African Americans

• African Americans freed from slavery after the civil war, 13th Amendment gave them citizenship


  1865
• Lincoln assassinated and Johnson comes into power, introduces the Black Codes, essentially slavery in all but name
• Radical republicans impeached him and introduced radical reconstruction
• Reconstruction


  • 700,000 AAs registered to vote
  • Freedman's Bureau set up schools to educate black children and help people find work
  • Only lasted 7 years, was shut down, by 1890 65% of black kids still couldn't read while 15% of whites couldn't
  • Increased use of share cropping, peonage and convict leasing, in some ways worse than slavery
• Republicans granted AAs the right to vote in the 5th amendment mostly because of their hate of the south and party dominance amongst African Americans
• 15% of public office holders were black
• 1866 CRA gave citizenship and 1875 CRA which made utilities equal for everyone (not enforced) and overruled in 1883, deemed not constitutional + also the last CRA until 1957 (no tampering with the right to vote)
• Compromise of 1877, white people were growing tired on a disunified South and so compromised with the south to remove the military from their state (effectively allowing discrimination to continue) if they accepted republican president
• In 1873 the Slaughterhouse case affirmed state rights which gave them more power over discriminatory practices as the federal government had always been more progressive than state governments, this was affirmed in the 1875 Cruikshank vs USA that stated that the Bill of Rights did not protect against state action
• The KKK


  • Made in 1865 in backlash against the new rights that AAs were receiving
  • Had a big peak in the 1890s, fizzled out and then in the 1920s rose up again
  • Were in a lot of governments, especially at state level, being racist won you votes which is why they were so powerful
• PLESSY VS FERGUSON 1896 essentially legalised segregation after a mixed man was told to go to a different carriage in a train, spawned the Jim Crow laws, however it could be argued it wasn't that big a turning point because segregation was already so widespread e.g. Tennessee introducing segregated travel laws in 1883
• There were over 3500 lynchings between 1882-1927, it peaked in the 1890s but there were still 2 a week during the 1920s
• Ida B Wells said that 2/3 of rape and assault on a white woman by a black woman is not even alleged let alone proved
• The Tulsa Race massacre 1921 also was caused by the rage over a black male assault of a white woman, ended up in the ravaging of one of the most prosperous black communities, nicknamed the black wall street
• Poll tax, grandfather clause and literacy tests were widespread amongst states in an attempt to stop black people from voting. By 1908 basically every southern state had brought in these measures, in South Carolina 60% of the population was AA but by 1896 less than 1% could vote. The grandfather clause was outlawed in 1915 after efforts from the NAACP
• Brown vs Board of Education in 1952 marked a change in attitudes towards segregation, it also showed enforcement, especially in Little Rock 1957, Eisenhower didn't want to intervene after violence and hate came towards the little rock 9 but after international embarrassment and public pressure, he was forced to confront state and federal powers, he federalised the national guard, however governor Faubus responded by closing down all Arkansas schools. This happened later in 1963 when governor Wallace in Alabama stood in the doorway of the schoolhouse in Alabama and refused to let black students in, again the guard was federalised – segregation now, segregation forever
• Booker T Washington


  Campaigned during reconstruction and the Gilded age, he believed that complete equality for AA's was out of the question currently and that they had to make themselves economically useful to whites to achieve more rights. He pioneered education and several universities were founded for black Americans in the North like the Tuskegee Institute. He set up the National Negro Business League and met several presidents
• William B DuBois


  Helped found the NAACP in 1909 and helped it gain 42,000 members by 1917, a critic of Booker T Washington, believed capitalism was the cause of all discrimination and was sympathetic to socialist causes
• Ida B Wells


  Campaigned during the same time and contrasts Washington saying each AA should have a gun in self defence, that they should stand up and not roll over in the face of injustice
• Marcus Garvey


  Pan-Africanist/black nationalist 1890-1940s influenced black power, believed black people should return to Africa
• Martin Luther King


