black civil rights part 1 Flashcards
when was slavery abolished
- 1865
- congress passed the 13th amendment
What was the 14th amendment
- 1868
- declared all persons born in the US citizens
what was the 15th ammendment and when did it occur
- 1870
- declared that all US citizens had equal voting rights
what was the position of black people after the amendments
-supposedly by 1870 all black americans were ‘free and equal’
-however despite 15th ammendment black voters were met with violence and voting restrictions
-this shows the difference between the existence of law and its enforcement (de facto and de jury)
what were conditions like for black people after WW1, why did they need to fight for civil rights
- There was discrimination segregation and violence
- worse in south
-were last hired first fired
-anti black race riots occured in the south
-wilson introduced segregation in the white house in 1913
what was life like for black americans in the south post ww1
-faced legal restrictions, violence and lower quality living
-lynchings from KKK
-significant unequal pay and restricted job options
-Jim crow laws introduced in 917 segregated white and black people (seperate toilets, schools, restraunts, places to sit etc)
-dramatic difference in quality of education
-booker T washington advocated for accepting segregation and had a huge following of white people
what was life like in the north post ww1 for black people
-expected to live in their own part of town, segregated from rest of city
-expected to do the lowest paid jobs, last hired first fired
discrimination reached the gov
who introduced segregation in gov offices and the white house and when
- 1913
- president Wilson
what were jim crow laws and what were the features?
-introduced laws of segregation, ‘seperate but equal’
-state and local laws that enforced racial segregation, operating primarily in the south
FEATURES
-segregated transport
-segregated living areas
-segregated public facilities
-workplaces segregated workers to the point of different staircases to go on
how did jim crow laws effect voting rights
-voters had to pass a literacy test (black people didnt have access to good education and had low literacy rates as a result)
-black people given harder passages
-cultivated a predominantly white voting body in the USA
-white mobs surrounded voting polls to make racial attacks
what was lynching and why did it occur
-some whites felt segregation wasnt enough and that black people needed terrorising into obedience
-happened mostly in the south
how many lynchings occoured of white vs blck men between 1915 and 1930
-65 white men
-579 black men
what was the criteria for lynching a black person
-did not need to have committed a crime or an accusation
-black people often wrongly accused of a crime as an excuse to Lynch
what was the culture of lynching in the south
-often advertised beforehand
-photographs of crowds of men and women grinning happily beside corpses (was an event of leisure)
examples of injust lynchings
-1955, 14 year old Emmett Till visited relatives in south Chicago. He was lynched for merely talking to a white woman- allegedly asking her for a date
-he didnt understand the southern rules as he came from the north where measures were more mild
-this lynching attracted alot of publicity and shock, even in the south
what was the KKK and when was it founded
- brutal white supremacist organisation revived in 1915
-against any non-WASP group but especially black people
-by 1925, estimates of membership ranged from 3 to 8 million
- included state governors and policemen
-hid identity with white hooded cloaks
how did presidents intervene with segregation and violence
-wilson had no problem with segregation and segregated White House
- harding spoke out against lynching and was in favor of civil rights
-adressed 30,000 people at university of alabama of the evils of segregation
-BUT both harding and coolidge were committed to laissez faire so they didnt take any legal action/ legislation
how did the great depression effect civil rights intervention
- federal gov focused on correcting economic struggles, abandoned focus on civil rights
when and what was the great migration
A
-1917-32
-wave of black migration from the south to the north and east, mainly to cities (chicago/ Detroit)
-drawn to cities as they were mostly industrial towns providing work opportunities
-also to escape violence and discrimination of the south the have a better standards of living in all ways.
what were the eastern cities with the largest growth due to the great migration
A
New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
hat was segregation like for migrants in the north
A
-lowest paid wages
-accom in most crowded run down areas
-little respect from bosses in workplace
BUT they could vote and be elected to federal/local gov, and some black professiobnals were rich. some african americans luved in white areas and became nannies etc
how did the great migration begin and ensurre accessibility of work and a good standard of living for black people
A
-first world war meant there was a rising need for workers iin munitions factories in the north
-factory owners advertised this in southern newspapers
-it was appealing as they offered free housing, transportation, good wages (all things they didnt have in the south)
what were pull factors towards the north
factory owners offered free housing, free transport and good wages (SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC)
-people were encuraged to migrate by friends and family who had already migrated north who could offer them a place to stay and help finding work (security and comfort) (SOCIAL)
-Sense of community cultivated in living areas for black people in north due to connections and cultural recognition/familiarity
-respect as citizens had the right to vote and be elected into federal gov
-chance for equal opportunities like education, employment etc
-chance to escape pressure from kkk
-positive media coverage of the north
what were push factors from the south
A
-Jim Crow- inferior treatment and facilities
-lynching and kkk
-brutal racism
-the 1927 great flood (affected over 9 states) in refugee camps there were rapes and murders from guardsmen
-the boil weevil infestation (from Mexico, beetles fed off cotton fibrews and laid eggs which killed the plants, by 1908 cotton harvests in mississipi had beed reduced by 75 %)
difference in number of population in new york detroit and chicago from 1910-30
NY
91,709 to 327,706
DETROIT
5,741 to 120,066
CHICAGO
44,103
what was the positive experience for migrants in the north
A
-not all landlords exploited migrants (SOCIAL)
-black people could have influence on politics and govt (e.g 1919 chicago mayor) BUT in cities like NY whites maintained a hold
-not all black people forced to live and work in the worst parts of the city (SOCIAL)
-poorer black americans found job opportunities when they moved to rich white suburbs (living in their own segregated areas) as nannies and domestic servants for families
-not all black people had low paid jobs
t were the negative experiences of mifgrants in the north
A
-jobs low paid and hard to find (ECONOMIC)
-RIGHTS WERE EXPLOITED as black workers replaced white workers asking for higher wages (SOCIAL)
-accom in crowded and run down places, cramping and disparity (SOCIAL)
-rent was 10x higher than what a whirte person would be charge- violation of seperate but equal (SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC)
-SKILLED MIGRANTS TOOK UNSKILLED JOBS
what was the impact of the great migration
-population of northern cities rose sharply
-bigger black american voing body (E.G THE BLACK VOTE COULD KEEP A MAYOR, as seen in the 1919 chicago mayor)
impact of migration on the south
-the labour force shrank
-farming struggled to get by (poorest black farmers suffered)
-sotherners saw migration as blacks ‘voting with their feet’ over jim crow laws so they assumed those who remained accepted jim crow laws
positives of ww1
A
GOOD
-boom in low skilled jobs
-blacks found their voting rights for the first time
-sparked increase in AA consciousness and activism
-great migration sparked due to increase in need for industry workers
-Wages rose and many black Americans found themselves better off. Immigration fell, particularly from 1917, so there was less competition for jobs.
-those who fought in france (more racially tolerant country) realised the us degree of intolerance
negatives of ww1
BAD
-urban decay (Harlem-poverty stricken ghettos)
-hostility and violence when white men returned
-chicago riots 1919 becaise White soldiers found that their jobs and neighbourhoods had been taken over when they returned home. (23 black and 15 white dead, when black teenager was drowned at a whites only beach)
African Americans suffered from the wave of isolationism and the Red Scare that affected the USA from 1917.
The Ku Klux Klan came back to prominence in the early 1920s.
