How and Why did Black Americans Fight for Civil Rights (1917-1955) Flashcards
Black RIghts 1917-1955
What was the 13th Amendment (and what day)
31/1/1865 - Abolished Slavery
What was the 14th Amendment (and what day)
9/7/1868 - Made all people born or naturalised in the USA official US citizens - this included past slaves
What was the 15th Amendment (and what day)
3/2/1870 - All US men (included newly-freed slaves) were to have the same voting rights
Why did Black people have to fight for their rights despite the 13th, 14th and 15th amendment
Despite the consitution giving them equal rights, they were not treated that way by the public
How were Black people discriminated in jobs
Last Hired, First Fired and were expected to fill only the lowest paid jobs
How were Black people discriminated in housing
They were expected to live in segregated areas which were the generally worst parts of an area
How did Woodrow Wilson discriminate against Black People
He segregated the White House and all government offices in 1913
How many anti-black race riots in 1919 which led to the deaths of hundreds of black people
25
Which parts of the USA were the most racist against Black People
Mostly the Deep South, but nowhere was completely safe
What were Black Schools like in the Deep South, and how successful were Black Students
They were often poor and badly funded, paying teachers little and providing few resources or students. Black students still did well and many beame doctors, lawyers and teachers, which went against the racist Southern beliefs that Black people weren’t intelligent
What laws were introduced across the late 19th and early 20th century which segregated every aspect of life
Jim Crow Laws
Name 5 examples of things that were segregated
- Housing
- Education
- Public Transport
- Public Toilets
- Water Fountains
Who introduced the Jim Crow Laws
State and Local Governments, NOT the Federal Government
Name four reasons Black voters had fallen from 1896-1917
- There was a literacy test to qualify to vote, but Black people got far harder passages to read
- In some states only homeowners became allowed to vote, of which many black people were not
- Some states held all white elections to select the candidates, leaving only racist candidates making black people not want to vote
- Many polling stations were surrounded by white people who waited to beat up any Black person attempting to vote
How many Black voters were there in Louisiana in:
1896:
1904:
1896: 130,334
1904: 1342
What is lynching
Hanging someone from a tree
How many white men and how many black men were lynched from 1915-1930
White Men: 65
Black Men: 579
Why were black people lynched
Literally no reason - some had committed crimes, some had been accused of committing a crime (usually made up), some were lynched without even being accused of anything
What one lynching in particular attracted a lot of shock and publicity, and what year
14 year old Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. He was from the less racist Chicago and didn’t know how racist the South was, so he asked a White Woman on a date and was lynched as a result
Who are the KKK and what years have they been active
1865-1872, 1915-1944, 1946-Today
They are a White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) group, who commit acts of terror against anyone that has a different identity to them, including non-White people (especially Black), Gay people and people of any religion that isn’t Protestant
What state were the second KKK founded in 1915
Georgia (Deep South)
Estimated KKK numbers in 1925
3-8 million
Why did many people accept the KKK in their community
Many political figures, such as State Governors and Police Generals, were KKK members, and them as well as regular KKK members were too powerful and intimidating to argue with
What federal law made segegration legal and what year
Plessy vs Ferguson - 1896
Allowed for the existence of segregation if it was ‘separate but equal’
What did WIlson think of segregation, and what did Harding and Coolidge think of segregation
WIlson was a big supporter of segregation
Harding and Coolidge spoke in favour of civil rights and against segregation and lynching to influence opinion, but didn’t change laws regarding it
Why was the Government less interested in Civil Rights from 1929
The Great Depression took priority
What was ‘The Great Migration’ and what years did it occur
The movement of black people from the South to the North and East from 1917-1932
Why did Black people move North during the Great Migration (2 reasons)
- Far better work opportunities
- Safer to live as it was less racist
Name 3/8 cities that had a large population growth as a result of The Great Migration, and what did these cities have in common
Any 3 of:
- Chicago, IL
- Detroit, MI
- Cleveland, OH
- Cincinnati, OH
- Columbus, OH
- New York, NY
- Pittsbugh, PA
- Philadelphia, PA
They were all northern cities with large industrial sectors with factory jobs that black people could fill
Why did the Great Migration begin, and why was it sustained
After the USA entered WW1, there was an increased demand for workers in northern munitions factories. It kept going as many Black workers were able to get a job and housing, and even if the conditions were bad they were better than down South. This meant they encouraged others they knew to do similar
What was the Black population of the following cities in 1910 and 1930?
