Segregation in the South

Race Relations in Post-Reconstruction America

Reconstruction 1865-1877

Federal government actively supports African American rights

Civil Rights Act of 1866-citizenship for African Americans

14th Amendment to the Constitution Civil Rights Act of 1871 AKA Force Act

“Ku Klux Klan” Act Dismantles KKK-wouldn’t reorganize until 1915

Civil Rights Act of 1875-makes segregation illegal No “whites only” signs or “no blacks need apply”

Post- ReconstructionAfter 1877…

Establishment of Jim Crow laws Designed to prevent African American vote,

among other rights Segregation in public places Barred from sporting events (professional

baseball, Kentucky Derby, etc.) Lynchings become tactic of terror

Sharecropping

For many African Americans, life in the post-Reconstruction South was not much better than slavery.

Many freedmen were SHARECROPPERS – farmers who “borrowed” land and were technically free, but they were so far in debt to their landowners that they could never leave.

Exodusters

Some African American farmers move to Kansas in search of a better life. They became known as Exodusters.

The Great Migration African Americans tired of living in the

“Sharecropping South” will pick up their families and move north to the Industrial Cities.

This move will mainly be in search of better economic opportunities.

They were also hoping for a life free of racism but the North wasn’t free from prejudice either.

Denying African Americans the Right to Vote

3 ways that states got around the 15th Amendment: Poll Tax – Voters had to pay $2 to vote. You

would have to pay back taxes to vote in any election.

Literacy test – Required prospective voters to read and interpret a piece of the State Constitution.

Grandfather clause – You could vote only if your grandfather could vote in 1865

Segregation and Jim Crow

Segregation – the separation of races in public facilities.

Jim Crow laws – Laws that enforced segregation.

(Named after a minstrel show character)

De Jure Segregation

De facto Segregation• Private citizens enforcing

segregation practices within their communities

• Segregation imposed by Law.

Segregation in the United States

Plessy v. Ferguson

1892 – A man named Homer Plessy buys a ticket for a “whites-only” train car in Louisiana.

When Plessy is told he cannot ride, he takes the case to court, saying it violated the 14th Amendment.

In 1896, the Supreme Court went against Plessy, saying that Jim Crow laws were okay as long as facilities were “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL.”

Brown v Board of Education

In 1954, the Supreme Court over turned the “Separate but Equal” ruling from Plessy v Ferguson which had made segregation legal in 1896.

In Brown v Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, the supreme court ruled that it was illegal to have separate facilities based on race, thus making segregation illegal.

The Constitution as a Living Document

The Constitution is a living document because it as society changes, we can reinterpret it based on our new values.

How is the Brown v Board of Education ruling an example of the Constitution as a “Living Document?”

Can you think of any other examples of where the Constitution is shown to be a living document?

Lynchings

By the 1890s, LYNCHINGS were growing increasingly common in the South.

LYNCHINGS are executions without proper court proceedings.

African Americans attempt to respond to the lynchings and Jim Crow laws in various ways.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett Who? Ida B. Wells What? Journalist that crusaded against lynching in the South When? 1892 Where? Memphis/ Holly Springs, MS

How? Used the newspaper to write about evils of lynching and made

it a public issue So What? Brought the issue to light, and helped reduce lynchings in the

beginnings of the 1900s.

Booker T. Washington Who? Booker T. Washington What? Educator/ African American leader When? 1895 Where? The South

How? Opened schools such as the Tuskegee Institute, gave the

“Atlanta Compromise” speech. So What? BTW said African Americans should focus on economic goals,

not legal or political ones. Said African Americans should learn trades instead of fighting for civil rights

W. E. B. DuBois

Who? DuBois What? Author, African American leader When? 1903 Where? America

How? Writes The Souls of Black Folk So What? Disagreed with Washington. Thought liberal arts education

was the key to success. Believed that the “talented tenth” should be educated to be black leaders of tomorrow.

Washington vs. DuBois

Washington wanted: Job training Postpone civil rights Said blacks and whites

could be “separate as fingers”

Thought if you could change your economic situation then you will be free.

W. E. B. DuBois wanted:

Liberal arts education Push for Civil Rights The “talented tenth” to

be educated so they could be leaders.

Thought Washington was trying to appease whites rather than challenge them.