, Background
31st Jan 1865 – 13th Amendment – led to abolition of slavery
9th July 1868 – 14th Amendment – meant all people born in USA or nat
were now US citizens
3rd Feb 1870 – 15th Amendment – declared all US citizens must have th
voting rights
By 1900:
§ 90% of black Americans lived in the south
§ Nearly all black people were sharecroppers who were kept in poverty
high rents
§ Less than 1% of black children attended school
§ Only 5% of eligible black people voted
, Black American civil rights, 1917-55
Booker T. Washington – famous black American who advocated accepting segregation. He ha
following of middle-class black Americans and by white people who feared black people gain
equality.
Jim Crow laws – Jim Crow laws were laws on segregation introduced to give white southerne
of control after the abolition of slavery. Schools, workplaces, public transport etc were segreg
Voters had to pass literacy qualifications to vote and black people were given more difficult p
read. Some polling stations would be surrounded by white people waiting to beat up black pe
tried to vote. This led to the number of black Americans registered to vote dropping consider
Lynching & the KKK – Some white people believed that black people needed scaring into obe
and did this by hanging or burning alive black men. Southern lynchings were advised beforeh
that people could watch. The KKK was a white supremacist group that were against most ant
groups but especially black people. In the south members included politicians, army member
policemen.
Limited federal government intervention – Black people lost political power as they lost the
to vote. The federal government also hindered black equality as the Supreme Court ruled tha
segregation was constitutional. Harding and Coolidge were committed to a policy of laissez-fa
did not intervene. When the depression hit, the federal government became more focused o
economy than civil rights.
31st Jan 1865 – 13th Amendment – led to abolition of slavery
9th July 1868 – 14th Amendment – meant all people born in USA or nat
were now US citizens
3rd Feb 1870 – 15th Amendment – declared all US citizens must have th
voting rights
By 1900:
§ 90% of black Americans lived in the south
§ Nearly all black people were sharecroppers who were kept in poverty
high rents
§ Less than 1% of black children attended school
§ Only 5% of eligible black people voted
, Black American civil rights, 1917-55
Booker T. Washington – famous black American who advocated accepting segregation. He ha
following of middle-class black Americans and by white people who feared black people gain
equality.
Jim Crow laws – Jim Crow laws were laws on segregation introduced to give white southerne
of control after the abolition of slavery. Schools, workplaces, public transport etc were segreg
Voters had to pass literacy qualifications to vote and black people were given more difficult p
read. Some polling stations would be surrounded by white people waiting to beat up black pe
tried to vote. This led to the number of black Americans registered to vote dropping consider
Lynching & the KKK – Some white people believed that black people needed scaring into obe
and did this by hanging or burning alive black men. Southern lynchings were advised beforeh
that people could watch. The KKK was a white supremacist group that were against most ant
groups but especially black people. In the south members included politicians, army member
policemen.
Limited federal government intervention – Black people lost political power as they lost the
to vote. The federal government also hindered black equality as the Supreme Court ruled tha
segregation was constitutional. Harding and Coolidge were committed to a policy of laissez-fa
did not intervene. When the depression hit, the federal government became more focused o
economy than civil rights.