New York
Detroit
Chicago
New York:
1910: 92,000 1930: 328,000
Detroit:
1910: 6,000 1930: 120,000
Chicago:
1910: 44,000 1930: 234,000
What city did Black politicians first experience success and when and why
Chicago - The large black populations meant the black vote became significant. In Black majority wards especially, the black vote was able to dictate power and this is where the first black politicians occurred (1919)
Why did many Black elites and politicians support segregation
It kept the Black vote as dominant in some areas where they could thrive
Why were Black politicians less successful in New York than Chicago in the 1910s-1930s
The Black population was evenly spread which meant although most areas had a black presence, very few were dominated by the black vote
How did the Great Migration affect the South
It meant that the labour force decreased, impacting businesses and farms in Southern States, many of which were black. The general beliefs of white people were that black people who stayed in the South accepted the Jim Crow laws
What did the black vote generally shift to in the 1930s and why
Shifted from the Republicans to the Democrats in support of the New Deal
What did Roosevelt issue which banned racial discrimination in the defense industry in order to encourage more people to get into war-work
Executive Order 8802
Name one way the New Deal helped black people and one way it caused struggle
+: Alphabet agency NRA made the minimum wage for black people and white people equal
-: Many black farmers and servants were sacked and not protect by the New Deal’s social security provisions
Why were some people inadvertently helped by the New Deal
They often got helped simply because they were the poorest. 1/3 of low-income housing built due to the New Deal had black tenants, because they were poorest
What does the NAACP stand for, what do they do and what year were they founded
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) were founded in 1910 and organised legal action against segregation in the USA
Which political groups fought for equality more than some black civil rights groups in the 1930s and give an example showing this
Communists and Left-Wing parties gave more support than black civil rights groups like the NAACP
- In 1931, the NAACP refused to help with a case of 9 black men allegedly raping two white girls near Scottsboro, Alabama, so the Communist lawyers stepped in, found it was all a conspiracy and a not guilty verdict was given
Name two organisations that helped local black businesses and communities and where they were
- Father Divine of the Peace Mission Church Group - set up businesses that sold goods to black people for cheaper than white people would sell it for (New York)
- Housewives Leagues - a Women’s organisation which did a number of things such as led campaigns about boycotting shops in black districts that didn’t hire black people
What was the name of the order set up the Resettlement Administration, what did it do, and what month was it created
Executive Order 7027 (May 1935)
Resettled low income (often black) families in newly built housing and offered to lend money if needed
Executive Order 7027 helped ____ out of ______ black farmers who needed help
Executive Order 7027 helped 3,400 out of 200,000 black farmers who needed help
What year did another depression hit the USA and give a statistic showing how damaging it was
1937
It was so bad that in 1939, over 2 million people signed a petition asking for support moving to Africa
Why did black people hardly benefit from the economic boom caused by arms exports in WW2
White factory workers were preferred and therefore got the jobs
In (MM/YYYY), (Name) threatened a march of (How many) people unless Roosevelt banned discrimination in the army and the defence industry, but was called off after (order implemented)
In May 1941, A. Philip Randolph threatened a march of 100,000 people unless Roosevelt banned discrimination in the army and defence industry, but was called off after Executive Order 8802
What % of defence workers were black in 1942 vs 1945
1942: 3%
1945: 8%
What two effects did the wartime migration of black people to Northern people to work in war factories have on how they were perceived and treated
- Many people resented that influx of black people, leading to racist riots and violence, leading towns to create Race Relations Committees to improve relations
- Many white and black people worked side by side in factories and became friends, and many people began to see black people as people that should be equal to them
Was Truman for or against black rights
He supported civil rights
What 2 civil rights laws did Truman try to pass which were blocked by Congress, and what year
- Banning lynching
- Fair employment laws
Both 1954
What did Truman set up in 1946 which called for racially equal opportunities in work and housing
President’s Committee on Civil Rights
Why did Truman not affect civil rights too much despite supporting them (2 reasons)
- The larger problem for the USA was the Cold War which took his focus
- Many Congressmen blocked his civil rights laws as the Southern Congressmen were more fierce in their opposition than Northern ones were in their support
What 2 things did Truman do in 1948 which improved civil rights
- Desegregated the Military
(Executive Order 9981) - Desegregated all Government Businesses
What was NAACP membership in:
1917:
1919:
1946:
1917: 9,000
1919: 90,000
1946: 600,000
What was the black ‘Separatist’ movement and what did it believe? Name 2 supporters
A group of people who believed racial equality would never happen so it was more logical to live separately but achieve equality within separation. Booker T. Washington and Marcus Gauvey supported this (Gauvey even suggested a mass migration back to Africa)
Name a positive of the NAACP’s legal challenges
They won a lot of legal cases - they won some in the 1930s, a lot in the 1940s and won every single case in the 1950s
Why were the NAACP’s wins in court not always useful
Sometimes, they were not enforced, with the Supreme Court not setting time bounds for changes to be made, giving racist institutions no pressure to change
Name the legal action that desegregated schools and the year
Brown vs Board of Education, 1954
Name the follow up legal action of Brown vs Board of Education which became an example of vague court rulings allowing the continuation of segregation in schools, and what it said
Brown II, which said that all schools must desegregate ‘with all deliberate speed’, which could be interpreted as anything
Ten years after Brown II, what % of black children attended an integrated school?
1%
Name an example of Direct Action in June 1917
10,000 Black People were involved in the Silent Protest Parade in 1917, against lynching
What does CORE stand for, what do they do and when were they set up
CORE (Congress Of Racial Equality) was set up in 1942 to campaign for civil rights by non-violent means
Name 3 examples of CORE sit ins, (place and year for each)
- Chicago (1942)
- St Louis (1949)
- Baltimore (1952)
What was the Journey of Reconciliation (by who and what year)
A journey taken by many CORE members and Fellowship of Reconciliation (peace based quakers) members riding interstate buses through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky to protest racism (1947)
How did individuals use direct action in their local communities
Became the first people to move into all white areas, putting themselves in danger as a result
What were the set of rules developed for non-violent action
- Dress well to look respectable
- Were not loud or abusive
- Tried to show the evils of segregation
- Supported the government in the hopes they government supported them
What was unusual about CORE protests
Deliberately had black and white people protesting together
