During this course I have learned that things in America can and have changed within only a few years at a time. However, overall progress and reforms can span over decades or even centuries. While there are many examples of this, there is one prominent series of events that have continually frustrated Americans for centuries, civil rights. While civil rights have been an issue since America’s birth, my signature assignment will focus on one major series of events- the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement has influenced American policies and culture so vastly that the past would be unrecognizable to an American today. This of course is given that the American in question is unfamiliar with the Civil Rights Movement. While completing this signature assignment, I learned that America has been desperate for change and reform for centuries, but our government has always been slow to enact legislation. I also learned that while lots of changes have been made, we are still very much progressing. Just as Andrew Johnson mistakenly claimed the reconstruction era over, we should not be quick to claim the same for the Civil Rights Movement.