African Americans Thematic Flashcards
What did the 15th amendment do?
Gave African Americans the right to vote
What did the First Enforcement Act do?
Prohibited discrimination in voting based on race, established penalties and gave federal courts the power to enforce the act.
What did the Second Enforcement Act do?
The Second Enforcement Act overturned state laws which prevented African Americans from voting and provided federal supervision of elections.
What demonstrates the high levels of representation during Reconstruction?
Voters in the south elected more than 600 African-American state legislators and 16 members of Congress. In South Carolina, black representatives on the state assembly outnumbered whites.
What was the ‘Williams vs Mississippi’ ruling 1898?
The Supreme Court ruled that discriminatory voter registration laws were constitutional, as there was no specific mention of race.
What was the ‘Smith vs Allwright’ judgement?
The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for black voters to be excluded from primary party voting. Thurgood Marshall (who was leader of the NAACP defence fund) represented Smith.
What was the impact of 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Act?
They did not add substantial numbers of African Americans voting By 1960, only 28% of southern African Americans of voting age were registered.
What was the 24th amendment?
It stated that citizens’ right to vote should not by denied by failure to pay a tax.
What was the 1965 Voting Rights Act?
It prohibited discrimination in voting.
What was the impact of the 1965 Voting Rights Act?
By the end of 1965, 250,000 new Black voters had been registered.
What did the Voting Rights Act (1982) do?
Passed by Reagan, it strengthen penalties for discrimination.
What was the Civil Rights Act (1866)?
Civil Rights Act 1866 established that all persons born in the USA were endowed with the rights of citizens (full and equal benefit of all laws and equal penalties for breaking them).
What was the Third Enforcement Act?
The Third Enforcement Act made it a federal offence for two or more persons to conspire to deprive citizens of their right. The KKK was not strong enough to resist federal pressure from Grant and Congress.
What was the Civil Rights Act (1875)?
The 1875 Civil Rights Act guaranteed all citizens, regardless of color, access to accommodations, theatres, public schools, churches, and cemeteries. However, it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in ‘United States vs Harris’ in 1883.
Which areas of life were segregated by 1910?
By 1910, sport, hospital, education, prisons etc… had been segregated.
Who desegregated the army in 1948?
Truman, Phillip Randolph had threatened to discourage people from signing up for the draft.
What was the influence of the NAACP on the Brown vs Topeka ruling?
The Supreme Court used material from the NAACP to inform their ruling.
When did the White Citizens Council form?
After the Brown vs Topeka ruling. They were more middle class in membership than the KKK. They pressured businesses not to hire African Americans.
Which president sent troops to desegregate Little Rock (1957)?
Eisenhower
What was the impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)?
The Montgomery Bus Boycott helped to forcefully make the moral case for desegregating buses. The impact of this can be seen by ‘Browder v. Gayle’ (1956) Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was illegal.
What did CORE do?
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) were engaged in Freedom Rides in 1947 and 1961 which challenged Southern segregation at bus terminals. Kennedy integrated interstate transport.
What was the impact of the March on Washington?
The March on Washington (attended by an estimate 250,000 people) happened shortly before this CRA was passed, suggesting that it had impact in pressurising federal government. It made a strong moral case for the end to segregation.
What was the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
Lyndon B Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act (1964) which outlawed discrimination in businesses, public places, education, and employment. It was the most sweeping civil rights bill of since Reconstruction.
What was an economic limitation of the 13th amendment?
Most slaves lacked skills to work in different situations. As a result, many became sharecroppers or tenant farmers.
