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.
