African Americans

Question 1

when was the period of the gilded age?

Answer 1

1875-1896

Question 2

when was the period of empire, reform and war?

Answer 2

1896-1920

Question 3

when was the period of reform and reaction with Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon?

Answer 3

1960-1974

Question 4

what is the difference between republicans and democrats?

Answer 4

republicans: wealthier backgrounds, rural, belief in individualism, lower tax rates
democrats: more average background, urban with modest income, belief in greater support, if higher taxes- more for the wealthy

Question 5

When was the 13th amendment passed and what did it do?

Answer 5

1865

abolished slavery everywhere and gave Congress power to enforce this through legislation

Question 6

When was the Freedman’s Bureau set up and what was it?

Answer 6

1865
a federal agency which lasted for four years and supplied food, medical services and schools to freedmen, and negotiated work between them and their former masters
an example of social welfare
it’s 900 agents were subject to intimidation and violence from hostile white southerners

Question 7

When was the first Civil Rights Act passed?

Answer 7

1866
It was passed as a result of the black codes of southern states and it granted citizenship to anyone born in the USA (but not Native Americans)

Question 8

When was the 14th Amendment passed and what did it do?

Answer 8

It was a four part amendment which confirmed the rights to citizenship, and essentially forbade states from depriving anyone of life, property and liberty without due process of the law and forbade states from denying citizens the equal protection of the law
Passed in 1868

Question 9

When does Andrew Johnson become president and what years was his presidency?

Answer 9

1865-1869

Question 10

Who takes over from Andrew Johnson and how long was his presidency?

Answer 10

Ulysses S Grant (republican)

1869-1877

Question 11

When was the 15th amendment passed and what did it do?

Answer 11

1870
forbade states from denying anyone the right to vote on account of race, colour or previous condition of servitude but left states free to restrict suffrage on other grounds such as illiteracy or poverty

Question 12

When were the Enforcement Acts and the Ku Klux Klan Act passed?

Answer 12

1870-1871
They were passed in response to increased violence in the South against freedmen
it became a federal criminal offence for an individual to restrict the civil and political rights of others

Question 13

What did the 1875 Civil Rights Act do?

Answer 13

it was a law that guaranteed black Americans equal accommodation in public places but this lacked enforcement

Question 14

What was the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862?

Answer 14

Essentially freed the slaves nd it was used in the armed forces to free them to the union
attitudes to black people are suggested to be entitled to equality

Question 15

What was Johnson’s plan?

Answer 15

to readmit and rebuild the Confederate state (southern states who rebelled against the North) and help African Americans integrate into society
This was without the involvement of Congress (hence presidential reconstruction)
Johnson announced his plans to immediately bring the Confederate states back into the union
All southerners prepared to swear an oath of allegiance in order to receive amnesty
all required to ratify the 13th amendment
all property bar slaves was to be returned
civil and military leaders not pardoned
slaves were given land under Special Field Order 15 ‘40 acres and a mule’

Question 16

What was the reality of Johnson’s plan?

Answer 16

he appointed advisors who were unsympathetic to Black Civil Rights and thus 13,000 Southern rebels were pardoned which is far more than suggested
He failed to enforce ratification of the 13th amendment
Special Field Order 15 land was revoked as rebels pardoned
Freedman’s Bureau very limited- 1 agent per 10,000-20,000 men
Disease- smallpox, cholera etc

Question 17

What did the Southern states do as a result of Johnson’s plan?

Answer 17

almost all refused to ratify the 13th amendment and refused to give the vote to at least a proportion of the freed slaves as requested
rife violence and murder (100 blacks killed in Texas between 1865-1868)
many introduced black codes
Allowed African Americans to own property, draw up contacts, sue, attend school and marry but forbade voting, serving on a jury, giving evidence against a white person, marrying a white

Question 18

when did radical republicans take control of congress and what was this known as?

Answer 18

1867
this was two years after the introduction of Reconstruction and this allowed the 14th and 15th amendments to be ratified
it was known as ‘Congressional Reconstruction’

Radical republicans had hoped that Johnson would secure the African American vote and deliver the American dream for all- but he did not. From this point onwards he lost the support of his party and Congress

Question 19

Why did Presidential Reconstruction fail?

Answer 19

Johnson simply hoped to return to a state of affairs pre civil war just minus slavery and with a limited commitment to securing African American rights

Question 20

When was the period of hope?

