How far did black civil rights fail to develop between 1877-1915? Flashcards
What was the situation with African American rights by the mid 1870s?
-many black sharecroppers->controlled by white landowners
-industrial employment was discouraged by whites fearing for their jobs
-Freedman’s Bureau closed in 1872->real fear of violence becomes evident
-contrast between de jure (in theory/law) and de facto (in reality/fact) rights became clear
-segregation was common but not formalised until later
-African Americans seen as a corrupting influence on white children
When was the Slaughterhouse Case?
1873
What was the Slaughterhouse Case of 1873?
-in judging a case concerning a meat monopoly, the federal Supreme Court decided that the rights of citizens should stay under state rather than federal control
-it ruled that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution protected a person’s individual rights but not his or her state civil rights, this is rights granted at the discretion of the civil government, the state
What did the Slaughterhouse case establish?
-that state rights can overrule the federal (central) government rights and laws
-sets a precedent->a path to follow->future judgements or decisions have to align with it
Why was this case significant for African American civil rights?
-it would be easier to adapt laws in different states->affected African Americans->would lead to more oppression
Why had Reconstruction failed?
-weakness of Southern Republicans compared to Southern whites opposing equality for African Americans
-Northern apathy and increased racism due to immigration
-desire for reconciliation between North and South
-anti-government intervention feelings in the US generally->Congress did not defend the changes that it had made and Presidents did not fully support civil rights
What was within the 15th Amendment?
-Understanding Clause
-Literacy Tests
-Poll Tax
-Grandfather Clause
What was the Understanding Clause within the 15th Amendment?
-voters had to explain a part of the Constitution to the Registrar before they could vote
-difficulty of the passage would vary according to skin colour
How would the Understanding Clause within the 15th Amendment have prevented African Americans from voting?
-this was a challenging legal document using complex and archaic language
-many black voters did not have a level of education to read or explain it
Where did the Understanding Clause apply to?
Southern States
What were the Literacy Tests within the 15th Amendment?
-voters had to take literacy tests
-many black schools were significantly under-funded
How would the Literacy Tests within the 15th Amendment have prevented African Americans from voting?
-education for African Americans was limited so they wouldn’t be able to pass the tests ->challenging for them
Where did the Literacy Tests apply to? When?
Mississippi 1890
What was the Poll Tax within the 15th Amendment?
-voters had to pay $2 in poll tax to vote
-many black voters could not afford this
How would the Poll Tax within the 15th Amendment have prevented African Americans from voting?
-many African Americans couldn’t afford this which would make it challenging for them to vote
Where did the Poll Tax apply to? When?
Georgia 1877
What was the Grandfather Clause within the 15th Amendment?
-if your grandfather had been able to vote before 1867 you did not have to take a literacy test, so illiterate whites could still vote
How would the Grandfather Clause within the 15th Amendment have prevented African Americans from voting?
-many African Americans wouldn’t have had grandfathers living in the US or voting in this time which would make it challenging for them and the Grandfather Clause wouldn’t apply for many
Where did the Grandfather Clause apply to? When?
Louisiana 1898
What impact would the preventing of voting have on the African American progress?
-if they were unable to vote or there were limited people who were able to vote they wouldn’t be able vote in someone who could give them further rights->their rights would be prevented and limited with not much progress
Why do we have to be careful about generalising when discussing black experiences of voting in this time period?
-different for everyone due to different states having different State Laws
Who was George Henry White of North Carolina?
-the last black Congressman elected from the South in the 19th century was George Henry White of North Carolina, elected in 1896, re-elected in 1898
-his term expired in 1901->no black people served in Congress for the next 28 years, and none represented any Southern state for the next 72 years
What percentage of eligible black people voted in South Carolina for the 1880 Presidential Election?
70%
What percentage of eligible black people voted in South Carolina for the 1896 Presidential Election?
11%
Why, despite amendments, were Civil Rights not received in practice?
-the 15th Amendment passed by the Federal Law granted that you can’t discriminate the right of people to vote based on their race etc
-however, State Law had the capacity to overall. For example the Grandfather Clause in Louisiana 1898
-this affected African American lives by restricting their right to vote
What was Jim Crow?
-the minstrel show and the beginning of legalised segregation
-a name given to people of colour
-Southern states
What were the Jim Crow Laws?
-series of state laws in the Southern and border states put into place between 1887 and 1891
What did the Jim Crow Laws do?
-started with 8 southern states introducing formal segregation of races on trains, 3 extended this to waiting rooms->this re-enforced school segregation which was now common across the South
When was segregation escalated more as a result of the Jim Crow Laws?
-after 1891 segregation was extended to cover public places of all kinds
When were the Jim Crow Laws deemed constitutional? How?
-his was deemed constitutional in 1896 by the Supreme Court in a landmark case Plessy vs Ferguson with its ‘Separate but Equal‘ ruling
When did the Jim Crow Laws end?
-school segregation was eventually deemed unlawful in 1954, all other Jim Crow Laws were finally disbanded following the Civil Rights Act of 1964
