Booklet 1- African Americans Flashcards
The Civil War
Causes- slavery, role of government, economic interests.
Consequences- Union solidified, slavery abolished, Amendments to the constitution, leads to a federal governments, industrialisation.
Ty Selduie
Slavery as the main cause of the civil war.
Southern secession- leaving the union to protect slavery.
Economic- conflicting economic societies, industrial vs agricultural.
Fought the war to keep the union together- abolish slavery or promote slavery, 200k slaves fought.
The position of African Americans in 1865
The war left unresolved the position of African Americans- former slaves should leave or ensure African Americans had the same rights as white people.
‘Sharecropping’- white landowners allowed former slaves to work on their land in return for a share of what’s produced.
Violence and limitations after the war- Post-war period was characterised by uncertainty, Govt didnt know what to do with the freed slaves and Southern rebels.
White pop reluctant.
African Americans were uncertain about their role in post-war America and how to push for equality.
The era of reconstruction 1865-1877
Rapid growth in civil rights as a result of the actions of Congress and in the face of opposition from the Southern States.
Constitutional amendment- permanent change.
Enforcing political views was problematic, Southern states resorted to violence.
1870s- rights were being eroded by fear and undermined by poor economic conditions.
Reconstruction lecture
Year after civil war?
Norfolk riot 1866 and Mississippi massacre.
Understanding of the KKK.
Lynchings between 1868-71.
Kentucky.
Clashes in govt, differing views?
Situation in Washington
Colfax Louisana 1873
Louisiana democratic party platform.
Was it successfu;
Several race riots, African Americans vs pro-slavery.
Planned a parade to celebrate the passing of the civil rights bill/ had to impose martial law. 48 killed.
White supremacist organisations were more widespread and not just centred around them.
400.
Over 1/3, gives an idea of the problems of the federal govt were facing during this era.
Clashes between presidential/ radical reconstruction, some wanted equal riots but some opposed them.
Chaos.
Massacre, over 150 African American men are murdered despite surrendering.
That people from African descent cannot be considered equal to other races.
No, reconstruction amendments and emancipation proclamation is ignored- 13th amendment and the dec of independence.
The Gilded Age c1877-1896
Economic growth when both state and federal govts were concerned about the impacts of industrialisation and immigration.
Segregation approved by the Supreme Court in 1896, political life reduced.
Gilded Age Lecture
Reps concerned about Andrew Johnson.
Summer and Stevents attempt and how
14th Amendment of 1868
15th Amendement of 1870
How did life change
How did reconstruction fail
What party supported white terrorist groups
Blame Federal govt/ North
What did Hayes do in 1877 which affected the impact of federal legislation for African Americans
Segregation in the South
Justify racism?
What can be said about reconstruction
Lenient in his dealings of the rebels.
Right to vote- to protect the union.
African Americans born in the country were citizens of the US, equal protection from the law.
Prohibited states from preventing US citizens from voting on the grounds of race/ slavery.
Newly liberated people had more autonomy.
Societal intergration violently resisted by the South.
Democrats.
Reluctance to equal consitions/ opposed to alienating national Southern conservatives.
Withdrew troops- collapse of the Southern reconstruction governments.
Violence, fear, lynching, hostile.
Poll tax, literacy tests for voters, segregation laws.
Ruled racial segregation was constitutional.
Social darwinism, stereotypes.
An aborted revolution, race leaders- progress.
Empire, reform and war 1896-1920
Progressive era, reflected the response to growing industrialisation.
Women’s rights to vote, 1919, 19th Amendment, however it didn’t include African American women.
Little done for civil rights.
NAACP founded.
Revival of the KKK in 1915, growing racial tensions and segregation policies resulted in racial unrest and the Red Summer of 1919.
Empire lecture
Position at the start of the war
Opportunities created by the war
‘the Great Migration’
Contributions to war effort
Motivation to fight
Their experience
How was racism exhibited
What was the reality for most soldiers?
What happened in the summer of 1919
How did ww1 affect the fight for civil rights
Expected to fight despite being treated as second-class citizens, faced discrimination.
Modern civil rights movement, organise and make demands for racial justice and civic inclusion.
Movement for African Americans from rural, Southern communities to North Western states.
Armed forces, factories.
Patriotic spirit of the era encouraged them
Systematic, racial discrimination also empowered them to fight for justice.
Mistreatment, segregation, degraded in ranks.
Racism, a rise of racial tensions/ violence.
Red Summer 1919- White supremacist terrorism and racial riots
Created opportunities to demand civil rights.
Era 5: The Depression and the new Deal
Lowest paid groups including AAs felt the impacts most harshly, gained some aspects from the new Deal, however there was little political interests in extending their civil rights.