Answer 20

1867-1877
this was a flurry of political activity- between 1865-1875 1465 blacks held office and 930 of them were literate
Black codes were largely nullified by military commanders (Civil Rights Act 1866)
period was initially full of hope, progress and success despite the fact that there was a clear lack of full integration

By the mid 1970’s:
many black sharecroppers were controlled by white landowners
industrial employment discouraged by whites fearing for their jobs
Freedman’s Bureau closed in 1872 (real fear of violence becomes evident)
contrast between de jure (law) and de facto (real) rights became clear
segregation was common but not formalised until later (Jim Crow)

Question 21

What was the Slaughterhouse Case of 1873?

Answer 21

a case of a meat monopoly
the federal supreme court decided that the right of citizens should stay under state rather than federal control
it ruled that the 14th amendment to the constitution protected a persons individual rights but not there state civil rights
this sets a precedent- believing that state rights are more important than federal rights
discrimination is now legally acceptable

Question 22

How did some states try to get around the 15th Amendment?

Answer 22

had state voting laws: for example in Mississippi in 1890, voters had to take literacy tests, in Georgia in 1877, voters had to pay $2 in poll tax to vote (many blacks could not afford this)
George Henry White of North Carolina was the last black congressmen elected from the south in the 19th century and no blacks served in congress for another 28 years .
South Carolina 1880 election - 70% of eligible blacks voted, and in 1896, only 11%

Question 23

What were Jim Crow laws?

Answer 23

a series of state laws in the southern and border states to be put into place between 1887 and 1891
it started with 8 southern states but escalated further
it started with trains and 3 states extended this to waiting rooms
after 1891 segregation was extended to cover public places of all kinds
This was deemed constitutional in 1896 by the Supreme Court in the Plessy vs Ferguson case with its ‘separate but equal’ ruling

Question 24

what is meant by the term the talented tenth?

Answer 24

W.E.B Du Boi publicised this in 1903, that African Americans would be led by an elite of well educated men drawn from the highest ability 10 per cent

Question 25

When was the NAACP set up?

Answer 25

1909- the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, it was set up but activists and comes directly after the Niagara movement
it was a national organisation with branches across the USA
it focuses on civil rights rather than social conditions and its secretary in the 1920s targeted desegregation voting rights and education

Question 26

What was the Atlanta Compromise?

Answer 26

An agreement struck in 1895 between Booker T Washington (president of the Tuskegee Institute), other African American leaders and Southern white leaders, it was first supported and later opposed by Du Bois

Question 27

What was the Tuskegee Institute?

Answer 27

a higher education institute for blacks

Booker T Washington first leader in 1881

Question 28

What was the Grandfather Clause?

Answer 28

another way of getting around the 15th Amendment and African Americans getting the right to vote
Louisiana 1898
essentially if your grandfather has been able to vote before 1867 (when blacks gained the vote) you did not have to take a literacy test so illiterate whites could still vote

Question 29

What is meant by Accommodationism?

Answer 29

accepting the situation rather than challenging it- popularised by Booker T Washington

Question 30

When was the Great Migration period?

Answer 30

1910-1930

Question 31

How did the Great Migration period affect civil rights?

Answer 31

people decided to head north because there was better wages, farming was the only job opportunity in the south and so the North meant there was better job opportunities, sharecropping left workers reliant on landowners in the south and blacks did not want this dependence on them, better access to food products in the north, WW1 enables soldiers to travel and question their old way of life

Question 32

Was the North really any better than the south for promoting African American civil rights?

Answer 32

rights were limited
development of ghettos
in 1919 white soldiers were returning from home to find African Americans in their jobs which caused tension and conflict (Chicago Race Riots)
severe workplace discrimination in skilled trade

however…
segregation encouraged black culture such as in the form of jazz clubs
significant black middle class develops
institutionalised racism was not as prevalent
blacks with voting rights eligible to be jurors which sometimes made trials more fair and open

Question 33

how effective were the NAACP?

Answer 33

growth in membership due to impact of WW1 (post 1915)
90,000 members+ by 1920, suggesting there was greater interest in civil rights
by 1930 there was a decline to 50,000 members (seen as cautious and bureaucratic)
peaceful opposition to the NAACP in the north
in the south white population violently anti-NAACP
some attempts to make lynching a crime such as anti-lynching law
south remains largely unchanged- largely anti-NAACP by white population
NAACP limited speaking opportunities in the south

Question 34

Why is World War Two seen as a turning point?

