James Joseph Reeb (January 1, 1927 – March 11, 1965) was an American Unitarian Universalist minister, pastor, and activist during the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts. While participating in the Selma to Montgomery marches actions in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, he was murdered by white segregationists and white supremacists, dying of head injuries in the hospital two days after being severely beaten. Three men were tried for Reeb's murder but were acquitted by an all-white jury. His murder remains officially unsolved.
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👉 James Reeb in the context of History of the Southern United States
Human occupation of the Southern United States began thousands of years ago with Paleo-Indian peoples, the first inhabitants of what would become this distinctive American region. By the time Europeans arrived in the 15th century, the region was inhabited by the Mississippian people. European history in the region would begin with the earliest days of the exploration. Spain, France, and especially England explored and claimed parts of the region.
Starting in the 17th century, the history of the Southern United States developed unique characteristics that came from its economy based primarily on plantation agriculture and the ubiquitous and prevalent institution of slavery. Millions of enslaved Africans were imported to the United States primarily but not exclusively for forced labor in the south. While the great majority of Whites did not own slaves, slavery was nevertheless the foundation of the region's economy and social order. Questions of Southern slavery directly impacted the struggle for American independence throughout the South and gave the region additional power in Congress.