African Americans Flashcards
Thirteenth Amendment
1865 - Freed all slaves. Terms included worship freely in their own churches, own property, become educated, travel freely
Emancipation Proclamation
Issued by President Lincoln on 1st January 1863. It gave freedom only to those slaves in rebel-held territory in the south.
Explain two amendments and acts which were passed after the Civil War to help civil rights
Fourteenth Amendment- gave all freed blacks citizenship and equal protection under the law
Fifteenth Amendment- right to vote not to be denied based on race, colour or previous confit Ivón of servitude
Why did Johnson clash with radical republicans?
Johnson wanted to re-admit the southern states to the union and return to pre-war relations.
People feared that if this came to fruition that whites would take over the reconstruction.
Radical republicans thought all people had the right o live the American Dream, even freed slaves.
Explain how far AA’s gained political rights in the North and South as a result of Reconstruction
Over 700,000 black men now enrolled to vote, major role in electing members to the Conventions (by 1868 these organisations has had established civil rights on equal terms to blacks.
Gained greatly from Republican policies even if the motives behinds these were punishments for Confederates.
Real political power for black men was limited, not elected in proportion to their numbers
Conventions
Large meetings that were held in each southern state to draw up a new constitution. Document to grant AA’s civil rights equal to whites before being re-admitted to the Union.
How many AA’s were there in the north until after 1877?
Less than 5%
Were civil rights more apparent in the north?
Their right to vote and equality of opportunity in thee north remained theoretical as it had before emancipation.
One are where northern AA’s could take advantage was politics. In the 1870s, 22 AA were elected to Congress, 20 to House of Representatives and 2 to the Senate ( one being Blanche K. Bruce)
Blanche K. Bruce
Elected to Senate in 1875-81. First black leader who had an important career after the civil war.
He lacked support from others and was unable to help increase civil rights for AA’s in general
Frederick Douglass
He was the leading black opponent of slavery in the years before the civil war.
Active in the anti-slavery society and set up his own anti-slavery newspaper.
Took part in many speaking tours arguing for black rights.
Explain how significant the Freedman’s Bureau was
Supported freed slaves in the short term and provided a basis for their long-term security.
Supported the work of black self-help groups, providing education and financial support by philanthropic organisations in the north.
Bureau closed in 1872 with the decline of radical Republicans. A sign the north were losing enthusiasm for interfering with the south.
By 1890 how many AA were unable to write compared to white counterparts?
Education advances were only for a minority of AA: by 1890, 65% of AA kids were still unable to write, compared to 15% of white kids.
Civil Rights Act 1866
Passed by Congress on 9th April 1866 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition.
Sharecropping
When landowners divided up their plantations into small tenancies of between 30 and 50 acres. Many landowners were almost ruined by Civil War and could not afford to pay wages to work the land. Freedmen and poorer farmers could rent their own farms by giving half their crop to the landowner as rent.
To what extent did AA lack land?
It was land that was frequently most lacking for AA because capital was in short supply and only white merchants and planters possessed the necessary links to obtain it. Many AA became wage-earning labourers (via sharecropping).
What was the problem with the sharecropping system?
Frequently one-sided.
No control over the materials they bought and found that, because he supplied the tools and animals, the master demanded higher and higher proportions of the final crop.
Had to borrow money at crippling rates of interest (crop-lien system).
Majority of AA’s in south remained bottom of economic pile.
Crop-lien system
Profits from harvesting a crop would be used to pay back loans and supplies given on credit by local shopkeepers. Lenders often insisted the crop be cotton because its sales were seen ad reliable (one crop economy).
How did white southerners use the law to maintain their supremacy?
The Slaughterhouse Case
When was and what is the Slaughterhouse Case?
1873- The federal SC deduced that the rights of citizens should stay under state rather than federal control. It ruled that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution protected a person’s individual rights but not their state civil rights.
When were the Black Codes were set up?
1865/6
When did segregation begin?
Formal segregation did not occur until the 1880s and 1890s in the south, many aspects of it were apparent from the start of AA freedom in 1865.
Why was separate religious worship so significant?
Liberty of worship afforded after 1865.
Churches were an escape from unpleasant life but later became a vital base to help moves towards equality.
Black ministers were to emerge as clear leaders of their communities.
What were the aims of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)?
Saw terror rather than encouragement as the way to enforce separation of the races. Specifically set up to oppose any attempt to try to persuade newly enfranchised blacks to vote Republican and guarantee the supremacy of the white race.
When were the KKK set up?
December 1865 in Tennessee
Examples of the atmosphere of racial hostility and terror in 19th century
Memphis, May 1866- 3 days of violence after collision between 2 horse drawn carriages with black and white drivers. 46 were killed and 5 women assaulted.
New Orleans, July 1867- AA soldiers travelling to vote were attacked: 34 people were killed and over 100 injured.
How did northern control of the South end?
As the 1870s progressed, the northern Republican held on the south began to weaken. By the early 1870s most southern states had accepted their new constitutions and developed their own Redemption governments that took over north imposed governments.
Civil Rights Act 1875
Equal access to public accommodations. However, it was not enforced and later it was declared unconstitutional by SC in 1883.
U.S. v. Cruikshank
1876- Following a riot in Louisianan which left 70 AA and 2 whites dead, over 100 white men were arrested by Federal authorities. They were freed when the SC ruled that the Enforcement Act was unconstitutional.