Answer 34

• Two million migrated North and West and Chicago’s black population rose from a quarter of a million in 1940 to 2 million in 1950
• This gave blacks greater economic and political power and also made them safer as blacks congregated together and so they were less vulnerable
• Wartime demand for black labour gave black workers greater bargaining power
• 1942, CORE established which organised sit ins
• Most blacks remained quiescent during WW2 as they did not want to appear unpatriotic and feared disorder especially after violent race riots in Detroit and Harlem in summer 1943
• urban housing shortages were severe
• whites see blacks as rivals for homes
• race riots
• blacks only treated equally on the front line but were segregated elsewhere
• Red Cross forced to separate black from white blood, southerners argued not doing so would mongrelise the nation
• In the North still faced last hired first fired attitudes and lower wages

Question 35

how many NAACP members were there during WW2?

Answer 35

increased black consciousness and activism during WW2

50,000 to 450,000 NAACP members

Question 36

When was CORE established and by who?

Answer 36

1942
James Farmer (Christian socialist)

Question 37

WW2 race riots statistics…

Answer 37

The worst were in Detroit, where nine whites and 25 blacks died and 800 people were injured

Question 38

Federal intervention during WW2 to prove it was a turning point…

Answer 38

• A Philip Randolph had pressured Roosevelt into establishing the FEPC in 1943 to promote equality in defence industries
• Southern congressmen decreased funding after it was given greater power the same year
• Accomplished too little to be considered a great success but does show the importance of federal aid
• US Justice Department established a Civil Rights section, which tried to decrease lynching and police brutality in the South

Question 39

What did A Phillip Randolph do in 1941?

Answer 39

Set up a march on Washington to challenge federal governments employment practices, as only 10% of defence industries employed blacks

Question 40

what is the fear of miscegenation?

Answer 40

the fear of mixing racial groups

Question 41

What was Eisenhower’s attitude towards civil rights?

Answer 41

republican
born in an all white town in the south- clearly going to affect his views
met with black leaders once
refused to re-establish the FEPC
Less inclined than Truman to promote civil rights
more turning points in his administration than any other

Question 42

Significance of Brown vs Board 1954…

Answer 42

Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools violates the 14th amendment to the constitution
This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement and a model for many future impact litigation cases. Essentially reversed Plessy vs Ferguson

Question 43

Significance of the murder of Emmett Till 1955…

Answer 43

Accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, four days later beaten for hours and found floating naked in the Tallahatchie river with barbed wire around his neck, a gunshot wound to the head which gouched out his eye, his teeth knocked out, side of his face caved in and a missing ear
men were tried for murder but an all white jury acquitted them
galvanized the emerging civil right movement and highlighted the brutality of Jim Crow segregation in the South
huge significance even today, 60+ years later, still invoked as a reminder of the worst consequences of ignoring the problem

Question 44

significance of the Montgomery bus boycott 1955

Answer 44

regarded as the first large scale demonstration in the US against segregation
MLK one of the leaders
protest against segregated bus seating
Supreme court ordered that Montgomery integrate their bus system
Rosa Parks- 1st December 1955 sat in front seat of the coloured section and was asked to move when white seats were filled- refused and arrested, fined $10 and $4 in court fees
13 month protest ended with Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses was unconstitutional large long-term impact

Question 45

Significance of Little Rock, 1957…

Answer 45

The refusal to allow African American students into an all white, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Eisenhower met with the governor, Faubus who refused to adhere to Brown vs Board
he left assuming he would enrol the students
9 enrolled and it caused huge eruption
riots occurred and Eisenhower sent 1000 army troops into Little Rock to restore peace
law was upheld but Eisenhower was criticised by those who felt he he not done enough
first time a president had got involved and sent ait though

Question 46

significance of sit ins 1961…

Answer 46

series of nonviolent protests in North Carolina, 1960
4 college students inspired by MLK sparked national interest in the push for civil rights by sitting in protest at an all white lunch counter
the next day more than 20 blacks joined in
4th day = 300 people
mass support, interest and significance as Woolworth department chain removed its policy of racial segregation
received significant media and government attention.

