African Americans Flashcards
Début de l’esclavage
Beginning of the 17th century in Virginia. Land owners realized that slaves was a cheaper labour source. They worked mainly on tobacco and cotton.
Nombre d’esclaves à la fin de l’esclavage
4M
End of slavery
After the American Revolution, many colonists—particularly in the North, where slavery was relatively unimportant to the agricultural—began to link the oppression of slaves to their own oppression by the British. But the new U.S. Constitution acknowledged slavery.
By 1804, all the northern states had abolished slavery but remained in the south.
Explain the cotton slavery business
In the late 18th century, with the land used to grow tobacco nearly exhausted, the South faced an economic crisis. The demand for cotton increased in England and a man invented the cotton gin, a device that easily removed seeds. The South became a land of cotton farming.
Life of slaves
About 1/3 of the southern population. They were prohibited from learning to read and write, and their behavior and movement was restricted. They could be brutally punished or used for sex. They were divided through precise hierarchy amongst them. Their families could be separated by the master as their marriage had no legal basis.
Slave rebellions
There was several in the 19th but few were successful. In 1831, a rebellion led to the death of 60 whites before the arrival of the state militia. It was then used to légitime the idea of barbarians. The slave code restrictions were then enforced.
Civil war
1861-1865. North and South both had slaves but the whole economy of the South depended on them, abolishment was not an option. They had 4 billion invested in slaves. Mais une fois la guerre gagnée par le nord et l’esclavage aboli (13e amendement), le sud a perpétué la discrimination sur les anciens esclaves.
Harper’s weekly
Mid 19th, a newspaper targeting middle class through political cartoon. It distinguished from other cartoons with realistic drawings rather than sensationalism. They were in favor of abolitionism.
What is a political cartoon?
A political cartoon is the comment of the news so as to create a reaction among readers. This form of humorous illustration succeeded the caricature in the mid 19th.
Civil rights movement
1865, end of slavery but no equal rights.They couldn’t vote and even the Supreme Court voted at the end of the 19th to maintain segregation depending on the state. Many applied Jim Crow laws, blacks were second class citizens. In 1909, the first movement is the NAACP. But the KKK expanded. In te 50’s and 60’s, diversity started appearing in school and universities.
In the 50’s rose the blank panther movement, following the ideas of Malcom X who advertised for militancy.
The movement was supported in the 60’s by JFK, he proposed a civil rights bill that passed in 1964 with the help of MLK influence. But this led to racial motivated riots for several years. MLK, Malcom X and Robert Kennedy were killed.
