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Example research essay topic: Major League Baseball African American Population - 4,163 words

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The Struggles and Life of Jackie Robinson Spike Lee, one of the century's greatest filmmakers, once said, I think its very simple. You can divide American history into two periods; Before and After Jackie Robinson. Theres still a lot more to be done, but his breaking the color barrier has to be one of the more important things to happen in this country, period. And I think its important now for all people to understand that. Jackie Robinson was a great player but the main reason for his fame wasnt his career batting average or number of stolen bases. Jackie Robinson was the player that broke the color barrier in the major leagues.

This was a great struggle and took all of the power and control that Robinson had to survive this rough journey. Through this roller coaster of life Jackie broke the rules and changed the history of baseball and the history of the United States. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in a small farmhouse outside of Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919. Jacks parents were married in the year of 1909 and moved onto the farm. Soon after getting married Mallie (Jackie's mother) and Jerry (Jackie's father) had children.

By the time Jackie was born there were four other children. When Jackie was born his father had left town and his family was in deep economic trouble. When Jackie was about one year old his mother moved the family to California. Once in California Mallie Robinson soon found work.

The children saw little of their mother. 1 After a few years in their house the Robinsons moved to a lager house in a predominately white neighborhood. Through the years some residents in this new neighborhood harassed the Robinson because of the color of their skin. As a child Jackie Robinson was always on the go. He loved being outdoors and playing baseball, even if it was with a stick and rag ball. Jackie preferred playing ball to studying. 2 Throughout his childhood Jackie excelled at most sports he played. Jackie and a group of friends created the Pepper Street gang.

This was not a violent gang; rather o group of kids that frequently played sports together. At times the gang involved themselves in crimes but they werent violent. They would steal fruit or go swimming in the local reservoir. Jackie might well have been on the way to turning into a juvenile delinquent, but he was saved by his athletic ability and by a local minister. 3 When Jackie started attending Washington Junior High School in 1933 his focus was on sports.

Throughout junior high school Jackie played sports. Not only was he good but he could master a sport in a short period of time. After Jackie passed junior high he attended Muir Technical High School. Jackie soon became a standout in high school. Sometimes he seemed hotheaded and cocky to schoolmates and coaches. 4 Throughout his high school career Jackie showed signs of great intensity.

To many people this was frightening but this trait would later prove to be a key in the reason that Jackie was selected to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. After receiving his high school diploma Jackie attended Pasadena Junior College. As a freshman Jackie made a name for himself. As a freshman he led the football and basketball teams to California junior college championships. In the spring Jackie ran track and played baseball at the same time.

In his second year at Pasadena Junior College Jackie amazed people and scouts for various colleges with his raw athletic talent. After his second year in college Jackie chose to attend U. C. L. A. so he could stay close to his mom.

At U. C. L. A. Jackie proved he was a great player in any sport he participated. In his junior year Jackie was an extraordinary running back in football, and a star forward in basketball, leading the league in scoring. 5 He also won the Pacific Coast League in baseball and then the national collegiate championship in the broad jump.

In hii's enter year Jackie met his future wife Rachel Is. At first Rachel thought Jackie was very arrogant but she later learned that he was just covering up his great shyness. A few months before graduating college Jackie quit. Times had been rough at home and Jackie decided to get a job to help his mother. He started working at a National Youth Administration camp.

In 1942 Jackie was drafted by the U. S. Army to serve in World War. While in the Army Jackie fought racism and brought changes to his unit. Throughout his years in the Army Jackie became frustrated with the racism and stupidity of his fellow soldiers. Before Jackie was discharged from the Army he met a pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Baseball League.

Jackie sent a letter to the Monarchs organization and received an invitation to try out in the spring. During the winter Jackie was released from the Army and became the head basketball coach of Houston State College. In the spring of 1945 Jackie tried out for the Monarchs, where he was quickly made part of the team. To Jackie the prospect of playing baseball in the Negro Leagues was never especially thrilling. 6 The Kansas City Monarchs were the best know Negro League team in their time.

They had a great reputation and were well know. While playing for the Monarchs Jackie picked up skills that his game was missing. He constantly learned from other players. Even though Jackie was playing baseball again he was unhappy. Almost every aspect of Negro League life bothered Jackie. 7 In 1945 season Robinson seriously thought about quitting. The first time Jackie was offered an extra 100 dollars a month but in September he finally decided to quit playing in the Negro Leagues.

Long before Robinson was even a name in the scouts mind, the campaign to integrate baseball was under way. 8 In 1931 two writers for the New York Daily News both called for baseball to integrate. The real pressure began in the year of 1936 when the Daily Worker became an everyday call for reform. Many believe that this was political assault by the Communist Party against the racial discrimination (in the working class) in the society of American capitalism. These people thought that everyone should have equal opportunity to play and to make the salaries that the white players were making. Over the years the public and press began to call for a change in the policy of segregation in the Major Leagues. Eventually the Daily Worker began to target the Brooklyn Dodgers as the team to bring an African-American player into the league.

