African Americans Flashcards
When was the 1st Civil Rights Act?
9th April 1866
When was the Hayes-Tilden Compromise?
1877
What was sharecropping?
A system under which, white landowners allowed former slaves to work their land in return for a considerable share of what was produced. (not entirely different from slavery)
What were African Americans uncertain about in 1865?
They were uncertain about their role and status in post-war America and how far to press for equality.
African Americans in 1865?
- Violence
- Segregation
- Not equal
- Legally free
- Limits to liberty
- Sharecropping
Who became President after Lincoln’s assassination?
Johnson
When did Johnson become president?
April 1865
What were Black Codes?
Southern states’ laws to control freed slaves.
What did the Black Codes do? (4 points)
- restricted the right of AA to compete for work with whites
- gave states the right to punish vagrants & unemployed former slaves
- gave states the right to return vagrants & unemployed former slaves to forced labour.
- Allowed those who attacked AA to go unpunished, with state officials often participating in attacks.
What were the Radical Republicans?
Republicans in Congress who had been active opponents of slavery. Wanted radical change, and saw southern slave owners as evil. They were influential but had limited support in the North as a whole.
Freedmen’s Bureau
Set up by Congress in March 1865, to care for former slaves. Provided food, shelter, hospitals & education. It set up 2 universities, but its 900 agents were subjected to intimidation and violence by hostile white Southerners.
Civil Rights Act
All persons born in the USA were endowed with the rights of citizens: everyone should have full & equal pay benefit of all laws & equal subjection to penalties for breaking laws.
When was the First Reconstruction Act?
2nd March 1867
When was the 14th Amendment?
9th July 1868
What did the 14th Amendment state?
No state could deny any person full rights as an American citizen.
When was the 15th Amendment?
3rd February 1870
What did the 15th Amendment state?
the rights of citizens … shall not be denied or abridged by any State on account of race
Date of the First Enforcement Act? And what it did?
31st May 1870
It banned discrimination based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude.
When was the 2nd Civil Rights Act?
1st March 1875
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1875 state?
All citizens were entitled to the full & equal enjoyment o the accommodations, advantages, facilities & privileges of inns, public conveyances, theatres or other public amusement.
How much did literacy improve from 1865 to 1895?
From 5% in 1865 to 50% in 1895
1/20 to 1/2
By 1900, how many African Americans were doctors, lawyers, teachers & artists?
47,000
but it was out of 8 million.
Who was the only African American millionaire in the Gilded Age?
Charles P. Graves
When was Plessy vs. Ferguson?
1896
What did Plessy vs. Ferguson state?
‘Separate but equal’
What did Plessy vs. Ferguson mean for African Americans?
Unfair access to jobs, less likely to attend university. Segregation in education meant lower income jobs- poverty therefore increased. Poorer housing. Couldn’t pass voting literacy tests. Socially- segregated hospitals & medical care = life expectancy low.
What were the grandfather clauses?
Limited AA in voting as these clauses allowed anyone with ancestors who could vote before 1867 an exemption from taxes & literacy tests. AA would not qualify for this & because they couldn’t pay the taxes or pass the tests, they were unable to vote.
Example of grandfather clause taking place.
1895- 13,000 African American voters in Louisiana.
By 1900, declined to 5,000.
What was the membership of KKK by 1971?
From 30,000 in 1865 - 40,000 in Tennessee alone & 1/2 a million in the South by 1871
Resulted in 1 AA being lynched every 2 days by the 1890s.
Where did segregated districts become common?
Not only in the South but the North too:
New York Harlem became a separate district for the city. By 1900 there were 23,000 African Americans in Harlem. In Chicago, there were 5,000.
