The situation for African-Americans pre-1933

Question 1

Slavery (1789-1861)

Answer 1

-no rights (including the right to vote)
-not legally classified as American citizens
-bought and sold as property (for plantation owners)
-whipping, execution and raping
-couldn’t read or write
-forced to work

Question 2

Civil War (1861-65)

Answer 2

-75,000 killed
-Lincoln declared war on the Southern slave states
-Lincoln was assassinated before the North could formally declare Victory

Question 3

Reconstruction (1865-77)

Answer 3

-amended the constitution to make slavery illegal
-met with resistance from KKK (practised racial terrorism e.g lynching)

Question 4

Jim Crow laws (1877-1917)

Answer 4

-inferior position to whites –> taught whites were chosen people and Blacks were cursed
-if laws were challenged, often met with violence
-segregationist politicians were elected, who segregated the south further
-separate but equal facilities (Plessy vs Ferguson)
-grandfather claus (restricts black votes)