Since the Worker was based in New York City it could easily influence the Brooklyn fans. Brooklyn soon brought in a player of Puerto Rican decent. This did not satisfy the people that supported integration. Rather, it expanded the demand for a black player in the league. In the spring of 1943 the Young Communist League opened what the Worker called a nationwide campaign to end Hitlers shame in the major leagues. 9 In 1944 a committee was formed to consisting of Sam lacy, Larry MacPhail of the Yankees, and Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers to explore the ways that baseball integration might take place. As this committee was forming a man named Wendell Smith, a black reporter for the Worker looked into the problem of finding a qualified black player to break the color barrier.

The Boston Redsox had told Wendell that if he could find a black player that was qualified they would give him a chance. Smith found three: marvin Williams of the Philadelphia Stars, Sam Jethro of the Cleveland Buckeyes, and rookie Jackie Robinson of the Kansas city Monarchs. On a weekend in the middle of April 1945 these three players came to Boston to try out for the Redsox. From the beginning Jackie thought the tryout was foolish. After arriving in Boston the players had to wait a few days to get their chance to try and impress the coach but when it came around the coach spent most of the his time with his back to the players. This outraged branch Rickey.

Even though many thought Rickey to be on of the more unlikely managers to break the color barrier with a player, he had been developing a secret plan to integrate the game of baseball. Soon after the Boston tryout Branch Rickey assigned three Dodger scouts to watch Robinson. Rickeys plan to introduce black players to the league had six steps. They were: 1. The backing and sympathy of the Dodgers directors and stockholders, whose investment and civic standing had to be considered and protected. 2.

Picking a Negro who would be the right man on the field. 3. Picking a Negro who would also be the right man off the field. 4. A good reaction from the press and public. 5. Backing and thorough understanding from the Negro race, to avoid misinterpretation and abuse of the project. 6. Acceptance of the player by his teammates. 10 Before the large amount of scouting and the hard work the by Brooklyn scouts would reach its final goal Robinson was put to one final test before he would meet the man that would eventually change Jackie's life and the history of baseball forever. This test involved Jackie's arm.

Branch Rickey told the scouts to go to Chicago to watch Jackie play, test his arm, and if it was adequate bring him in for a meeting with Mr. Rickey. Even though Jackie refused to throw for the scout, because of his injured shoulder, the scout decided to bring Jackie back to New York for the meeting. On August 28, 1945 Rickey and Robinson supposedly met for the first time. As the story goes the conversation went well and contained Rickey acting out many scenes that would most likely involve Jackie. He posed some situations that Robinson might face if he played in the majors such as; a room clerk refusing Jackie a room, an insulting waiter in a restaurant, a sarcastic railroad conductor, and a prejudice player.

After the meeting Jackie Robinson was secretly signed to a contract for $ 600 a month, along with a signing bonus of $ 3, 500. It was agreed that Jackie would start his play with the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers number one farm team. This was the story that is known by most, but is not the truth. In actuality Rickey and Robinson had met before. Both men had time to size each other up, to think, to ask questions of others, before anything like an official contract was placed on the table and Robinson, perfectly aware of why he had come to New York, signed it. 11 On October 23, 1945 Jackie Robinson was told to fly to Montreal to sign his minor league contract with the Royals. On this date the whole world became aware of the Dodgers farm team signing the first contract with a black player.

Rickey and Robinson did not get the reaction that they wanted. The news came as a bombshell. The press jumped all over the story. A major league affiliate team had signed a black player.

A majority of the press supported Jackie's signing but there were some questions. Some writers questioned the reasoning that Branch Rickey had for bringing Jackie into the game. After the signing Jackie life changed over night. He now was faced with the problem of trying to represent the entire African-American population in the United States. A few weeks after the signing Jackie and a group of other Negro players took a trip to South America. On this trip many players helped Jackie out on parts of his game.

They all wanted to further his skills, since he was the player most likely to break the color barrier in the major leagues. On this trip Jackie constantly questioned the reasoning behind the Dodgers picking him. When Robinson returned to the United States his first order of business was marriage. On February 10 th, 1946 Jackie robinson married his college sweetheart Rachel. Weeks after being married Jackie brought Rachel on his trip to spring training for the Royals. The trip was full on racial discrimination and racism.

When the Robinsons finally arrived in Florida Jackie was ready to quit baseball. He was sick of the discrimination. Billy Rowe, a writer, finally convinced Jackie to stay. Over the next weeks Jackie's teammates accepted him and John Wright, another black player at spring training. They made them feel like one of the team, the public didnt. Getting to the field wasnt only an everyday thing for Jackie and Wright, it was also a direct threat to their well being.

