Black Americans In The 1950s - The Civil Rights Movement

Question 1

How were Americans discriminated against in the 1950s?

Answer 1

• segregation in all public places
• “seperate but equal”
• 2 Americas?
• ‘Jim Crow Laws’
• Early C.20 → significant racial vioience in parts of U.S
• Rise of groups such as K.K.K

Question 2

What ended as a result of the Civil War in 1865?

Answer 2

Slavery ended in the USA after the end of the Civil war in 1865 and black Americans were, in theory, given equal rights (14th ammendment said that all should be treated equally in the law)

Question 3

What was still happening despite slavery ending in 1865?

Answer 3

In reality, blacks still faced discrimation, unequal treatment and violence.

In the south ‘Jim Crow’ laws enforced segregation that covered all aspects of life

Question 4

What happened in 1896?

Answer 4

In 1896, Homer Plessey challenged segregation on trains saying that it was against the 14th Ammendment. The Supreme court ruled against him.

The Plessey v Ferguson case of 1896 upheld Jim Crow Laws. It said that segregation was acceptable if the facilities provided were equal

Question 5

What was discrimination in the North like in the 1950s?

Answer 5

• Worst paid jobs so they had to live in the poorest parts of towns and cities called ‘ghettos’:
• Ghettos had people crowded in buildings that are not well-maintained and had poor facilities
• Workers in schools and hospitals had to cope with run-down buildings, old equipment and shortages of supplies

Question 6

What was discrimination in the South like in the 1950s?

Answer 6

• Could be thrown off buses or even be arrested if they didn’t sit in the coloured section of the bus
• Cinemas, theatres and churches were either Just for white or black Americans or had seperate seating
• Black children could not go to the nearest school if it was a ‘white’ school, they had to walk or catch a bus to the rarest ‘black’ school which was because far less state money was spent on it
• Schools for black people might have no heating or textbooks

Question 7

Why was discrimination in the South worse than the North?

Answer 7

The discrimination in the south was worse than the north as the souths discrimination laws were legally enforced from the state laws - Jim Crow Laws.

Question 8

Why did attitudes in the south make any change so unlikely?

Answer 8

• Many southern whites saw blacks as inferior, lazy and unintelligent
• The police and the law courts were full of racist white officials - many were even members of the infamous Ku Klux Klan. This made it very difficult for black people to do anything about the situation
• Technically, black Americans were allowed to vote. However by 1966 only 20% of them registered to do so:
• Blacks were intimidated by white gangs if they tried to register
• Employees would threaten them with the sack
• States set unfair literacy tests to make it harder for black to be able to register