African Americans - government Flashcards
What is the thirteenth amendment?
signed February 1865: banned slavery
There were 4 million African American slaves in the USA at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861
When did Slaves become free?
In April 1865 slaves became free.
However, Former slaves were caught between being legally free and yet not being seen as equal, they also had no means of making a living.
What is Sharecropping?
White landowners allowed former slaves to work their land in return for a considerable share of what was produced.
What were the limitations of sharecropping?
- African Americans suffered a huge amount of violence in the aftermath of the war
- The amount of segregation increased markedly.
What was the uncertainty in the immediate post-war period?
Government was uncertain about what to do about the millions of freed slaves
and about the Southern rebels whom they had defeated.
What is Reconstruction?
A period from 1865 to 1876 during which a republican led Congress attempted to promote African American rights.
What are the Black Codes?
- Restricted the rights of African Americans to compete for work with white people.
- Gave states the right to punish vagrant former slaves, and return them to forced labour.
How did Congress take action for civil rights?
(radical republicans)
The Radical Republicans, led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner
established the Freedmen’s Bureau
Who are the Radical Republicans?
Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner
- Republicans in Congress who had been active opponents of slavery.
- They were influential, but had limited support in the North.
What is the Freedmen’s Bureau?
Set up by congress in march 1865 to care for former slaves.
* It provided shelter, food, hospitals and education.
* It set up howard university
* dismanteled in 1872
What is the 1875 Civil Rights Acts?
1 March 1875: All citizens entitled to ‘the full and equal enjoyment of public places’
What is the 14th and 15th amendment?
14th - 1868:
No state could deny any American citizen full rights.
15th - 1870:
granted African American men the right to vote
What +when was the First Reconstruction Act?
1867: The 11 Confederate States were divided into five military districts.
There were to be new state constitutions made by elected delegates - regardless of race
What are the Enforcement Acts?
1870 - First: This banned discrimination based on race.
1871 - Second: This overturned state laws which prevented African Americans from voting
What is the significance of the measures passed during reconstruction?
- laws were being passed to give equal rights and against discrimination,
- they were evidentially not working however, as several enforcement laws had to also be passed to creat change
Who was Johnson’s successor?
Grant
worked more closely with Congress, and used federal troops to support the legislation, leading to remarkable changes.
Why did civil rights decline after 1877?
The role of federal institutions in promoting rights declined sharply:
- Congress did not defend the changes it had made.
- Presidents did not support civil rights.
What happened when Hayes was elected?
- Congressional Reconstruction ended, the troops were withdrawn, and southern states would be able to ignore the Reconstruction Legislation.
- Congress and the president accepted the view that African Amercians will withdraw from national politics.
What are examples of Jim Crow laws?
1881 Tennessee - segregated rail travel - which spread through the south.
1899 - segregated waiting rooms.
What were the measures against voting? + voter stats
Guilded age
- Southern states introduced literacy tests
- The Grandfather clauses
1896: 13,000 Black voters
1900: 5,000
Wilkins v. Mississippi
1898, Wilkins v. Mississippi
the court declared that discriminatory voter registration laws were constitutional
What is 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson?
BAD
- 1896
- The idea ‘separate but equal’ was enshrined in legal ruling.
What is Brown v. Board?
1954- ended the legal basis for segregation.
Which elements of the post-1877 period remained in the 1960s?
African Americans still faced barriers when trying to register to vote in the South.
Segregation remained and considerable racial prejudice
what was the result of US v. Cruikshank
enforcement acts ruled unconstitutional (1876)