Era 5 lecture
What was the AA experience in this depression
How many AA had left the south by 1929
What were conditions in the North like for AA
What did the ‘New Deal’ aim to do
How did AA’s benefit from the New Deal
How did the growth of trade unions influence AAs
What did FDR refuse to endorse
Watershed moment in the fight for black freedom, bad. Era of reform.
1.5 million.
Desperately poor in the slums, urban benefited from education, wages and votes.
3/4, many unemployed/ in social distress
Intervention designed to sustain American capitalism
Programmes for unemployed, segregation, benefits. Projects for work.
Helped curve unemployment, relief. Workers’ rights for all races, bi-racial unions. However violence in the south, wanted to maintain the racial status-quo. 2/3 of workers not covered by the agreements.
The NCAAP’s anti-lynching campaign laws. The New Deal not completely beneficial for AAs.
Era 6: WW2 and the cold war.
US forces remained segregated during the war. Black troops gained new experience and confidence in the forces. A war against Nazi racism and democracy for fascism raised issue for needs for change at home.
Civil rights groups grew, south still opposed to change. 1950s was a key time for change and conflicts over civil rights became more acute.
Era 6 lecture
Questions following the war
Impact of the Cold war on the Civil rights movement
Popular tactic
Significance of Brown v Board
Collapsing imperialism
Truman’s contribution
Southern response to the Brown V Board case, Little Rock 1957
Rosa Parks 1957
Impact of the bus boycott
How can white supremacy exist post-war.
Communist influence, communists became advocates for black communities.
Litigation- fight Jim Crow laws through the courts.
May 1954, segregation in schools was ruled as unconstitutional.
Independence movements, ideological battles, Soviets used race relations for propaganda against the US.
Desegregated army/ federal work force.
Desegregation undermined cold war effort, led to massive resistance- successful in the South. State governor stopped desegregation in schools.
Arrested and charged, protests. Boycotted the buses which lasted 381 days under MIA organisation. Won lawsuit for bus desegregation on Dec 20 1954.
Demonstrated non-direct community action could bring action and take down JC, gave Martin Luther King a platform.
Era 7: Reform and Reaction 1960-74
Significant change as a result of Kennedy’s ‘New Frontier’ and President Johnson’s ‘Great Society’, impacted on the position of workers and labour unions- decline.
Mass civil rights activities led by stronger organisations/ leaders such as Martin Luther King JR. Passing of the Civil Rights Act- ended segregation and promoted AA voting rights.
A new radicalism emerged with the Black Power movement.
Era 7 lecture
How many people attended the March on Washington in August 1963
The words of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
What did the protests centre around after the Act was passed
What was the result
250,000. Collective effort emphasised the importance of rights.
Equality, agency, reinforce rights.
Register to vote.
Put in another piece of legislation to confirm voting rights for AA.
Era 8: Ford, Carter Reagan and Bush 1974-92
Depressed economy, inequality for AAs still ongoing.
They had achieved the political aims they had campaigned for but the more fundamental problems of social and economic inequality had not been solved.
Era 8 lecture
What happened to Rodney King in March 1991
How many officers were present
Why was it important that it was captured on video
What happened to the officers responsible
What happened in the LA riots that followed
1991, Beaten by police officers after a high speed chase.
5
Ignited an interventionist culture, viral video. Black activism- combat brutality.
Found not guilty.
5 days, 50 died, 2000 injured.
Reconstruction 1865-77 summary
In some ways, more empowered before emancipation.
‘sharecropping’- the only option free from slavery, v limited freedom.
400+ lynchings with 170 in Kentucky= a border state.
4 million freed slaves, a positive change. How to absorb into the economy? loop hole of the 13th amendment easily exploited. Named as ‘criminals’- slavery.
Personal liberty did increase- marriage, gain an education, build community, beginning of a new culture derived from slavery.
KKK in its first wave in the late 1860-70s.
Gilded Age 1877-1896 summary
Beneficial for the extremely wealthy.
14th/15th amendments- granted equal rights in the eyes of the law, AA men can vote, however failure to enforce them led to continuity.
Plessy V Ferguson- ruled racial segregation as consitutional,1896, AAs at a disadvantage.
The revival/rise of white supremacy groups, such as the KKK grew racial tensions.
Produced JC.
1877 Hayes v Tiden compromise- take the federal troops out of the South.
By 1887, no more black congress members.
Social darwinism.
Black codes.
1920s summary
KKK (1915).
Re Summer 1919- exacerbated racial tensions.
Woodrow Wilson as a segregationist president.
Civil rights organisations such as the NAACP.
Opportunities granted through WW1- pushing for rights, literacy, poll tax- negative.
‘Great Migration’ 1910, provided jobs however AAs undercut by white workers, uneasy, 3/4 based in South.
Beginning to embed themselves in the rest of society.
