1. How And Why Did Black Americans Fight For Civil Rights Flashcards
When and why were black Americans supposedly free and equal
In 1870.
Slavery was abolished
All people born or naturalised in the USA where USA citizens
All us citizens had the same voting right
In what ways did black face discrimination after the First World War?
There was segregation and violence extremely in the Deep South nut they were unofficially degraded against in the north.
They were expected to live in their own part of town and stay there.
They were first fired and last hired and had the lowest paying jobs.
What was he segregation after ww1 helped by?
Having the worst jobs and being less well paid automatically pushed people to the poorest parts of town.
What violence was there in 1919?
25 anti black race riots often set off by police injustice where 100s were killed.
The worst is these red summer riots was in Chicago
Who was Booker Washington?
Famous black American was accepted segregation.
Who supported booker Washington?
He had a significant following of better off black Americans.
He had white support.
What was education like in the south?
While there was segregation, black children did learn and go on to become doctors lawyers and teachers proving blacks were as intelligent which southerns denied.
Why did southerns introduce him crow laws?
With slavery gone, they felt less in control of the black population so Jim Crow laws were a form of control.
What were him crow laws?
Introduced in 1917 that segregated every aspect of life.
It was called he permanent system or final settlement.
They were to segregate public facilities, segregate workers.
How did him crow laws affect voting?
Voters had to pass a literacy qualification to vote and sometimes blacks were given harder passages to read.
Voters had to be home owners and most blacks weren’t.
Some states held all white elections to select candidates for the actual election.
Polling stations were surrounded by whites waiting to beat up blacks.
By 1917 the number of blacks voting had dropped considerably
What is lynching?
A mob taking law into its own hands to punish someone for what it sees as a crime. Usually hanged or burnt alive
How many men were lynched between 1915 and 1930?
65 white men and 579 black men
Why was Emmett Till, 14 lynched in 1955?
Talking to a white women. It caused shock even in the south.
Who were the KKK?
WASPs against any non-WASPS.
By 1825 membership was between three to eight million.
In the south it included people with real political power (governors) and social power (police and army)
How did KKK get so many members?
Women klan members brought their children up as white supremacists and in rural communities created anti-black environment that non-klan people felt too intimidated to reject
How did the federal government hinder black equality?
- In 1896 the Supreme Court in Plessy vs Ferguson, had ruled that despite the 14th amendment, segregation was possible if it was separate but equal. This was used to support many cases of segregation
- Wilson was a southerner and had no problem with segregation
What did Harding do about racism in the south?
Spoke out against lynching and was in favour of civil rights.
He addressed 30,000 people at the university of Alabama of the evils of segregation.
But due to lauded faire he could try and influence but could not enforce it by legislation.
How did the depression affect civil rights?
The focus was on that and the federal government was focussed on correcting that and civil rights issues slid even further out of sight.
What was the great migration?
Between 1917 and 1932 there was a wave of black migration from the south to the north and east mainly to cities.
Why were blacks attracted to cities such as New York?
They were industrial towns and blacks were drawn there for work and to escape the south.
Why did the great migration begin?
The USA entered ww1 producing a rising need for workers in munitions factories in the north. Factory owners advertised in southern newspapers offering housing, free transport and good wages. People were encouraged to move by fiends and family who had already moved.
What was the black population of New York in 1910 and 1930?
92000 to 330000
Why were migrants surprised with the north?
Their lives followed a similar pattern: found somewhere to live and a job that was low paid, replacing whites who were pushing for lower wages.
Accommodation was in the most crowded run down part of the city and rent was higher than whites.
They were poor and even skilled migrants had to take unskilled jobs
How was the great migration not negative for all blacks?
Not all landlords exploited migrants
Not all blacks were forced to live in the worst parts of the cities
Some black professionals lived in their own black communities in better parts of the cities.
Poor blacks who were nannies moved to rich white suburbs.
They could vote and elected to local and federal government
What was the impact of the great migration on cities?
Population rose sharply.
In cities where black migrants settled in areas that coincided with voting wards (e.g Chicago) they had a great political influence.
Black migrants dislodged white workers especially those who were members of unions and pushing for better conditions. This enabled businesses to put pressure on white workers to leave unions or lose their jobs.
What happened when it became clear black people could keep a mayor in power?
They will listen to more and a powerful business oriented black elite grew up that had a vested interest in segregation as it would sweep the whole vote
Why didn’t blacks gain political power in New York?
The black population was more evenly distributed and white politicians had a tight hold on the politics
Why were churches in New York significant?
They became significant bases for organising civil rights protest and many black American leaders were to become preachers