People shouted racial slurs and on numerous occasions surrounded their car holding rocks and sticks. After the first day it was apparent that the citizens of the town would not accept black and white player on the same field. The next day the team was moved from Sanford to Daytona Florida. In the following days Jackie was stressful and suspicious. Spring training continued and Jackie stayed in the same state of mind.

One of the largest tests in Jackie's career was his first spring-training game. Jackie expected a hostile reception from white spectators. 12 Instead Jackie was greeted with cheers from all types of fans, both black and white. As the preseason continued Jackie and his team ran into problems. On two separate occasions the Royals opposing team did not show up because they refused to play against a team that had black players on it. When the team returned to Sanford to play a game Robinson was met with bad feelings.

During the game, after Jackie scored, a local sheriff escorted Jackie off the field because of laws banning blacks and whites from playing on the same team. By the end of the trip Jackie was tired and his nerves were wasted. When the team ended spring training and went north Jackie Robinson was selected to go. Robinson had one of the more memorable debuts in baseball history, going four for five, hitting a homer, driving four runs, stealing two bases, and leading his team to a 14 - 1 shellacking of the Jersey Giants. 13 Through this game Jackie cleared and tensions about playing that he had.

Even though Jackie underwent a massive load of segregation and was constantly put down with racial slurs he kept on his game. Many teams would shout names to Robinson form their dugout. During the season Jackie's teammates continued to help him develop. At the end of the season Jackie Robinson ended up leading the league in batting at. 349, second in stolen bases, and the league Most Valuable Player. In Montreal Jackie did not have to fight for the support of the fans. They accepted him for the player he was, not the color of his skin.

When the team traveled Jackie was not always accepted. Fans from other cities would scream and throw things at Robinson. That year the Montreal Royals won their league and eventually went on to win the Junior World Series. In Louisville, the home of the opposing team in the J. W. S. , fans jeered and taunted Robinson.

When the Louisville came to Montreal the Royals fans returned the harassment, continually yelling at Louisville players. For the next few years Robinson continued to play for the Royals, doing as well as he did in his first year. After a few years people began to question if Robinson was to ever be promoted to the majors. Branch Rickey began to feel this pressure in May of 1946. Rickey met with many black citizens in Harlem about their feelings and about what reactions they would have to Jackie's integrating baseball. Rickey held this meeting on May 5 th, 1946.

Rickey discussed his plan with these people and told them that they could see the integration of baseball as a triumph of race over race. After this meeting these people came away with the feeling that something was about to happen. By the spring of 1947 Branch Rickey was determined to bring Robinson into the major leagues. Rickey decided to give Jackie the chance, only if he would remain silent in the face of any and all provocation. 14 The first step Rickey took was to move the Dodgers and Royals training camp form Florida to Cuba, to avoid any trouble caused by Robinson. This also created an environment where Jackie would be playing against his future teammates. Rickey planned to have the team play a series of games in Panama during training.

By the time the team reached Panama a revolt by the players was being talked about, over the prospect of Robinson joining the team. The team was even thinking about petitioning the removal of Robinson from the team. Branch Rickey flew down to Panama from the United States to settle this problem. Rickey spoke to each player individually and eventually persuaded a majority of the players to accept Jackie.

Only two players demanded to be traded if Robinson stayed. Rickey showed his intent to integrate baseball by trading the two players. The Dodgers and Royals left Cuba on April 6, 1947 for New York. On April 10 Wendell Smith told Jackie that he was moving up to the Dodgers, Jackie laughed in his face. On April 10, 1947 a Dodger team official strode into the press box and tacked an announcement to the bulletin board: The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montreal Royals. He will report immediately.

Branch Rickey 15 And walked out. Down on the field, as the announcement was being posted in the press box, Jackie Robinson was bunting into a double play. As he ran back to the dugout the manager and players of the other team were flashing broad grins and giving Jackie the thumbs-up sign. At that moment Jackie Robinson realized that Branch Rickey had kept his promise and that moment would also be the beginning of a great struggle in his ability to survive. From the first day Robinson understood the weight that was one his shoulders. Every play he made, every at-bat, every stolen base, and every hit, meant more than the games.

Jackie Robinson was representing the entire African-American population, and everything he did was a reflection of that. Robinsons major league rebut wasnt all that it was cracked up to be. The fan attendance was relatively small 26, 623 for the opener against the Braves. Through the first month of his season Robinson struggled. Some say it was the pressure of being the player to break the color barrier, other say it was just Robinson getting a feeling for the league. To add to the slump Jackie was also being taunted and verbally abused by other players.

These opponents were clearly trying to get Robinson out of the league. Robinsons first test came early when they played the Phillies. The Phillies manager, Ben Chapman, directed a huge amount of verbal abuse towards Jackie that went on for the rest of the series. Robinson took the abuse quite, since he pledged silence for the first three years. The problems continued when the Dodgers took to the road: the Pirates refused to play untill they were threatened with a forfeit. At home it was no better, Jackie underwent a barrage of profanity during every game.

