paper 1: the quest for civil rights Flashcards
what did the American dream promise?
the American dream promised equality but in reality many groups were denied that equality
what was life like for BA after WW1?
Black Americans found that they still had to struggle for equality, they still faced discrimination, segregation, and violence. These things were more extreme In the Deep South, but even in the north and west BA were unofficially segregated and discriminated against
what was the great migration?
the migration of black people from the south to the northern cities. by 1920, almost 40% of African Americans were living in northern cities.
for example, in 1910, the black population of Chicago was 5,741. by 1930 it was 120,066
the migration was primarily due to the USA entering the First World War and a boom in the munitions industry, with factories offering jobs with good wages to people previously working for peanuts as sharecroppers in the south
what are 3 negatives for black people moving up north for factory work
- although they were offered better pay for what they were doing in the south they were still payed a fraction of what white workers were payed
- no room for being promoted, blacks were always passed up
- poor living environments
what was segregation like in the north?
segregation varied from city to city, but the conditions black people were forced into were simply urban equivalents of the shanty towns and impoverished areas they lived down south. not all landlords exploited migrants and not all black people had to live in worse off parts of the city, some for example moving into their own areas of rich white suburbs so they could be domestic servants and nannies for rich white people
what was the impact of the migration?
massively increased the political power of blacks, as now entirely black voting wards existed. it became clear that the black vote was a key constituency, as blacks managed to keep the mayor of Chicago in 1919
in places like New York however, where black peopld were more spread out, they didn’t gain as much political power, but they instead tended to live in much smaller segregated communities more evenly spread out.
the impact of black migration harmed trade unions, as it allowed many unionised white workers to be fired by their bosses with large influxes of black workers being willing to work instead.
what impact did the migration have on the south?
the labour force shrank and the south struggled to recover economically as its main export, farming, struggled. Southerners tended to see the migration as black people voting with their feet and leaving over Kim crow, believing that those who stayed behind were accepting Jim Crow.
what was the impact of the new deal on black Americans?
during the 30s, most black people switched from voting republican (the party that emancipated the slaves) to the democrats ( the party promising the new deal). their vote was a significant part of of the Roosevelt landslide. Roosevelt did appoint some black advisers, but he needed the support of many people who were against equal rights, so did very little to advance civil rights and often restricted the number of black workers on a project if a project done requested. despite this, he still issued executive order 8802 when the war broke out, banning racial discrimination in the army.
the new deal was supposedly colour blind, but black people were constantly moved off projects to make room for whites. social security provisions didn’t apply to farm workers and people who worked in other houses, which was a significant portion of the black population. black officials occasionally got results: the national recovery administration set the minimum wage for black and white people as the same.
what were some examples of protests against new deal discrimination?
communists were key in protecting black people from discriminatory and rulings, as the NAACP was often unwilling to take them. in 1931 the naacp turned down the case of nine young black men framed for raping two white girls on a train, communists took the case and uncovered a conspiracy and got the men acquitted. in the 30s in Birmingham Alabama, there only six black American members of the NAACP and 3000 black communists
black church organisations set up support systems for black people during the depression. there were more support in the north and in the cities because there were more churches and more people to donate their relief work
what was the impact of the Second World War?
black Americans didn’t benefit from the war induced boom, as white workers were given preference. Philip Randolph led a successful protest by railway workers, threatening a 100,000 all black march on Washington unless Roosevelt banned racial discrimination in the army
the influx of black workers into factories and the army was resented, by 1943 saw white people striking over having to work with African Americans, while racial motivated violence increased.
what impact did president Truman have?
truman supported civil rights but failed to pass his anti - lynching, init - segregation, and fair employment laws through congress. civil rights measures weren’t supported by his own party, which had many southern segregationists, and got lukewarm support from northern democrats. he focused more on the Cold War than internal issues and failed to pass any real civil rights laws. despite this, he did issue executive orders desegregating government departments.
what was the difference in between mainstream civil rights groups and black separatists?
civil rights groups sought equal representation for black people within america, such as the NAACP and the church organisations ran by MLK, but groups such as the unviversal negro improvement association ran by Marcus Garvey promoted a black - to - Africa approach. other groups like the Nation of Islam sough a nation of their own, for black people only.
what was the primary method of protest by the NAACP?
legal challenges, as their main goal was to gain African - Americans their legal rights. the NAACP took cases of segregation to court, which was difficult following the poesy v. Ferguson ruling. NAACP also provided lawyers to poor black people
what was direct action?
direct action was the process of directly obstructing segregation
influenced by the peaceful, passive resistance of Gandhi in India
deliberately challenged illegal state legislation, boycotted and did sit - ins on restaurants and buses where black people were allotted seats
CORE ( congress of racial equality ) instigated much of the sit ins and boycotts, as well as jail - ins and freedom rides
what were the rules for non - violent protests?
a set of rules were developed by the civil rights organisations, such as the NAACP, for these demonstrations. demonstrators dressed as well as they could, to look respectable. they weren’t loud or abusive. they didn’t fight black if attacked. they didn’t want the media to pick up on a black man being aggressive.
