African Americans Flashcards
(101 cards)
when was the period of the gilded age?
1875-1896
when was the period of empire, reform and war?
1896-1920
when was the period of reform and reaction with Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon?
1960-1974
what is the difference between republicans and democrats?
republicans: wealthier backgrounds, rural, belief in individualism, lower tax rates
democrats: more average background, urban with modest income, belief in greater support, if higher taxes- more for the wealthy
When was the 13th amendment passed and what did it do?
1865
abolished slavery everywhere and gave Congress power to enforce this through legislation
When was the Freedman’s Bureau set up and what was it?
1865
a federal agency which lasted for four years and supplied food, medical services and schools to freedmen, and negotiated work between them and their former masters
an example of social welfare
it’s 900 agents were subject to intimidation and violence from hostile white southerners
When was the first Civil Rights Act passed?
1866
It was passed as a result of the black codes of southern states and it granted citizenship to anyone born in the USA (but not Native Americans)
When was the 14th Amendment passed and what did it do?
It was a four part amendment which confirmed the rights to citizenship, and essentially forbade states from depriving anyone of life, property and liberty without due process of the law and forbade states from denying citizens the equal protection of the law
Passed in 1868
When does Andrew Johnson become president and what years was his presidency?
1865-1869
Who takes over from Andrew Johnson and how long was his presidency?
Ulysses S Grant (republican)
1869-1877
When was the 15th amendment passed and what did it do?
1870
forbade states from denying anyone the right to vote on account of race, colour or previous condition of servitude but left states free to restrict suffrage on other grounds such as illiteracy or poverty
When were the Enforcement Acts and the Ku Klux Klan Act passed?
1870-1871
They were passed in response to increased violence in the South against freedmen
it became a federal criminal offence for an individual to restrict the civil and political rights of others
What did the 1875 Civil Rights Act do?
it was a law that guaranteed black Americans equal accommodation in public places but this lacked enforcement
What was the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862?
Essentially freed the slaves nd it was used in the armed forces to free them to the union
attitudes to black people are suggested to be entitled to equality
What was Johnson’s plan?
to readmit and rebuild the Confederate state (southern states who rebelled against the North) and help African Americans integrate into society
This was without the involvement of Congress (hence presidential reconstruction)
Johnson announced his plans to immediately bring the Confederate states back into the union
All southerners prepared to swear an oath of allegiance in order to receive amnesty
all required to ratify the 13th amendment
all property bar slaves was to be returned
civil and military leaders not pardoned
slaves were given land under Special Field Order 15 ‘40 acres and a mule’
What was the reality of Johnson’s plan?
he appointed advisors who were unsympathetic to Black Civil Rights and thus 13,000 Southern rebels were pardoned which is far more than suggested
He failed to enforce ratification of the 13th amendment
Special Field Order 15 land was revoked as rebels pardoned
Freedman’s Bureau very limited- 1 agent per 10,000-20,000 men
Disease- smallpox, cholera etc
What did the Southern states do as a result of Johnson’s plan?
almost all refused to ratify the 13th amendment and refused to give the vote to at least a proportion of the freed slaves as requested
rife violence and murder (100 blacks killed in Texas between 1865-1868)
many introduced black codes
Allowed African Americans to own property, draw up contacts, sue, attend school and marry but forbade voting, serving on a jury, giving evidence against a white person, marrying a white
when did radical republicans take control of congress and what was this known as?
1867
this was two years after the introduction of Reconstruction and this allowed the 14th and 15th amendments to be ratified
it was known as ‘Congressional Reconstruction’
Radical republicans had hoped that Johnson would secure the African American vote and deliver the American dream for all- but he did not. From this point onwards he lost the support of his party and Congress
Why did Presidential Reconstruction fail?
Johnson simply hoped to return to a state of affairs pre civil war just minus slavery and with a limited commitment to securing African American rights
When was the period of hope?
1867-1877
this was a flurry of political activity- between 1865-1875 1465 blacks held office and 930 of them were literate
Black codes were largely nullified by military commanders (Civil Rights Act 1866)
period was initially full of hope, progress and success despite the fact that there was a clear lack of full integration
By the mid 1970’s:
many black sharecroppers were controlled by white landowners
industrial employment discouraged by whites fearing for their jobs
Freedman’s Bureau closed in 1872 (real fear of violence becomes evident)
contrast between de jure (law) and de facto (real) rights became clear
segregation was common but not formalised until later (Jim Crow)
What was the Slaughterhouse Case of 1873?
a case of a meat monopoly
the federal supreme court decided that the right of citizens should stay under state rather than federal control
it ruled that the 14th amendment to the constitution protected a persons individual rights but not there state civil rights
this sets a precedent- believing that state rights are more important than federal rights
discrimination is now legally acceptable
How did some states try to get around the 15th Amendment?
had state voting laws: for example in Mississippi in 1890, voters had to take literacy tests, in Georgia in 1877, voters had to pay $2 in poll tax to vote (many blacks could not afford this)
George Henry White of North Carolina was the last black congressmen elected from the south in the 19th century and no blacks served in congress for another 28 years .
South Carolina 1880 election - 70% of eligible blacks voted, and in 1896, only 11%
What were Jim Crow laws?
a series of state laws in the southern and border states to be put into place between 1887 and 1891
it started with 8 southern states but escalated further
it started with trains and 3 states extended this to waiting rooms
after 1891 segregation was extended to cover public places of all kinds
This was deemed constitutional in 1896 by the Supreme Court in the Plessy vs Ferguson case with its ‘separate but equal’ ruling
what is meant by the term the talented tenth?
W.E.B Du Boi publicised this in 1903, that African Americans would be led by an elite of well educated men drawn from the highest ability 10 per cent