Marcus Garvey- Black chauvinism, deserve rights. Go back to Africa.
1930s summary
The ‘New Deal’- indirect impact. Job/ work schemes/ support AAs indirectly, literacy music and art schemes.
Southern AA- rubbish continuation of the 1920s- Farmers lose out. Northern (urban)- the depression hit them hardest, AAs lost jobs, continuation of economic discrimination.
Black/communist co-operation, influx of bi-racial organised labour and unions.
WW2 and Truman
NAACP (1915)- turning point because it increases black consciousness/ desire for change.
Prolonged exposure to Europe/Uk vs Us superiors provides a point of contrast- contradiction of fighting fascism vs segregation at home.
Executive Order 8802- desegregation of federally run defence industries, Randolph pressured Roosevelt.
The problems of compliance- any AAs deemed to be putting other AAs in danger ‘put back in a box’
Continuity- lack of acknowledgement afterwards.
Truman- racist ideologies. Shift after a recognised black soldier was brutally beaten. Should be equality of opportunity.
Executive Order 9981- desegregated the army and sets up commission to further AA rights in the Federal government.
1950s
1954 Brown v Board of Education, Overturned Plessy V Ferguson. Ruled desegregation as unconstitutional- begins the process.
1957 Little Rock- Brings little change, Eisenhower reluctantly sent army.
Rosa Parks- bus boycott, Montgomery/ Baton Rouge. Success as buses were desegregated after a year- Grassroots movement.
1955 Emmett Till- Brutally killed, influence of murder. Eisenhower doesn’t acknowledge it, catalyses movements.
External influences- Cold war, ideological battles, soviets pointed out the hypocrisy about segregation.
Decolonisation- other black countries gained independence.
SCLC, SNCC, CORE, sit-ins, checks desegregation legislation, makes it more robust.
1960s
Urban riots, Vietnam, Nixon and ‘conservative backlash’.
1967- Kerner Report, take action.
1961 ‘New Frontieres’- Proactive.
1964 Civil Rights Act, 1968 Civil Rights Act.
Ida B. Wells
Campaigned against JC laws in the South, anti-lynching, promoted women’s rights, called for urban reforms.
+ consequences- helped get a successful court ruling overturned.
- consequences- excluded from the NAACP, faced a lot of discrimination as a black woman, other civil rights leaders hostile towards her.
Booker T Washington
Demanded racial accommodation, outspoken against lynching, unequal funding of education etc.
+ consequences- National Business League- promoted class identity, culture, collective advancement.
- consequences- Faced criticism for supposedly elevating whites, popular opposite, less radical strategy.
W.E.B DuBois
Pioneering advocate of black nationalism and Pan-Africanism.
+ consequences- Niagara Movement 1905-layed path for the NAACP, publicised civil rights through press and organised marches.
- consequences- Radicalism led him down a different path (often criticised), unfulfilled vision.
Marcus Garvey
Pan-Africanism and a separate African state. Importance of economic development in Black communities.
+ consequences- Set up the UNIA which attracted a large audience, scale of his organisation wasn’t matched until the 1960s
- consequences- Opposed by other leaders, Eccentricity makes him a lone figure.
Philip Randolph
Pressured Roosevelt to end discrimination in 1941.
+ consequences- Understood the power of non-violence, key contribution. Used his power to pressure Truman to implement anti-segregation laws, effective pressure.
Martin Luther King Jr
Saw the power of non-violence, integration and white co-operation as his aims.
+ consequences- Formed SLCC in 1957, Aware of the importance of modern media, exemplified through his speech of Aug ‘63, became a figurehead, activism made it possible for civil rights legislation to be passed.
- consequences- criticised for co-operation with white people, inconsistent leadership, accredited with others’ gains, constitutional rights didn’t fix everything.
Malcolm X
Joined the NOI- helped it gain leadership.
Preached violent revolution, socialism, Pan-Africanism and radical Islam. Softened approach later in life.
+ consequences- Considerable influence on the emergence of the Black Power Movement. Promoted a sense of identity/ pride that didn’t depend on integration. Increased popularity for more moderate leaders like MLK.
- consequences- Couldn’t claim much success over Civil Rights legislation, less popular in support and lacked a coherent strategy.
How strong was opposition to Civil rights? The KKK
Methods: intimidation, physical attacks, spread myths.
Actions and attitudes of the state govt: From 1877, civil rights oppression came from the state govts, indifferent to Congress and the Supreme Court.
Situation in the South worsened and the Klan traditions were maintained, Reverted back to the civil war period.
Revival: Reborn in 1915, declined by the mid-1920s, attacks decreased but their influence lingered in the South.
Resistance in the 50s/60s- Civil Rights seen as a Northern matter.
The WCC- Created by southern white segregationists, sought to economically and socially oppress black people.
