Doughton - History 1. The development of changing attitudes towards civil rights 1890-1945 Flashcards
The government
The federal government covers congress, the President and the Supreme court
The President needs to persuade Congress on which they take it to the supreme court.
The impact of the Jim crow laws and the erosion of black freedom.
Over 90% of blacks live in the south at this time.
Jim Crow laws developed rapidly between 1887 and 1891 when 8 states introduced formal segregation.
It was supposed to be formal segregation said by the supreme court however it clearly wasn’t.
De Facto segregation
Historians refer to this as de facto segregation, meaning the separation of races was in place, despite not being an actual enacted law.
Segregation would take place on public transport, schools, beaches and toilets etc.
The supreme court had the fundermental views of those in the 1880s.
Even Theadore Roosovelt resented blacks as they were unreliable and inferior.
Gradual legalisation of segregation
Following the Plessy vs Ferguson case, segregation became accepted across the USA in 1896.
The supreme court upheld the Louisiana state law which required railway companies to have separate black and white carriageways.
The supreme court stance (De jure segregation)
The supreme court ruled segregation as constitutional and this became known as the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine.
Historians refer to this as De Jure segregation, which means that it was supported by the law.
Measures against voting
As a result of the 15th ammendment act in 1866, blacks could legally vote. However, each state had the sovereignty to disenfranchise the black of this right by establishing their own qualifications.
Southern states introduced restrictions such as literacy tests which were deliberately intended to exclude blacks from voting.
Certain measures
Grandfather clause - A man could only vote if someone in his family had voted before. This obviously excluded most blacks from voting.
Poll tax - decreased numbers of black votes significantly.
Literacy qualifications - made impossible. Passed in South Carolina in 1895 and in Alabama and Virginia in 1902.
Situation of blacks 1880-1900
in 1900, 90% of blacks lived in the South and had to rent their land.
Less than 1% of black children were able to attend high school.
Education in the South
1882, Henry W. Blair of New Hampshire introduced the “Blaire education bill” that would have provided millions of dollars to Southern blacks and white schools. However, congress rejected the bill.
Alabama minister stated ‘We must have coloured servants for there is no other serving laboring class’ - in essence, they wanted the blacks to stay educated so that they still have superiority over them.
Situation in the North
Emancipation gave blacks the right to move to another plantation or region. The majority of blacks remained in the South, the black population in the North doubled from 460,000 to 910,000.
The surge of blacks made white Northerners aware of the negative attitude towards them.
In New York, a group of black Americans moved into the district and the first ‘ghetto’ began to develop.
Experience in the North
Some said the experience was better and some said it was the same as it was in the south…
Same?
There was no legal segregation, however they were still oppressed with mass unemployment and housing issues along with low levels of education.
Quality of life didn’t significantly improve.
Better?
They were more likely to have franchise in the North.
By 1895, 17 states had civil rights legislations on their books.
Schools - by 1890s, Jim crow schools were slowly disappearing.
The response from the supreme court
Slaughter house cases 1872 - states have authority over citizens rights.
Civil rights cases 1883
this made the 1875 civil rights act unconstitutional.
Plessy vs ferguson 1896
Separate but equal, which wasn’t against the 14th ammendment act.
Williams vs Missisipi 1896
Literacy tests and poll tax was allowed.
Cummings vs richmond county board of education 1899
De jure segregation acceptable.
Racial violence
Mob attacks on African American residential areas erupted with savage frequency.
Wilmington - North Carolina 1898
11 African Americans killed and 100s were made homeless by a white mob.
Lynching
The spread of lynching reached a peak in the 1890s.
In 1892 - 235 African Americans were lynched. Shadenfreude was common during lynchings and law enforcement often turned a blind eye or even helped.
2805 estimated victims between 19882-1930
Why were whites able to restore white supremacy?
The republican party tended to support refuge for blacks but they were tired of the ‘black question’
Southern states had too much power over blacks for them to be a threat and Southern black votes grew less important.
Violence and oppression.
It was at the point where black subordination and separation was the norm.
The KKK
Set up in the 1860s in response to the end of slavery by soldiers who fought in the civil war. It died out in the 70s but made a comeback after the movie ‘a birth of a Nation’.
Identity
I already know this from year 10 and 11.
Organisation
Members carried American flags and burnt crosses at night time meetings.
Their leader, Hiram Wesley Evans was the Imperial Wizard, and also a dentist.
Membership
By 1920 - 100,00 members
By 1925 - 5,000,000 members.
The growth of the KKK was a response to industrialisation which brought many people to the city.
Activities
Carried out lynchings, castrated victims and stripped some victims and put tar and feathers on their bodies.
Why was no action taken against the KKK?
Some sources state that the federal government had to right to interfere with what was happening.
Many politicians in the South risked losing votes if they spoke out against the KKK.
One congressman said “I was told to join the KKK or else”.
Other notes.
By 1900, 1.5 african Americans were attending school. The peabody fund and Julius rosenwald fund supported teachers for these schools
85% of blacks lived in the South where the per capita was half the National average.
The NAACP and the roles of Booker T washington and W E B De Bois
.
