Civil rights quick notes Flashcards
(43 cards)
1
Q
13th Amendment Loophole & Convict Leasing
A
- Southern states exploited the 13th Amendment’s clause allowing involuntary servitude “as punishment for a crime.”
- 90% of convict laborers were African American.
- Convict leasing was highly profitable:
Alabama started in 1874, earning $164,000 by 1890 (over 10 times more than in 1874).
By 1890, all 13 Southern states were using some form of convict leasing.
Authorities conducted targeted arrests or “sweeps” of Black men to fuel the system.
2
Q
Lynching and Racial Terror
A
- Lynching escalated during the 1880s–1890s:
- In 1892, 161 African Americans were lynched—the peak year.
- Ida B. Wells exposed that in ⅔ of lynchings, there was no allegation of rape or assault on white women.
- Lynchings occurred roughly every two days in the 1890s.
2
Q
Voting Rights Suppression
A
- Poll taxes began in Georgia (1877), Florida (1885), and Tennessee (1888).
- By 1890, states like Mississippi introduced literacy tests and poll taxes via new constitutions.
- By 1908, nearly every Southern state had legally disenfranchised African Americans.
- In South Carolina, where 60% of the population was Black, less than 1% could vote by 1896.
3
Q
Exodus and Education
A
- Poor conditions led to the Exodus of 1879, where 40,000 AAs moved to the Midwest.
- Despite adversity, African Americans built educational institutions:
In Georgia, they built 1,544 schools educating over 11,000 students.
By 1891, Black literacy had risen to 42%.
4
Q
Limited Progress & Backlash (1900–1930s)
A
- Limited Political Representation
African Americans held seats in South Carolina’s legislature until 1900 and Georgia’s until 1908, but were later excluded due to disenfranchisement laws. - Atlanta Compromise (1895)
Booker T. Washington urged vocational education and economic self-reliance in return for reduced Black demands for civil rights—but whites failed to uphold their end, maintaining violence and school underfunding. - Cultural Racism
Institutional racism was culturally enforced: white children were taught to address Black men with racial slurs instead of respectful titles.
5
Q
ND Labor Rights
A
- The 1935 Wagner Act gave industrial workers the right to unionize—but excluded agricultural and domestic workers, affecting ⅔ of Black workers.
- The CIO helped unionize 200,000 Black workers by 1940.
6
Q
ND Economic Assistance
A
New Deal programs helped many African Americans:
- Provided 1 million jobs, nearly 50,000 public housing units.
- FERA spent $4 billion on relief; by 1935, 30% of Black families received relief (compared to 10% of whites).
- WPA (1936–40) gave work to 350,000 AAs/year and employed 5,000 Black teachers, educating 250,000.
- CCC offered 200,000 jobs in conservation.
7
Q
ND Political Shifts
A
African American political allegiance shifted:
- 1932: ⅔ supported Republican Herbert Hoover.
- By 1940: 70% voted Democrat, drawn by New Deal support.
- FDR consulted a “Black Cabinet” of African American advisors.
8
Q
ND Rural Impact
A
- Black sharecroppers were hit hard and not included in Social Security.
- 200,000 sharecroppers were evicted between 1933–1940 due to economic changes and mechanization.
9
Q
Civil Rights Legal Progress (1915–1965)
Supreme Court Victories
A
- Guinn v. U.S. (1915): Struck down “grandfather clauses.”
- Smith v. Allwright (1944): Banned exclusion from primaries.
- Morgan v. Virginia (1946): Banned segregation on interstate buses.
- Brown v. Board (1954–55): Declared school segregation unconstitutional.
- Browder v. Gayle (1956): Victory for Montgomery bus boycott.
- Boynton v. Virginia (1960): Helped launch Freedom Rides.
- Loving v. Virginia (1967): Ended bans on interracial marriage.
10
Q
Freedom Summer and Voting Rights
A
- Civil Rights Act (1964) prompted push for voting rights.
- Selma Campaign (1965) + Freedom Summer (1964) pressured LBJ to pass the Voting Rights Act (1965).
11
Q
Grassroots Mobilization
A
- 85% of AAs in Montgomery boycotted buses (1955–56).