  • March on Washington 1963, 250,000 people
  • Birmingham - 1963, created by the SCLC to end discriminatory economic policies in Alabama
  • Selma – 1965, a march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights
  • Chicago Campaign 1966 - MLK wanted to focus more on the North and so decided to tackle housing problems and discrimination in Chicago, Illinois
• Malcolm X


  More ideas derived from Marcus Garvey, black separatist and advocate for self-defence against racist violence. Inspired the Black Panthers which formed after his death
• Bobby Seal and Huey Newton

  Led the Black Panthers which appealed to AA's which lived in the North more as they faced different problems to those in the south, mostly surrounding property discrimination, crime and police brutality. They launched more than 35 Survival Programs and provided community help, such as education, tuberculosis testing, legal aid, transportation assistance, ambulance service, and the manufacture and distribution of free shoes to poor people. Of particular note was the Free Breakfast for Children Program (begun in January 1969) that spread to every major American city with a Black Panther Party chapter. they were also famous for their 'patrol the pigs' initiative
• Roosevelt 1933-45


  Practically orchestrated the party switch for AA's who started voting democrat for the first time ever because of the policies he put in place e.g. 1941, Roosevelt established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to implement the prohibition of racial and religious discrimination in employment. The FEPC was the first national program directed against employment discrimination, and it played a major role in opening up new employment opportunities to non-white workers. During World War II, the proportion of African American men employed in manufacturing positions rose significantly. However he did discourage the NAACP from trying to pass anti-lynching legislation because it would put off southern politicians
• LBJ 1963-1965


  In an attempt to carry on Kennedy's legacy he passed the 1964 CRA which was extremely important. outlaws discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. but the difference here was that it was enforced unlike previous bills. then the Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed barriers to black enfranchisement in the South, banning poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures that effectively prevented African Americans from voting. + Great society program
• Reagan


  Opposed the 1964 civil rights act and vetoed the 1988 CR restoration act but congress overrode it – first time since Johnson
• Congress


  • Played the leading role during reconstruction, passing the 13, 14, and 15th Amendments and the 1866 and 1875 Civil Rights Acts which between them abolished slavery, gave AAs equal civil and voting rights. They also set up the Freedman's Bureau as well as kept troops in the south to enforce reconstruction. Congress also passed the CRA 1957,1960,1964 and 1968 which were introduced by the presidents at the time. Reagan unsuccessfully tried to veto the Civil rights restoration act 1988 and Bush did veto the 1990 CRA forcing a more diluted version, so their power can be capped. HOWEVER congress did not pass a single CRA 1875-1957 and rejects Truman's CRA in 1948. In the 1930s, congress also repeatedly failed to pass anti-lynching legislation. OVERALL congress has power constraints and can act half-heartedly towards civil rights. Attempted to impeach Johnson. 1988 CR restoration act showed their commitment to CR and overrode the president
• Supreme Court


  • Depends on president in power, but extremely powerful when judgements are enforced. Judgements in the 19th century undermined CR legislation of the reconstruction era and gave southern state a green light to impose segregation e.g. Plessy Vs Ferguson 1896, Slaughterhouse judgements 1873 (gave power to states)
• NAACP


  Established in 1909 by individuals like W E B DuBois and Ida B Wells. Used the courts to change the system as well as peaceful protests, successes consist of: Brown Vs Board of education, Little Rock and March on Washington
• SCLC


  Founded in 1956 after the Montgomery Bus boycott 1955-6, it was church dominated and set up to tackle racism and segregation in the south, chaired by MLK and successes consist of Albany, Birmingham, March on Washington, Selma, and March against fear
• CORE


  Founded in 1942 but became more radical under black power in 1968. Main success was the freedom rides in 1961
• SNCC


  Student dominated, founded in 1960, Stokely Carmichael was in charge of its more radical era later on
• Black Panthers


  More radical group which gained popularity in the 60s, were communist and black nationalist, set up programs like free breakfast for school children and free disease testing places in big cities