Harlem Renassiance
Neighbourhood in New York, it was referred to as the cultural center, where many many blacks gathered and lived.
Jazz music was popular, more flamboyant clothing was worn.
African Americans began to be represented worldwide.
W E B De Bois
The background of W E B De bois and Booker T Washington were very different. De bois was a freeman born in the North, Harvard educated and also in other top universities in Europe.
W E B De Bois - aims
De bois aimed for a variety of things. He aimed for educational and economic opportunities, while also getting legal and political equality for blacks.
De Bois aimed for rapid racial integration. De bois and Washington’s disagreements was the catalyst for him setting up the NAACP in 1909.
De bois - methods
Established the NAACP, he publisised the ideas through newspapers. He also published emotional accounts of lynching and riots, and also articles that asserted that blacks were God’s chosen people.
De bois used law courts as his primary way of instigating change.
However, in 1934, disagreements with the NAACP forced him to leave. He wanted to put emphasis on black Nationalism and self-help. His advocacy for separatism infuriated integrationalists within the NAACP.
D bois - achievments
He helped increase awareness of blacks and pride in black culture,
Although he left the NAACP, they went on to achieve many things for the blacks.
Anti-lynching campaign that Du bois founded decreases the number of lynchings and riots in public.
Du Bois’ NAACP won its first substansial court case in 1915 against the ‘grandfather clause’.
NAACP
The NAACP was the National association for the advancement for coloured people set up in 1909. The association tried to promote black equality through law courts.
NAACP aims.
After Du Bois’ departure in 1934, the new leader was Walter White who strove or legal and political equality.
NAACP methods
White orchestrated a publicity campaign to stop an opponent of black voting from becoming a supreme court judge.
Helped to abolish poll tax
1931- they used black lawyers like Thurgood Marshall.
NAACP achievements
Raised black profile and increased black awareness, especially in the South.
This galvanized black activism, rise in members:
1940 - 50,000
1945 - 450,000
Helped by WWII when blacks had to fight against the Nazi policies and Fascism but realised they were just as oppressed domestically, they used this as a reason to campaign against their lack of freedom.
Booker T Washington
Born into slavery in a plantation, he worked his way up and struggled for education.
He became the leading spokesman for blacks after Fredrick Douglas died in 1895.
Booker T Washington - Aims
His eventual aim was for blacks to have equality and desegretation. However, he felt like fatalism was more acceptable in their contemporary climate.
His aims revolved around a boost in economic position. His solution to this was vocational education. Given his own prowess in education, this was no surprise.
Booker T washington - methods
Promoting vocational education for blacks.
Fame gave him the opportunity to establish the National Negro business League in 1900.
He was also integral in the establishment of the National Urban League in 1911.
He was also a good public speaker.
Booker T Washington - achievements
Gave many blacks more economic opportunities.
National Urban League helped blacks in the ghetto to find jobs.
However, some blacks resented him for being the ‘greatest white mans n** in the world”.
Marcus Garvey 1887-1940 and black pride
He felt blacks were unfairly treated and oppressed.
He aimed to make blacks proud of themselves.
He said ‘Black is beautiful’.
His second aim was more ambitious, he wanted to unite blacks throughout then world, and make them a more powerful race.
aims pt2
In 1914 - He founded the Universal Negro Movement association (UNIA) which aimed at a return to Africa.
Marcus Garvey - methods
Spoke at rallied, used catchy mottos and his charisma to gain support.
Migration to the North
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The great migration
Between 1880 and 1910, 500,000 black Americans left the South.
Between 1910 and 1970, over 6 million black Americans migrated from the South to the North or the West. Referred to as the Great Migration.
In 1910, 89% of black Americans lived in the South, but by 1970, the figure was only 53%
Push factors
Lynching in the South was more likely.
They could escape from debt peonage.
Excessive dependence of the economy upon cotton cap. Overproduction led to frequent slumps in cotton prices. This meant lower wage for black cotton pickers.
Escape the Jim Crow laws
Poor harvests for cotton
Pull factors
Blacks could vote in the North gaining greater local influence.
Letters sent from North to the South to encourage migration.
Blacks could earn more in the North in factories than in the agricultural South.
What were the problems with this?
Racial prejudice was still prevalent in the North.
Worsened race relations - KKK membership increased from 100,000 to 4 million from 1921 to 1924.
Race riots worsened.
Cost of living was high.
Accomodation was hard to find
Impact of WWI
2 million African Americans entered, 367,000 served in the Armed forces.
Majority of blacks were assigned to frontline digging and building jobs.
The Harlem hellfighters proved a point.
Aftermath of WWI didn’t grant blacks with the hoped for improvements. Spread of communism and the ‘red scare’ sparked.
Savage riots arose.
Jobs after WWI
When the whites were coming back from the war, they were infuriated by the blacks taking their jobs.
Blacks would be the first fired and the last hired.
This was the most important push factor.
Chicago race riot July 27th 1919
A black teenager was drowned and stoned by whites in Lake Michigan after violating the unofficial segregation laws. This sparked a week of rioting between blacks and whites.