- 250,000 joined the March on Washington (1963)—organized by NAACP, SCLC, CORE, and SNCC.
- SNCC raised $1.5 million via churches and federal grants.
12
Q
Federal Government Involvement AND Black Power Initiatives
A
Federal government played a vital role:
- Eisenhower sent troops to enforce school desegregation at Little Rock.
- Civil rights victories depended on executive, judicial, and legislative cooperation.
Black Panthers:
- Opened 49 free medical clinics, including one in Illinois that treated 2,000 people in its first 2 months.
- Helped establish a “Model Police Precinct” funded with $3 million, overseen by community-elected police boards.
- 85% of AAs in Montgomery participated in the bus boycott 1955-6 & the ACLC, NAACP, CORE & SNCC combined to organise the March on Washington in 1963 which 250,000 people took part in.
12
Q
Violence as Both Barrier and Catalyst
A
KKK and white supremacist violence remained persistent:
- The 1871 KKK Act temporarily suppressed the Klan.
- Mississippi (1964) murders of three civil rights workers highlighted the risks.
- Bull Connor’s brutality in Birmingham (1963) turned public opinion in favor of civil rights.
- Violence sometimes backfired, galvanizing federal intervention or public support.
13
Q
2
Post-Civil War Exploitation & Legal Loopholes
A
- 13th Amendment loophole: Allowed involuntary servitude as punishment for crime—used to re-enslave African Americans.
- Convict leasing:
90% of convict laborers were African American.
Introduced in Alabama in 1874; by 1890 earning $164,000/year.
By 1890, all 13 Southern states had adopted convict leasing.
Police conducted targeted arrests (“sweeps”) of African American men.
14
Q
4
Violence and Lynching
A
Lynching epidemic:
- Rose in the 1880s, peaked in 1892 (161 AA victims).
- Averaged one lynching every two days in the 1890s.
- Ida B. Wells: 2/3 of lynching cases didn’t even allege rape/assault.
- Example: 3 Black men lynched in Memphis, TN in 1892.
14
Q
2
Disenfranchisement
A
- Voting restrictions:
Poll taxes: Georgia (1877), Florida (1885), Tennessee (1888).
- Literacy tests: SC, LA, MS by 1890.
Mississippi 1890 constitution combined poll tax + literacy test.
By 1908, virtually all Southern states disenfranchised African Americans.
SC: 60% Black population, but <1% could vote by 1896.
15
Q
2
Resistance & Migration
A
- Exodus of 1879: 40,000 African Americans migrated to the Midwest due to oppression.
- Black education & political presence:
AAs built 1,544 schools in Georgia (11,000+ students).
Literacy rose to 42% by 1891.
Blacks served in SC legislature until 1900, GA until 1908.
16
Q
2
Segregation & Social Degradation
A
Systemic racism:
- White children taught to use racial slurs.
- AA schools were underfunded despite the “Atlanta Compromise” (1895).
17
Q
5
New Deal Era
A
- Economic impact:
1 million jobs, 50,000 housing units for AAs.
FERA spent $4 billion; 30% of AA families on relief vs. 10% whites.
WPA (1936–40):
Employed 350,000 AAs/year.
Hired 5,000+ black teachers; 250,000 taught to read/write.
CCC: 200,000 AAs received jobs.
- Exclusion: Social Security Act and Wagner Act (1935) excluded most AAs (agriculture/domestic workers = 2/3 of Black workforce).
- Evictions: 200,000 black sharecroppers lost their land by 1940.
- Political shift: By 1940, 70% of AAs supported Democrats (vs. 2/3 supporting Hoover in 1932).
- Black Cabinet: FDR’s advisory group on African American issues.
17
Q
2
Civil Rights Activism & Legal Progress - Voting rights
A
- 15th Amendment (1870) initially passed for Republican gain.
- NAACP legal wins:
Guinn v. U.S. (1915) – grandfather clause banned.
Smith v. Allwright (1944) – primary exclusion banned.
Voting Rights Act (1965) after Selma campaign.
18
Q
4
Desegregation:
A
- Morgan v. Virginia (1946) – banned bus segregation.
