5.14 changing lives of black Americans

    Cards (17)

    • Life in the South:
      • cotton industry collapsed after Civil War
      • blacks prevented from better paid jobs
      • majority of blacks worked as sharecroppers on land owned by former slaveholders
    • Challanges in the North:
      • many black Americans left South for Northern cities
      racism meant black workers much less likely to get job than less qualified workers
    • Opportunities in the West:
      Homestead act was open to black Americans
      • formerly enslaved people encouraged to move to Kansas and claim land under the Homestead Act
      • by 1879 over 6000 black Americans had moved to Kansas
      -> know as the exodusters
    • Education:
      • in 1882, Booker T.Washington set up school to train black children to be farmers, craftsmen and house seervants
      • by 1900 there were 23,866 teachers, 417 doctors and 300 lawyers
    • What did the Jim Crow laws do?
      segregate
    • What political violence did black Americans face?
      redeemers
      Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
      lynching
    • the Redeemers:
      • Redeemer governments were governments run by ex-slaveholders that wanted to undo changes made after Civil War
      • bought in literacy tests to stop blacks from voting, introduced segregation laws and ignored violence against black Americans
    • Ku Klux Klan:
      • violent grouup that believed white were superior to black
      • banned in 1870s, secretly re-formed in 1890s
      • had influence amoung people in power, including state politicians and Southern police forces
    • Constitutional changes:
      • campaigned for better treatment due to 13th, 14th and 15th Ammendments promised equality
      south cannot enslave blacks or remove right to vote
    • What is lynching?

      hanging someone without proper trial - kept blacks in fear
    • What big businesses grew and how?
      • Cotton and tobacco - number of cotton mills in South doubled - American Tabacco Company controlled 90% of cigarette production
      • Farms and ranches - bonanza farms (farms over 10,000 acres) began to appear
      • Minerals - growth of railroads led to demands for coal, iron, steel and other minerals
    • What impact did the growth of cotton and tabacco have on people?
      • more cotton factories meant more demand for cotton
      -> picked by poorly paid blacks or sharecroppers
      • new factories mean new jobs - low paid, low skilled and usually for whites
      • due to America Tabacco Company controlling most production, no reason to improve wages for workers
    • What impact did the growth of farms and ranches have on people?
      • people who could not afford own land could get employed and save money
      • bonanza farms controlled best land, water and railroads, stopping smaller farmers from completing
      • bonanza farms sometimes used violence to intimidate small-scale ranches
      • black and minority farmers could not usually compete with bonanza farmers
    • What impact did the growth of minerals industry have on people?
      • big corporations usd power and political influence to pay workers as little as possible
      • steel workers went on strike, local militia were sent in - 6 killed
      • black and mexican workers were employed when workers on strike
      trade unions had little power - used it to prevent black and mexican workers from getting employment
      • big companies could 'blacklist' troublesome employees stopping them from getting work
    • How were cities impacted due to growth of big companies?
      • controlled local water supplies - increased power
      • cities overcrowded - 32 families in 6-8 storey tenement
      -> led to disease
      • drew people in with work, entertainment, education and freedom
    • What were the reasons for the mass migration to the USA?
      • American economy was booming by 1880s
      • travel to America was faster and cheaper - due to steam ships
      • Jewish people being persecuted in places in Russia
      • America offered freedom of religion and thought
    • What was living in America like?
      • immigrant went to cities to find work
      anti-immigrant violence was common
      • law prevented Chinese workers moving freely
      • immigrants ended up in poorest areas of cities