15 White died, 23 blacks died and 500 injured with 1000 forced out of their homes.
Police officers refused to arrest the white man.
Growing racial tensions ‘The Red Summer’
The whites were infuriated by their jobs being taken.
The KKK was revived, 64 lynchings in 1918 and 83 in 1919.
‘The Red Summer’ facilitated the blacks to fight for the civil rights.
Lasting impact
President Woodrow Wilson blamed the whites for the riots.
Chicago organised a commission to prevent further riots.
Tulsa race massacre- 1921 ‘Black Wall Street’
May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting a woman in an elevator.
This enkindled riots, as the next 2 days, white mobs set fire to African American businesses and looted them.
Aftermath
10 whites, 26 blacks dead. However, contemporary historians believe it was upwards of 300 deaths in total.
1400 homes and businesses burning and 10,000 people were left homeless.
Aftermath pt2
Greenwood neighbourhood was completely destroyed.
Media didn’t cover the incident at all, the facts are still not clear today.
Calling it a riot was false as it insinuates the blacks were partly at fault.
It is referred to as ‘the greatest conspiracy of silence’
Advantages of the great migration
By 1890, Jim Crow schools were disappearing.
Gave blacks a willingness to fight for their rights.
No formal Jim Crow laws.
More economic opportunities for blacks.
The NAACP fought against oppression in the North.
Disadvantages
Quality of life didn’t significantly improve.
Many blacks were first to be fired for the soldiers returning from war.
Law enforcement were still prejudicial.
Race riots and KKK.
Impact of the New Deal and WWI on civil rights
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The Great Depression
From the article ‘The Negroes out of work’, we can observe how blacks were more adversely treated than whites economically.
Black unemployment was 6% higher than the whites.
The impact of the depression
2 million sharecroppers were forced off their land.
Unemployment was over 60% among African Americans.
White vigilante groups were set up to prevents blacks from getting jobs.
Black Americans and the depression
Rural experience was also bad due to the crop prices dropping, blacks went to the city. They found this transition just as bad if not worse than their rural experience.
Starvation and disease was common.
The New Deal
Franklin D Roosovelt introduced a new deal in 1935.
Many commissions were set up to help the blacks.
Commissions that fostered progress
.
PWA
Aim was to help create jobs through public work programmed.
Equal pay and created homes for the blacks.
TVA
Their aim was to provide employment and electricity and improved farming methods.
Blacks got jobs.
Commissions that were unsuccessful
.
NRA
Aim was to help business and industry recovers.
It excluded agricultural and domestic workers wages.
AAA
Aim was to stop overproduction.
200,000 black sharecroppers were evicted and they didn’t get any compensation.
Impact of new deal - positive
Agencies helped blacks. Provided over 1 million jobs.
50 Blacks Americans served in various government branches for Roosovelt. This was called ‘the black cabinet’.
Eleanor Roosovelt helped raise awareness of Black Americans.
Negative impacts of the new deal
Some agencies didn’t help in some cases.
Roosovelt did very little to help segregation and discrimination.
Extra notes
The great depression wiped out most advances since WWI.
Black leaders like Bethune, Mary McLord and Robert C were given important governmental jobs.
3 quarters of blacks voted democtratic.
President Roosovelt’s approach.
His approach was cautious and somewhat languid.
He wasn’t interested in civil rights legislations and desegregation . He also failed to support anti-lynching.
Depending on Southern Democrats votes to get new deal legislations through congress, he would not risk alternating this vital support.
He still made many positive changes. mainly economically.
Impact of WWII
This was a crucial turning point for African Americans.
Jim Crow Army - The war highlighted racism in the armed forces. This also highlighted the irony in fighting against racism in the war and domestically.
Jim Crow army had to serve in segregated units until the end of the war.
The Jim Crow Army
Blacks stationed in Britain were treated better than back home.
Before 1944, blacks were not allowed into combat for the marines and the air force.
Black nurses could only treat blacks.
The jim crow army activities
Described as ‘fighting for a double victory’.
1941 - 4000 were in military.
1945 - 1.2 million.
The NAACP led Roosovelt to pledge that African Americans would be enlisted in the army.
Blacks could finally climb up the ranks of promotion.
..pt2
On D-day, the first army on Omaha and Utah beaches included 1700 African American troops.
They spent 183 days in combat and helped capture many towns in Europe.
The famous ‘Tuskgee airmen’ supporred.
Double V campaign
Blacks organised this campaign, calling for a greater democracy against racism domestically.
This was very influential.
Was there progress on the war front? - Yes
Blacks could integrate and were finally able to fight in more important units.
Black Americans and the Home front - progress
A Phillip Randolph set up the Brotherhood of sleeping Car Porters.
This helped workers fight for equal rights.
He planned a march if Roosovelt didn’t implement change. Roosovelt issued Executive 8802. This stopped discrimination in jobs.
Souther voters
1940 - 3%
1947 - 12%
Lack of progress
Race riots in 47 cities.
Those who found jobs were still competing with unsympathetic whites for housing.
Riots at 9 Black Army camps.
