Free at Last 1918 - 1968 Flashcards
REASONS FOR MASS MIGRATION TO THE USA
PUSH - poverty, crop failure, lots of crime, unemployment, war.
PULL - Escaping religious prosecution, better housing, better services, political stability, protection of civil rights.
IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
REASONS THAT IMMIGRANTS FOUND IT HARD TO INTERGRATE
Lack of housing - Immigrants often lived in slum housing which was overcrowded as there was little housing and lived with people from similar backgrounds.
Language barrier - Immigrants often spoke different languages and couldn’t communicate with Americans which meant americans didn’t trust them and they struggled to find work.
Racial prejudice - Immigrants often had a different appearance to WASP Americans which made them seem threatening to Americans.
Community groups - Immigrant often stayed close to people from the same area as them, meaning they struggled to get to know Americans.
Ideological differences - Lots of the immigrants were coming from communist states whilst America was capitalist. Made them difficult to understand.
Religious conflicts - New immigrants had different faiths and were not respected by WASP Americans.
Immigrants arrived with little money and faced discrimination. They lived in unsanitary housing with lots of disease and crime. They were paid low wages and often used as strikes breakers.
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Immigrants normally voted for the politician who helped them.
Irish came to dominate political systems in large cities.
Gravitated towards the democratic party.
CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARDS IMMIGRATION
Fear of revolution, red scare, revolutionary groups such as wobblies, The dynamiters movie. Alexander palmer arrested 4000 communists in early 1920s.
Increasing crime rates, new mafia moved from italy, era of prohibition.
Jobs and houses, desperation, increasing crime rates and trade union strikes, strike breakers.
Nativism and racism, immigrants religious beliefs were dangerous. Some americans didn’t trust bible.
KKK prootected WASP Americans from foreign groups “America for the Americans”.
GOVERNMENT POLICY AND CLOSURE OF THE OPEN DOOR
Dillingham commission was set up to learn more about immigration. If found that immigrants from different countries were inferior compared to WASPs. The commission set up literacy tests to make it harder for immigrant to enter the country. By 1929, only 150,000 allowed into the USA.
JIM CROW LAWS
Laws imposed to racial segregation. Created a segregated society in the Sourh and maintained white supremacy. All public facilities were segregated. Facilities were provided for black Americans and had poorer quality. Poorer schools, poorer education. Breaking these laws had serious consequences. Voting restrictions.
WHITE TERROR, LYNCHING, ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE KKK
Wore white hats and robes to create fear. Klan would wait outside voting places to beat up blacks if they came near. They held ceremonies and used coded language. They assaulted black people and raided black households. Black people were kidnapped. The klan lynched many black people and bombed churches and schools
THE MIGRATION OF BLACKS TO NORTH
Fear of white violence - Lynching was common in the South and black Americans were beaten or killed to intimidate others.
Segregation - Jim crow laws affected all areas of life. Facilities for blacks were far inferior to those of whites. Southern states enforced segregation of the races through jim crow laws.
The Harlem Renaissance - The growth of black culture, music and art in the 1920s in New York attracted blacks.
Employment - In the South, blacks could only be employed in low pay unskilled work. They were encouraged to move for higher wages.
Political disenfranchisement - Every Southern state has restricted voting rights for blacks through poll taxes and grandfather clauses. It seemed more hopeful in the North.
Sharecropping - Many blacks were poor sharecroppers and heavily in debt to white landowners. The boll weevil damaged crops in the south and as a result there was less of a demand for agricultural workers.
EXPERIENCE OF BLACK AMERICANS DURING WORLD WAR TWO
During WW2, Actions of early campaigners such as Philip Randolph got the president to end discrimination in defence industry jobs. But returning soldiers continued to face klan violence - the murder of emmet till shocked everyone. New civil rights groups were set up during WW2 to press for improvements.
After they returned to still bad conditions and treatment, many black solidiers began to talk about the Double V Campaign. The double V campaign failed as racial tensions continued to grow in the USA after the war and race riots continued but it sowed the seeds for later civil rights successes. Core was also created and the Nation of Islam grew.
CIVIL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNS AFTER 1945
BROWN VS TOPEKA
Kinda Brown was a young black girl who had to travel 20 blocks for school when there was a white school 2 blocks away. The NAACP and her father made a legal case against the education board to achieve mixed schools. On May 19th 1954, The court declared that segregation in schools was against the law. This paved the way to mixed school. All education boards were forced to desegregate. But by 1956, there was still 6 states with no mixed schools. It gained media and attention and was the first victory in the civil rights movement.
MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
Changing segregation laws in Alabama. A group of local civil rights leaders came together to boycott the busses after Rosa Parks, who had been a member of the NAACP for years was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white person. The busses began to get boycotted and Martin Luther Kind stepped up to make speeches that they should remain non violent. Bus boycott lasted over a year until the busses were struggling to stay in business and Supreme court decided that busses could no longer discriminate. Non violent protests became big to the civil rights movement and MLK came into the forefront of the movement. Generated a lot of picking support and black people felt a sense of economic power and as if change could be made.
