry.com

★ www.pbs.org
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