Issue 2 USA: Obstacles to civil rights 1918-1941

Question 1

What does WASP stand for?

Answer 1

White Anglo Saxon Protestant

Question 2

Why was the Thirteenth Amendment significant?

Answer 2

It freed slaves

Question 3

What was the era immediately after the Civil War called?

Answer 3

Reconstruction

Question 4

What were the Jim Crow laws?

Answer 4

The Jim Crow laws was the name given to all laws in southern states that were intended to keep Blacks and Whites separate. Most Jim Crow laws were passed between 1870 and 1900, and were named after a white stage performer called Jim Crow who used to dress up as a black man and make a fool of black people by showing them as stupid, lazy and unreliable.
Under the Constitution, states enjoyed “states’ rights”, which meant that Southern State Governments could produce any Jim Crow law they wanted.

Question 5

What was “segregation”?

Answer 5

Jim Crow laws ensured that blacks and whites would be kept separate.

Question 6

What were the consequences of segregation in education?

Answer 6

This left millions of black children at a great disadvantage leading to long term economic, educational and social disadvantages.

Question 7

Who said “Segregation is not humiliating and is a benefit to you Black gentlemen”?

Answer 7

President Woodrow Wilson

Question 8

When did the Great Migration from the South to the North East begin?

Answer 8

1915-1916

Question 9

Why did African Americans move north?

Answer 9

To escape the KKK and segregation and to take up jobs in defence industries.

Question 10

Name 3 northern cities which saw a huge influx of African Americans.

Answer 10

3 from: Chicago, St. Louis, New York City, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Washington DC, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Boston

Question 11

What social problems did African Americans face in the north?

Answer 11

Discrimination and poor housing

Question 12

What was ‘Red Summer’?

Answer 12

Competition for jobs and housing led to hostility and violence, and approximately 25 race riots took place in the last six months of 1919, including in the capital Washington DC. Late in July there were also riots in Chicago in which 38 were killed and 537 were injured. The Chicago race riots of July 1919 were one of the worst examples of this post-war violence.

Question 13

What did the KKK claim to be protecting?

Answer 13

The KKK claimed to be protecting “the American way of life” and preserving “100% Americanism”.

Question 14

Who did the KKK target?

Answer 14

Blacks, Jews, Catholics, immigrants and other minority groups

Question 15

What was an “uppity nigger”?

Answer 15

This was a derogatory term used by the KKK for a person who was trying to improve their life, or who spoke up for their rights.

Question 16

Why did the Klan reappear in the early 1900s?

Answer 16

The film Birth of a Nation was very popular and depicted the Klan as protectors of American society under siege of black terror.
Many Americans had also been prompted to join the resurgent Klan following the massive influx of immigrants following WWI. The war had led to a rise in patriotism and opposition to ‘alien influences’ associated with non-WASP communities.
Klansmen felt particularly threatened by black soldiers returning from more racially tolerant Europe after WW1.

Question 17

What did Southern states introduce to prevent African Americans from voting, and give two examples of these.

Answer 17

Voting qualifications.

Two from: land ownership, literacy tests, poll taxes, Grandfather Clause etc.

Question 18

Name two civil rights leaders and their organisations.

Answer 18

W.E.B. DuBois - leader of the NAACP

Marcus Garvey - leader of the UNIA

Question 19

What was a sharecropper and how did Southern states prevent black sharecroppers from voting?

Answer 19

Most Southern Blacks were sharecroppers (people who did not own land), and some states therefore deliberately identified ownership of property as a voting qualification, thereby excluding Black voters from the political process.

Question 20

When was Rubin Stacy lynched?

Answer 20

1935