The lives of African Americans 1877-1890

Question 1

Overall problem in the 1870s

Answer 1

1) Poverty was still the norm for the majority of AA
2) The development of institutionalised segregation in the South ensured that civil rights were reduced rather than increased

Question 2

Migration and work for AA

• Impact of emancipation

Answer 2

Emancipation gave AA the freedom to move to another plantation or another region.

Question 3

Migration and work for AA

• Facts

Answer 3

The majority of AA remained in the South, with substantial numbers moving within the region.

Question 4

Where did AA find employment

Answer 4

AA generally went south and west from the border states, seeking higher income jobs.
They found employment in farming and building railroads

Question 5

Progress in farming

Answer 5

There was a slow movement towards more landownership among AA.
By 1910, 25% of black farmers owned their land and their standard of living was rising.

Question 6

The effects of northwards migration

Answer 6

It intensified Northern white American awareness of and negative reactions to African Americans.

Question 7

Negative treatments during the northwards migration

Name 2 points

Answer 7

1) The first black ghetto began to develop in the 1880s

2) AA were frequently barred from trade unions and returned from work to poor quality housing

Question 8

Stagnating progress in the North

Answer 8

AA’s life did not significantly improve due to low level of education and effective confinement to specific areas

Question 9

Progress in the North

Answer 9

There was the greater possibility of the franchise in the North and a strong black culture was developing

Question 10

Segregation in the South

Answer 10

It was developing before the end of Reconstruction in 1877

Question 11

Jim Crow laws in the South

Answer 11

Jim Crow laws developed rapidly between 1887 and 1891, when 8 states introduced formal segregation, 3 of them extending this to waiting room facilities.

Question 12

Jim Crow laws in the North

Answer 12

By 1895, 17 states had civil rights legislation on their books.

Question 13

How had the fifteenth amendment of 1870 led to the loss of franchise?

Answer 13

The fifteenth amendment had not outlawed discrimination because of gender or property ownership.

Question 14

The reason for the loss of franchise after the Reconstruction

Answer 14

1) White Americans in the South were determined to limit the political rights of AA.
2) Cleveland was disinclined for black equaity

Question 15

The loss of franchise after the Reconstruction

• Facts

Answer 15

By 1910, the near elimination of the AA vote was completed in the South.

Question 16

Education for AA during the Gilded Age

Answer 16

The Congress rejected an education bill that would have provided millions of dollars to southern black and white schools.

Question 17

Difficulties for AA in education during 1870s

Answer 17

White schools had much longer terms and better financing. State subsidies for AA schools were small and parents often had to make up the difference

Question 18

Progression in education in the North

Answer 18

By the 1890s, segregated schools were slowly disappearing, most high school accepted black applicants and colleges and universities admitted small numbers of AA.