Unit 1.2 - The Quest for Civil Rights Flashcards
What was life like in the South for African Americans?
- African Americans faced legal restrictions at every turn.
- Booker T. Washington advocated the acceptance of segregation which was made popular by better-off Blacks and whites.
What was the impact of the Jim Crow Laws?
- Due to the abolition on slavery southerners felt they needed another way to assert authority over Blacks.
- By 1917 the South had a large number of ‘Jim Crow’ Laws which segregated every aspect of life.
- It was called the ‘permanent system’ or the ‘final settlement.’
- Other states also introduced discrimination against Blacks through subtler means.
What was voting like in the South?
- Voters had to pass a literacy qualification in order to vote (More often then not Blacks were given a harder test.)
- In many states voters had to be home owners: many blacks were not.
- Some states held all-white elections to select the candidates for the actual election.
- Polling stations were surrounded by whites prepared to beat up any Black voters.
- By 1917 the number of registered Black voters had dropped. In Louisiana it fell from 130,334 in 1896 to 1342 in 1904.
Lynchings?
- Some whites felt that segregation wasn’t enough and took it upon themselves to terrorise blacks into obedience.
- Between 1915 and 1930 there were lynchings of 65 white men and 579 black men.
- Southern Lynchings were often advertised beforehand.
What happened to Emmet Till?
- In 1955, 14 year old Emmet Till was lynched.
- Originally from the North, he was visiting relatives from the south and therefore didn’t understand the Jim Crow Laws.
- Lynched for conversing with a white woman allegedly asking her out on a date.
- The lynching attracted a lot of publicity and caused shock even in the South.
Who were the KKK?
- White supremacist organisation revived in 1915.
- Against any non-WASP organisation but especially Blacks.
- Members lived all over the USA.
- By 1925 it is estimated memberships are between 3-8 million.
- Members were likely to posses real political and social power.
Was there government intervention in the South?
- Black peoples fundamental loss of vote cost them their political power.
- The government hindered Black equality. Plessy v Ferguson case ruled that segregation was permitted on the premises it was ‘separate but equal.’
- ‘Separate’ was very seldom and the only way to prove ‘equality’ was to take cases to court.
What were the opinions possessed by Woodrow Wilson and Harding towards Civil Rights?
- Woodrow Wilson (Southerner) had no problem with segregation.
- Warren G. Harding spoke out against lynching and was in favour of civil rights.
Why were the Presidential opinions of Wilson and Harding ineffective?
- The republican policy of laissez-faire meant that they could express opinions to influence behaviour but wouldn’t enforce it through legislation.
What was the impact of the Depression on the focus of the Civil Rights Movement?
The Federal Goverment was so concerned with solving the economic depression that civil rights slid even further out of sight.
What was the Great Migration?
- Mass movement of about 5 million Southern Blacks to the North and West between 1915-1917.
What caused people to move away from the South?
- Discrimination.
- Jim Crow Laws.
- KKK and Lynchings.
What enticed people to the North?
- Black people were beginning to have significant political power.
- Black people were listened to.
- Powerful, business-orientated Black elite grew.
- Black people had their own tight-knit communities.
- Employment (black workers were dislodging white workers.)
What was the impact of the Great Migration on the South?
- Labour force shrank.
- Farming areas struggled to get by.
- Southerners saw the migration as a way for Blacks to ‘vote with their feet’ against the Jim Crow Laws.
- There was tendency to assume that those who stayed accepted the Jim Crow Laws.
What was the impact of the Great Migration on the North?
- Sharp rise in population.
- Black people were beginning to rise in power.
- Churches became significant bases for the organisation of civil rights protests.
- Businesses put pressure on white workers to leave.
Why was there a shift in votes from Republican to Democrat by African Americans voters during the 1930s?
- The Democrats promised a ‘New Deal’.
- The African American vote was a significant factor in the Roosevelt landslide election.
What did Roosevelt and the New Deal do for African Americans in office?
(Positives.)
- Appointed some Black advisors.