Question 47

significance of freedom rides 1961…

Answer 47

rode interstate buses into the segregated southern States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960) which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.

• Freedom Riders end racial segregation in Southern U.S. public transit, 1961.
• The Freedom Rides, and the violent reactions they provoked, bolstered the credibility of the American Civil Rights Movement. They called national attention to the disregard for the federal law

Question 48

significance of the Birmingham protest 1963…

Answer 48

a movement by the SCLC which sought to bring national attention o the efforts of local black leaders to desegregate public facilities in Birmingham, Alabama
riot provoked by a number of bombings targeting black leaders of the Birmingham civil rights campaign, supposedly members of the KKK in cooperation with Birmingham police to aid the attack
on 10th May 1963, King and Fred Shuttlesworth announced an agreement with the city of Birmingham to desegregate lunch counters, restrooms, drinking fountains and department store fitting rooms within 30 days

Question 49

significance of march on Washington 1963…

Answer 49

focus of joblessness
unable to secure backing from NAACP
coalition of leaders became known as the big six and included Randolph
advocated for the civil and economic rights of African Americans
consisted of nearly 250,00 people and 60,000 were white
nearly 2000 buses, 21 trains and 10 airlines converged on Washington
I have a dream speech delivered
credited for helping pass Civil Rights Act 1964 and Voting Rights Act 1968

Question 50

What was the impact of the depression on African Americans?

Answer 50

hit them harder than whites
urban black unemployment was between 30% and 60% and always higher than whites
whites organised groups including the Black Shirts of Atlanta to stop blacks from getting jobs
blacks were the last hired and the first fired
two million southern black farmers left the land as crop prices plummeted

Question 51

What were the aims of Roosevelt’s new deal?

Answer 51

relieve human suffering and promote economic recovery by correcting the financial crisis, offering initial short-term relief to the unemployed, promoting industrial recovery by increasing government spending and by cooperative agreements between government, industry and unions and the first new deal programs were promoted alphabet agencies

Question 52

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)?

Answer 52

used to farm subsidies to regulate farm production but was disbanded after WW2
it aimed to help farmers by cutting back farm production and raising food prices
less production meant less work for thousands of poor black sharecroppers
blacks were among the 100 million consumers who were forced to pay higher food prices because of the AAA (shows how agencies sometimes hindered rights of AA/did not help them)

Question 53

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Answer 53

regional planning of a deprived area with hydro-electricity production, environmental conservation, flood control and educational and health projects involved in many states
flooded an estimated 730,000 acres of land behind its dams and farm owners received cash settlements for their condemned property,
tenant farmers received nothing and many of them were blacks
also blacks did not live in this area and could not benefit from it in this way

Question 54

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the Civilian Conservation Corps? (CCC)

Answer 54

provided young men with work aged 18-25
paid $30 a month to which $25 had to be paid to their families
organised work on military lines and worked on environmental projects such as national parks, building access roads etc
disbanded in 1942 and meant unemployment for black female women

Question 55

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the Federal Housing Administration? (FHA)

Answer 55

federal guarantees of private mortgages with reduced down payments from 30% to 10% and extended repayment time from 20-30 years
enabled more Americans to purchase their own home, and continues today
however, AA’s not able to take advantage of this and it led to an increase in ghettos

Question 56

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the Social Security Act 1935? (SSA)

Answer 56

it created guaranteed retirement payments for over 65’s which set up federal insurance for the unemployed
this provided additional assistance for the disabled, for public health and for dependent women and children
this excludes key jobs that African Americans dominated in, particularly women

Question 57

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the National Housing Act 1938?

Answer 57

this established the united states housing authority and set up housing projects for low income families this encouraged house building and home ownership, but was also discriminatory against black Americans and inadvertently promoted suburban over inner-city housing

Question 58

what was the impact of Roosevelt and the New Deal?

Answer 58

provided 1 million jobs and nearly 50,000 housing units
government assistance allowed sharecroppers to become independent farmers
Eleanor Roosevelt promoted black women causes and working rights for women and the Declaration of Human Rights
This lead to democratic support for AA’s

However…
aid did not always get to the black people
federal government would not guarantee mortgages on houses purchased in white areas
Tennessee Valley Authority built on all white towns
Fair Labour Standards Act did not apply to waiters, cooks, janitors domestics and farm workers

Question 59

what was the purpose, issues and impact on African Americans of the Fair Labour Standards Act?

