African Americans (1890-1920)

Question 1

Plessy vs Ferguson (1896)

Answer 1

• Homer Plessy deliberately challenged the Louisiana state law by refusing to leave a ‘white’ carriage on a train
• On trains, separate facilities required for whites and blacks
• Plessy was arrested, put on trial, insisted that his rights were violated under the 14th Amendment
• The local judge, Ferguson ruled against Plessy, caused case to go to Supreme Court
• 7/8 judges ruled segregation legal, ‘separate but equal facilities’ were sufficient to be within law
• Ruling of case justifies segregation for almost 60 years

Question 2

Voting Denial - Progressive Era

Answer 2

• State Govs devised complex rules to limit AAs use of the 15th Amendment
• Georgia Poll Tax: could pay up to $2 if a person wanted to vote, most AAs were poor and couldn’t afford this
• Louisiana Grandfather Clause: vote granted to adult males, only if their father/grandfather could vote before January 1st 1867, when AAs gained the right to vote
• Mississippi Literacy Test: effectively excluded many illiterate AAs, simpler questions given to white Americans

Question 3

Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Speech (1895)

Answer 3

• Atlanta Speech suggested that AAs should focus on economic progress and education rather than trying to remove segregation and achieve voting rights
• Believed trying to achieve voting rights would be a slow process
• Critics called the speech the ‘Atlanta Compromise’

Question 4

Booker T. Washington’s Achievements/Criticisms

Answer 4

Achievements
- Washington was a role model for AAs as he was a slave that become a college principle
- He gained interest of Theodore Roosevelt, frequently consulted him on AA issues, had tea at the White House, first black person to enter the White House as a guest

Criticisms
- Critics argued that he accepted white supremacy
- Underestimated the importance of the right to vote
- Made no attempt to challenge AAs second-class citizens position
- Focused on working within the system rather than overthrowing it

Question 5

W.E.B Du Bois’ Niagara Movement (1905)

Answer 5

• Founded by Du Bois, argued for active resistance against discrimination, urged use of political/legal processes
• Movement rejected Washington’s cautious approach, wanted to demand for civil rights
• Aimed for civil rights and abolition of discrimination
• Niagara never became a mass movement due to lack of finances and organisation
• Niagara provided an impetus for AAs who wanted to challenge white Americans views

Question 6

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP)

Answer 6

• 1909: Set up by Du Bois and other leading AA campaigners
• Du Bois keen to attract white people to the association
• Aimed to investigate racism, publicise it, suggest possible solutions and take legal action
• NAACP adopted a constitutional approach to lawsuits
• Du Bois edited their magazine for 20 years
• His frustration at a slow pace of change led him to move to Ghana where he died in 1963

Question 7

Position of African Americans Before WW1

Answer 7

• AAs were second-class citizens now more than ever, especially in South
• No longer any AAs in Congress or state legislatures
• Right to vote systematically removed in South by state laws
• Blacks disappeared from voting registers, lost any rights to serve on juries, give their own race any chance of legal equality
• Segregation laws had formalised, increased separation of races in the South
• Chances of receiving formal education increased
• AAs free to leave the South and migrate North