- Executive Order 8802 banned racial discrimination in the defence industry.
- Black officials in Government protested and advised. Sometimes getting results. Persuaded the National Recovery Admission (NRA) to set the minimum wage at the same rate for black and white people.
What did Roosevelt and the New Deal do for African Americans?
(Negatives.)
- Appointed some Black advisors. Was this done out of Tokenism rather than actual desire for help from the individuals.
- Roosevelt’s need to appease the majority (many of which were against the civil rights movement) hindered the movement.
- Often restricted the number of Black people on a work project if a donor required this.
- Executive Order 8802 only done out of necessity?
- Black people were constantly being moved off Projects to make room for white people.
- Social Security provisions of New Deal didn’t accommodate Black farmers or those who worked in others homes.
- The fact that government officials had to ‘protest’, Intensifies Tokenism and the fact that results were only sometimes effective. More often they were ignored.
Why did African Americans protest against the New Deal?
- Black Americans protested about their treatment during the New Deal.
- Found more support within communist and other left-wing groups rather than from Black rights organisations.
What were the benefits of Black protestors finding solidarity with left-wing and communist groups?
- Found more support than they did with Black rights organisations.
NAACP rejection of framed rape case in 1931, communist lawyers took it on instead and won. - Communists in the North demanded that relief funds should be allocated equally between Blacks and whites.
- Black press applauded these campaigns.
What were the negatives of Black protestors finding solidarity with left-wing and communist groups?
- The affiliation with Communism gave opposition to the Civil Rights another stick in which to beat the movement.
- The National Negro Congress (Black civil rights group with communist members.) ended up on the governments list of suspect organisations during the Cold War years.
What was the purpose of Church organisations?
- Established to support Blacks during Depression.
- More support in Northern cities as there were more churches and donors.
- Father Divine of the Peace Mission church group set up shops and restaurants selling products at lower rates than white-run stores.
- Housewives League coined the phrase “Don’t buy where you cant work” starting a campaign boycotting stores.
- Activism within segregation.
What was the 1935 Resettlement Act?
- Aimed to resettle low-income families and lend money where needed.
What were the limitations of the 1935 Resettlement Act?
- Only helped 3,400 farmers out of the 200,000 requiring aid.
- Things were so bad, in 1939 2 million. signed a petition asking for federal aid to help them relocate back to Africa.
What was the impact of the Second World War on the lives of African Americans?
- May 1941, A. Phillip Randolph threatened a 100,00 man strong march on Washington unless FDR banned discrimination. Was successful.
- Despite this, equality was only patchily implemented.
- As the war progressed the military and factories demanded more people, so Black Americans could push for equality.
- In 1942 only 3% of defence workers were Black. Two years later 8% were Black.
- White people began to see Black people as equals.
What was Truman’s opinion on Civil Rights?
- Truman was in support of Civil Rights.
- Proposed anti-lynching, anti-segregation and fair employment laws in 1954 but failed to push them through to congress.
- Truman was in favour of Black American’s holding on to the rights they gained during WW2.
- However his Cold War focus meant his attention was given more to fighting the war rather than for Civil Rights.
Why was it difficult to push Civil Rights measures past congress?
- Almost always blocked by Southern opposition and lukewarm Northern support.
What did Truman set up in 1946?
- The President’s Committee on Civil Rights.
What was the President’s Committee on Civil Rights?
- Called for equal opportunities in work and housing.
- Urged for strong federal support for Civil Rights.
What did Truman issue in 1948?
- Executive Order 9981
- Desegregated the military and all work done by businesses for the government.
What were the various tactics used by Black American protestors during 1917-1955?
- Non-violent protest.
- Picketing.
- Boycotting.
- Sit-ins.
These methods all drew public attention towards the reality of discrimination.
What was the NAACP membership in 1917, 1919 and 1946?
- In 1917 NAACP membership was: 9000.
- In 1919 NAACP membership was: 90,000.
- In 1946 NAACP membership was: 600,000.