Answer 59

set a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour and maximum working week of 40 hours
raised the wages of 12 million workers by 1940
opposed by Southern conservatives on the grounds of excessive government interference with business
they also feared that the Southern industry with its traditional low wage structure would lose its competitiveness
it gave the benefits of a shorter working week and a minimum hourly wage rather than by union negotiation
the last New Deal reform to become law
again, this excludes jobs where AA’s dominate and effectively leaves them unprotected

Question 60

what was CORE?

Answer 60

Congress of Racial Equality
established in 1942 to organise sit ins, freedom rides and boycotts
non-violent organisation
lacked dynamism in the late 50's
initiated freedom rides of the 1960s

Question 61

what was the SCLC?

Answer 61

Southern Christian Leadership Conference
founded in 1957 by Black Ministers and led by MLK
Aim was to improve the situation of southern blacks
wanted to offer alternative, non-violent direct action to the NAACP litigation strategy
difficult for Southern racists to attack due to Christian background
poor organisation, lack of salaried staff and mass support hindered success

Question 62

what was the SNCC?

Answer 62

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
working in 1960’s
main aim was to politicise local communities and empower ordinary people
more egalitarian and appreciative of women workers and whites
between 1961 and 1964
established freedom schools, unprotected by government and lived under constant threat
became increasingly militant and Black Power led to divides in the movement

Question 63

What was significant about the march on Selma of 1965?

Answer 63

following the civil rights act, the movement began to focus on voting rights
Selma in Alabama had a very low registration of African American voters, they were 50% of the population and less than 1% of them registered to vote
march was led by MLK and attacked by the police
Johnson responded by giving marchers protection and promised legislation for a voting rights bill (Voting Rights Act then passed)

Question 64

what was the significance of the Voting Rights Act?

Answer 64

this abolished literacy tests, understanding clauses and proof of moral character clauses, such as grandfather clause
prevented disruption to black people trying to register through lack of voter registration centre’s, for example

Question 65

presidential support from JFK?

Answer 65

• backs march on Washington
• meets with MLK
• visits Harlem

Question 66

presidential support from LBJ?

Answer 66

-Civil Rights Act 1964
-Voting Rights Act 1965
Congress supportive of Voting Rights Act but less supportive of Civil Rights Acct, which was filibustered for one year (possibly due to fear of Communism)

Question 67

presidential support from Eisenhower?

Answer 67

• Little Rock intervention 1957

- backs desegregation by pledging support to Brown vs Board

Question 68

what are some of the key things that JFK did to promote civil rights?

Answer 68

publically stated support in his presidential campaign which showed he would implement changes
planned legislation for better healthcare and wages
significant number of black appointments in FBI and federal bureaucracy, and this gave African Americans an influential position in his government and secured support for further challenges to AA related laws
he resigned from an exclusive club who refused to admit blacks
forced football teams to hire blacks
invited blacks to the white house, a symbolic gesture, however he rejected their requested for legislation
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) aimed to ensure equality for federal employees but failed to significantly increase numbers of blacks in federal services
offered public support after Birmingham turned violent
etc etc etc etc

Question 69

what are some of the things Johnson does to promote civil rights?

Answer 69

Passed Civil Rights Act 1964
Introduced the Great Society which worked to end poverty and social injustice
prohibited discrimination in public places, school desegregation and Equal Employment Commission- enforcing things more than JFK
Elementary and Secondary Education Act to help children out of ghettos and increase the number of blacks getting high school diplomas
Higher Education Act gave aid to black colleges and the number of them quadrupled within a decade
healthcare reform and infant mortality rate halved
Voting Rights Bill
etc etc etc

Question 70

How did JFK hinder civil rights?

Answer 70

slow to push through legislation
backed down on voting rights in Mississippi when democratic senators protested in 1963- indicates lack of passion and afraid of criticism so he goes with the majority
after violence during freedom rides he claimed protesters were unpatriotic as they were revealing social issues in America and therefore shows ignorance as he does not realise that they have no choice as they are not being listened to
refused to offer federal help to enforce voting rights unless there was a breakdown of law and order

Question 71

how did LBJ hinder civil rights progress?

