1.2 : The quest for Civil Rights, 1917-80 Flashcards
(34 cards)
What did the 13th Amendment (1865) achieve?
It abolished slavery in the USA.
What did the 14th Amendment (1868) guarantee?
Citizenship and equal protection under the law for all born in the USA.
What did the 15th Amendment (1870) declare?
Voting rights could not be denied based on race.
What was the Great Migration?
The movement of over 6 million Black Americans from the rural South to Northern cities between 1916–1970.
What economic opportunity drew Black Americans to the North post-WWI?
Factory jobs offering better pay and less discrimination.
What were Jim Crow laws?
State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern USA.
Give an example of segregation under Jim Crow.
Black Americans had to use separate schools, buses, and drinking fountains.
What were voting qualifications used to exclude Black Americans?
Literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses.
What was the result of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case?
It upheld racial segregation under the doctrine “separate but equal.
What role did the Ku Klux Klan play in the South?
They used violence and intimidation to suppress Black civil rights.
What was the significance of the 1919 Chicago Race Riot?
It highlighted the North’s racial tensions despite the absence of Jim Crow laws.
Who was W.E.B. Du Bois?
A: A founder of the NAACP and key early campaigner for Black civil rights.
What was the Great Migration and when did it begin?
The movement of Black Americans from the rural South to urban North, starting around 1917, seeking better jobs and less discrimination.
Why did many Black Americans move North during WWI?
Northern factories offered jobs due to war-time labour shortages; Southern racism and violence also pushed migration.
By how much did New York’s Black population increase between 1910 and 1930?
From 91,709 in 1910 to 327,706 in 1930.
What percentage increase did Detroit see in its Black population from 1910 to 1930?
From 5,741 to 120,066 – over a 2000% increase.
What was the impact of migration on segregation?
Segregation remained in Northern cities but was not legally enforced; Black people were often concentrated in specific neighborhoods.
How did the migration affect employment for Black Americans?
It opened up industrial jobs, but they were often the lowest-paid and most dangerous roles.
What was the long-term impact of the Great Migration on urban Black communities?
It laid the foundation for politically active and economically strong Black neighborhoods, especially in cities like Chicago.
How did white workers in the North respond to the migration?
With hostility—many feared job competition and supported segregation in housing and workplaces.
What was a key consequence of increased Black populations in Northern cities?
Greater Black political influence in cities like Chicago and New York.
How did Black workers affect unionisation efforts in the North?
Employers sometimes used Black workers as strike-breakers to undermine union activity.
What was lynching?
Extrajudicial killing (often by hanging) of Black Americans, frequently as a form of racial terror.
How many Black Americans were lynched between 1915 and 1930?
579 Black Americans were lynched in this period.