At one point there was rumor that the St. Louis Cardinals were going to strike if Robinson stayed in the league. The Chicago Cubs had to be ordered to play the Dodgers. They problems not only involved the players but also the fans. On a daily basis Robinson received death threats and threats of kidnapping his wife and infant son. Jackie's life at home was also having problems.

The family was having problems finding a place to stay. The Robinsons managed to find a residential apartment to stay in. At first the press didnt take to Robinson. He was constantly under the microscope of the reporters.

On May 10 th Jackie had a break through with the press. On May tenth, the papers altered their coverage of Robinson, virtually eliminating race identification [or] terms and reports of incidents with a racial connotation. 16 from then on the reporters and press treated Jackie as another player, not the only black player in the league. Form that date on Jackie Robinson brought fans to games to see him play, not to make fun of him. Home and away, record crowds came to watch Robinson. The threats did not stop, rather they werent part of the developing story. Jackie was still have trouble with the fans, but it was getting better.

As it was before, Jackie thought about quitting a lot, but he fought through his hard times. Eventually the fans began to respect and admire Robinson. Robinson won fans over with his antics on the base paths and his ability to rouse a crowd. Other teams began to acknowledge his courage. Some players still kept the antics up but most began to understand Jackie.

As the season went on Jackie's teammates began to accept him. They started to praise him in interviews, stood up for him against other people, played cards together, and even showered together (which was illegal in some states). In the end Jackie was accepted, not because of his team, but because his team needed him. As the Dodgers went further and further into the season Jackie Robinson became more and more of a factor.

By July he was leading the Brooklyn team in first place. When the team went on the road the insults, threats, and throwing at Jackie diminished. Robinson finished his rookie season hitting. 292 and led the league in steals. He was also named Rookie of the Year. By the time the Dodgers finished the World Series (which they lost in seven games to the Yankees) Jackie Robinson was viewed as another player in the Brooklyn uniform.

This was Jackie's dream: to be looked upon because of his skill as a player, not the color of his skin. He had finally achieved his goal. Jackie Robinson went on to become one of the greatest players in the history of baseball. He excelled in all parts of the game. Most importantly Jackie Robinson created a society in baseball and the cities that was on its way to becoming equal for all its people. In the same year that Jackie broke the racial barrier in the major leagues two other African-American players were brought in.

Brooklyn signed a black pitcher and the Cleveland Indians signed a black outfielder. As a result of the year Robinson had, the doors were now open. Major league baseball, a cornerstone of American culture, would never again be an exclusive preserve limited to whites. 18 The Struggles and Life of Jackie Robinson. Highlights of Robinsons Career. The Early Years of Jackie's Life A. Childhood 1.

location of where he grew up, family life, school, sports B. Teenage Years. Life After College A. the Army B. Negro baseball leagues. Problems in the Minor Leagues A.

Feelings of the players and managers B. Feelings of the fans. Troubles with the players at the start of his major league baseball career A. Teammates reactions B. Reactions of players and managers around the league. Problems with the public at the start of his major league career A.

Fans opinions when they watched Jackie play B. Death threats. Results of Jackie Robinsons life and career A. Changes in racial segregation B.

After retirement changes continued Footnote Page 1. Manfred Weidhorn, Jackie Robinson (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1993), p. 11 2. Weidhorn, p. 12 3. Weidhorn, p. 13 4.

Weidhorn, p. 16 5. Weidhorn, p. 20 6. David Falkner, Great Time Coming (New York: Simon &# 038; Shuster, 1995), p. 87 7. Falkner, p. 93 8. Falkner, p. 95 9.

Falkner, p. 98 10. Falkner, p. 104 11. Dom Amore, Historic Journey, The Hartford Courant, April 15, 1997, Section G, p. 4 12. Falkner, p. 132 13. Falkner, p. 133 14.

Falkner, p. 156 15. Falkner, p. 158 16. Falkner, p. 168 17. Falkner, p. 178 Lists of Works Consulted Allen, Maury. Jackie Robinson: A Life Remembered.

New York: Franklin Watts, 1987. Amore, Dom. Historic Journey. The Hartford Courant, (April 15, 1997), Sec. G, p. 4. Falkner, David.

Great Time Coming. New York: Simon &# 038; Schuster, 1995 Nack, William. The Breakthrough. Sports Illustrated, 86 (May 5, 1997), pp. 56 - 62 65 - 67.

Robinson, Jackie (as told to Alfred Duckett). I Never Had It Made. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972. Weidhorn, Manfred.

Jackie Robinson. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. , 1993. 32 a


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Research essay sample on Major League Baseball African American Population

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