Answer 71

act did little to facilitate black voting and did not improve race relations
blacks felt the bill did not do enough
increase in riots in black ghettos shows that lack of progress led to further unrest
limited success of the Education Act
found it hard to get support from Congress for his financial aid to black people
relied heavily on local and state authorities and many of them were reluctant to enforce legislation
Great Society raised unrealistic hopes
Vietnam War cost lots and took a lot longer than first thought, this prevented further progress in civil rights

Question 72

What are Nixon’s positive changes to civil rights?

Answer 72

affirmative action policy through positive discrimination
1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act
Increased federal expenditure on poverty programmes
racial integration was enforced with bussing policy, although this was not popular
limited funding for segregated HE institutions

Question 73

What are some of the things Nixon did to hinder civil rights?

Answer 73

privately racist and did not want to meet with black leaders, opposed MLK holiday, crushed the Black Panthers and attempted to revise the Voting Rights Act to win southern votes, also nominated southern racist to supreme court

Question 74

What are some of the things Ford did to help aid civil rights?

Answer 74

keen to cultivate good relations and had many meetings with civil rights leaders, unlike that of Nixon, he was affected by Nixon’s legacy and wished to commit to further civil rights progress, he extended the Voting Rights Act despite calls from his party to scrap it

Question 75

what are some of the things Ford does to hinder civil rights progress?

Answer 75

opposed bussing to aid school desegregation and expressed doubts on Brown decision
seen as an accidental president and many considered him as having no stance on civil rights

Question 76

what are some of the things Carter does to promote civil rights?

Answer 76

opposed segregation
employed many blacks
renewed the Voting Rights Act
appointed more blacks to federal judiciary than any other president
backed affirmative action with for example: medical university applicants (University of California vs Bakke 1978) (also negative)
appointed black women to his cabinet

Question 77

what are some of the things Reagan does to help aid civil rights?

Answer 77

signed a law in 1988 expanding the Fair Housing Act which made it easier to push cases to court (although this act did not really benefit AA anyway)
did not consider himself racist
in Dixon, Illinois, local inn would not allow blacks to stay so Reagan let them stay at his house and his mother made them breakfast in the morning

Question 78

how does Reagan hinder civil rights?

Answer 78

opposed Civil Rights Act 1964 and Voting Rights Act 1965
‘humiliating to the south’- said this in 1980
did not support federal initiatives to provide blacks with civil rights
opposed MLK holiday

Question 79

how did Bush help civil rights progress?

Answer 79

much discussion over whether the civil rights laws were properly enforced under Bush
Supreme Court supported attacks on school desegregation (Freeman vs Pitts) in 1992, but it decided it need not retain control over every aspect of school administration until desegregation is achieved
Rioting over outcome of Rodney King case

Question 80

what was Jesse Jackson’s PUSH?

Answer 80

1971- People United to Save Humanity
focused on using black buying power to gain employment
campaigned for president twice- 1st in 1984 and came 3rd most popular candidate and again in 1988 where he was second

Question 81

what was black progress like between 1960 and 1992?

Answer 81

Black Progress:

• More political involvement but 1970’s saw KKK activity rise
• One third were middle class blacks, but one third still lived below poverty line and one third occupied low status, low skilled jobs
• Black wages = 50% of whites
• Still higher proportion of blacks accused and convicted of crimes 12% of population, but 43% rapes, 55% of murders and 69% of robberies
• Black ghettos
• Widespread racism and prejudice still existed

Question 82

when is the desegregation of the armed forces?

Answer 82

1948

Question 83

What other act guaranteed the right to vote and introduced new Southern constitutions?

Answer 83

the first Reconstruction Act 1867 (a part of Congressional Reconstruction)

Question 84

What actually ended slavery, but was not adhered to or enforced in the Confederacy?

Answer 84

The Emancipation Proclamation 1863 ended slavery but this was only in areas under Union control (the North), following the Civil War. The 13th Amendment was written into the constitution, and so the South had to adhere to it (also known as the Confederacy)

Question 85

What was the issue with sharecropping?

Answer 85

landlords allowed former slaves to work the land for a share of the produce
had little choice but to work long hours for limited rewards and to earn a small living

Question 86

why did Reconstruction end?