LITTLE ROCK
9 Black children were going to be brought into a school in Arkansas to end segregated schools. However, white students tried to keep them out and assaulted them. The governer of Arkansas opposed this and sent state troops to keep the black children out of the school. Elizabeth’s Eckford was a child who tried to enter and was face with hatred. The president then stepped up and sent 1000 federal troops to protect the children, they stayed there for over a year. Black students never retaliated. This gained worldwide attention and showed how difficult it was going to be to achieve civil rights in the south. Attracted domestic attention to America as people could see what was happening on the TV. Demonstration of the president stepping up and the civil rights act was introduced in 1957.
SIT-INS
The sit ins were inspired by Ghandi civil disobedience protests. It was the aim to desegregate lunch counters. In the 1960s, more black americans were insisting on change. It began in North carolina were 4 black students sat in a white only lunch counter. They sat there even though they were refused service. The next day 80 students joined, white and black. They suffered from violent attacks from angry whites. Americans were forced to fix the issue as national TV covered it. Jails in the South began to burst due to the ‘ fill the jails’ tactic. By 1960, 70,000 protesters had taken part in sit-ins. Similar protests took place in other facilities. Many white Americans supported the sit ins. Confidence and economic power for black Americans.
FREEDOM RIDES
Organized by core and aimed to desegregate interstate busses. They busses would travel around different American states, starting in Washington. Black and white students would sit together on the busses and use white only bathrooms. The klan would wait for them in different states and beat them, or burn their busses. In 1961, desegregation in public transport was announced as US citizens were shocked by the treatment of the freedom rides. MLKs influence was also becoming bigger to others and the idea of non violent campaigns was growing.
BIRMINGHAM MARCH
MLK decided to lead a march through Birmingham in 1963 as it was one of the most segregated states and the KKK was large. Bull connor, a local police officer reacted in a violent racist way. On day 1, 900 children were arrested. On day 2, protesters were attacked with water canons, hoses and police dogs. On day 3, the police attacked with batons but the firefighters refused to put on their hoses. On day 4, a deal was made that the local businesses would desegregate within 90 days. The klan was left furious and bombed a nearby motel where protesters were staying. This gained worldwide attention of the police brutality taking place in birmingham. The police force was left embarrassed. The Americans were also horrified by the actions taking place. John F. Kennedy stepped up and ordered an end to segregation in Birmingham. This showed that the federal government was willing to step up to the state government in the matter of civil rights. This also gained white support who saw the brutality of the police.
WASHINGTON MARCH
March was carried out to gain further support for the civil rights acts and keep pressure on desegregation. 1963, 250,000 people, black and white, gathered at Lincoln’s memorial. 4 national TV networks began live broadcasts and some celebrities from the time joined in to show their support. MLKs “i have a dream speech” became very famous at the time. This gained huge worldwide support. After the event, the klan bombed a church in Birmingham, killing 4 young girls. JFK was assasinaited in november but the act to desegregate public places was passed. This gave blacks a sense of beliefs that stuff would change. Demonstrated huge levels of support and highlighted the issue of segregation.
SELMA MARCH
Very few black people were able to vote in Selma. MLK thought that if another peaceful march took place, Sherif Clark of Selma would have a similar reaction to Bull Conner in Birmingham and would gain publicity and embarrass the government. The march was attempted on Sunday the 7th of March but the marchers were attacked with tear gas. This became known as bloody sunday. The March was then attempted again on the 21st of March and federal officers were brought to protect the marchers. Publicity forced president Johnston to give blacks the vote. After 3 years most blacks were able to vote. This march demonstrated the lengths that blacks were willing to go and generated sympathy for them. White people began to travel to show their support and black people developed a sense of confidence.
ROLE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING
After the bus boycott, MLK became the leader of the SCLC and led the civil rights campaigns. He aimed to end segregation. He insisted on people not fighting back even if it was self defence and staying non violent. He wanted the black and white people to be able to live together. His beliefs were shaped by his christian faith and family background. He was a successful public speaker and writer. King inspired many.
RESPONSE OF THE CAMPAIGNS
Response of state and federal authorities:
President Truman ordered desegregation in US military.
Supreme court desegregates schools.
Protected the nine kids in little rock and safely desegregated the high school, federal troops.
Truman set up a Presidents Commitee on civil rights to see how progress towards black civil rights could be made.
Penalties were established for obstructing black voting.
Many acts were passed.
Response of white people:
Set up white citizens councils to oppose changes..
Closed facilities to avoid desegregation.
Klan violence continued.
Violence against civil rights workers.
Political pressure from northern white people on congress for civil rights.
Some white poeple joined in on campaigns such as sit ins.
ASSESSMENT OF THE CAMPAIGNS ON US SOCIETY
Continuation of segregation.
Returning soldiers still faced klan violence.
New civil right groups such as CORE.
Refusal of state governments to accept Brown vs Topeka.
Continues KKK
PROBLEMS FACED IN NORTHERN GHETTOS
Unemployment
Racial prejudice
Bad housing
Poverty
Bad schools
Crime
GHETTO RIOTS
In 1965, the first race riot broke out in Watts leaving 34 dead, 900 wounded and 4000 arrested. The population in Watts was 90% black whilst the police force was mainly white. Riots broke out in other states such as Chicago and detroit. The riots were often caused due to the tension between black people and white authorities. The Kerner commission reported that 40% of black individuals lives in poverty and was the main cause of riots. Influence of leaders such as Stoney carmichael meant fight back after MLK died and people forgot about using non violent methods.