Answer 86

Because of the Hayes-Tilden Compromise 1877
Tilden was the winning candidate in Congress with most of the vote from the November 1876 presidential election, and Tilden was a democrat
(Democrats = typically more unsympathetic, evident in Johnson)
Democrats agreed to give these votes to Hayes, the Republican , provided all federal troops trying to enforce legislation in the South, left the South
So they did, which means Congress started Reconstruction, as they were fed up with Johnson’s lack of action, and ended it too

Question 87

what often limited Civil Rights legislation being passed?

Answer 87

Southerners in Congress
Many argue the reason that LBJ was so effective at passing legislation in the 1960’s was due to the sympathetic attitudes following Kennedy’s assassination, as even Kennedy faced scrutiny from Southerners when he attempted to pass a civil rights bill in 1963

Question 88

What was brought about after the ending of Reconstruction and introduction of the Hayes-Tilden Compromise 1877?

Answer 88

Jim Crow laws in the South

Question 89

What were the key events of Black Power activism?

Answer 89

Black Power book written by Carmichael and broken away SNCC leaders to promote Malcom X’s message
Carmichael went a step further than Malcolm X and began campaigning to split the United States into separate countries—one for blacks, one for whites
Black Power was associated with militancy, self-reliance, independence, and nationalism within the ranks of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Question 90

What party was formed in 1966?

Answer 90

The Black Panthers For Self-Defence party, by frustrated activists in Oakland, California
They demanded immediate equality for all blacks, unlike CORE, NAACP, SNCC or SCLC
they wanted increased and fair employment opportunities, exemption from Military service in Vietnam, health care and educational services
Whereas Malcolm X had merely preached revolution against white domination, the Black Panthers actually prepared for war.
Black Panthers patrolled urban neighbourhoods in northern and western cities, on the lookout for racist violence against blacks. The organization also operated education centres and health-care clinics in black neighbourhoods to help the poorest members of these communities.

Question 91

What was the issue with Black Panther activism?

Answer 91

The Black Panthers’ extremism and willingness to use violence, however, alienated and threatened moderate whites in the North. The federal government also perceived the Panthers as a threat and cracked down on the group between 1968 and 1969, effectively dissolving the organization.

Question 92

What was the significance of the Watts riots 1965?

Answer 92

Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of education and basic health care provoked some inner-city blacks to launch riots throughout the country between 1965 and 1970.
The 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles lasted six days, more than 50,000 blacks burned and looted the neighbourhood, attacking whites, Hispanics, and other minorities. It took 20,000 National Guardsmen to restore order to the district, and more than 30 people lost their lives.

Question 93

When was MLK assassinated?

Answer 93

April 1968
James Earl Ray convicted but later pleaded his innocent
no further arrests

Question 94

What was the significance of MLK’s assassination?

Answer 94

Thousands of supporters attended King’s funeral in Atlanta.
President Johnson, who had recently ordered the FBI to investigate King for ties with Communist organizations, did not attend.
King’s assassination inflamed racial tensions and led to scores of riots throughout the country. When the violence finally subsided, more than 30,000 people had been arrested.

Question 95

When was the end of Black Power?

Answer 95

King’s death in 1968 stripped the civil rights movement of its greatest leader and visionary.
Ideological rifts and feuds among the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, and CORE also led to the collapse of the movement, as did Black Panther violence and revolutionary rhetoric
the movement quickly lost momentum in 1968 and 1969 as Americans shifted their focus to the worsening VietnamWar.
Despite the movement’s unfortunate decline, these formative years of the 1950s and 1960s gave African Americans two important things: effective government backing and legislation.
Brown v. Board along with the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, finally provided the solid legal framework for protecting blacks’ rights in the face of decades of discrimination.

Question 96

When was California vs Bakke?

Answer 96

1978- example of positive discrimination by Carter as white students are discriminated against

Question 97

When was Martin Luther King day finally introduced?

Answer 97

1983- put into force by Reagan although he opposed it , congress went against him

Question 98

When was the Nation of Islam founded?

Answer 98

Founded in 1930

Malcom X worked with them to promote African heritage in the 1950’s and 1960’s

Question 99

What was the UNIA and when was it founded?

Answer 99

Universal Negro Improvement Association
Founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914
First large organisation

Question 100

When were white councils set up?

Answer 100

After Brown vs Board 1954, to protest against school segregation

Question 101

Who was Blanche K Bruce?

Answer 101

first African American senator to serve a full term in office 1881-1885