- Brown v. Board (1954) – ended school segregation.
- Little Rock Nine – federal intervention to enforce desegregation.
- Enforcement slow—Deep South schools remained segregated into the 1970s.
19
Q
Civil Rights Campaigns
Violence and counter-effects:
A
- 1964 murder of 3 activists showed threats.
- KKK violence led to 1871 KKK Act.
- Police brutality in Birmingham (1963) helped MLK’s campaign succeed.
20
Q
3
Civil Rights Campaigns - Major cases
A
- Browder v. Gayle (1956) – ended Montgomery bus segregation.
- Boynton v. Virginia (1960) – helped prompt Freedom Rides.
- Loving v. Virginia (1967) – ended interracial marriage bans.
21
# 3
Civil rights campaigns - Protests
- Montgomery Bus Boycott: 85% AA participation (1955–6).
- March on Washington (1963): 250,000 participants.
- Freedom Summer (1964) and Selma (1965): focused on voting rights.
22
# 3
Community Empowerment
- Black Panthers:
49 clinics nationwide; e.g., 2,000 treated in 2 months in Illinois.
- SNCC:
Raised $1.5 million with Black churches & federal support.
- Model Police Precinct:
Community-policed initiative with $3 million in federal funds.
23
# 4
Women's Rights & Social Change: 1848 - 1992
Property & Earnings Rights:
- Seneca Falls Convention (1848): Beginning of the women's suffrage movement.
- By 1865, 29 states had passed laws protecting married women’s property rights.
- By 1887, two-thirds of states granted married women control over their earnings.
- By 1900, half of high school graduates were female.
Employment in teaching, shop work, and clerical roles expanded: 950,000 women worked in these fields by 1900.
Domestic service jobs halved from 1870-1900.
24
# 5
Social Changes and Trade Unions
- Birth rate for white women fell from 5.4 (1850) to 3.6 (1900).
- Divorce rate doubled from 1880-1900 (1 in 21 to 1 in 12).
- Over 100 female trade unions by the mid-1880s.
- Male unions unsympathetic, with only 2% female membership by 1900.
- Comstock Laws (1873): Restricted access to birth control and contraceptive info
25
# 3
Economic hardship
- Great Depression led many women to leave home for work (e.g., Stella Nowicki).
- Despite the New Deal, 42% lived at or below subsistence level.
- Women earned less than men for the same work (e.g., female teachers earned 20% less than male teachers in 1939).
26
# 4
Political Representation and World Wars
- By 1939, 9 women in federal politics, Frances Perkins as the first female Cabinet member.
- By 1940, 234 women in state legislatures.
- WWI (1 million women in industry by 1918) & WWII (5 million women worked) created job opportunities.
- Great Migration (1914-1945) helped black women move to better-paying clerical and industrial jobs.
27
# 2
The New Deal:
- 460,000 women employed in WPA programs.
- Margaret Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921.
28
# 2
Political Representation (Post-1960s):
- By 1992, 7 female state governors, 19 female mayors in the 100 biggest US cities.
- Female representation in Congress increased but remained low: 2% (1970), 6% (1992).
29
# 3
Civil Rights Movement (1960s-70s):
- Women in the Black Panther Party: 2/3 were women, though faced sexism within the organization.
- Gloria Richardson led the Cambridge Movement (1960s), using self-defense tactics.
- Ella Baker helped set up the SNCC (1960).
30
# 6
Boarding schools and tribes
- Off-reservation boarding schools were established in Virginia and Pennsylvania due to poor education quality on reservations.
- The Navajo tribe increased their land from 4 million to 10.5 million acres.
- The number of sheep and goats grew from 15,000 to 1.7 million, boosting wealth and population.
- Gladys Tantaquidgeon: Studied anthropology, worked for the Indian Bureau, promoted native arts, and supported women’s co-ops.
- 1975 Pine Ridge Reservation Shootout:
- Two FBI officers were killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
31
# 2
BPP and NA
- Native American activists participated in a “patrol the pigs” campaign, wearing red berets and jackets, to monitor police activity.
- Urbanization and Militancy: The percentage of Native Americans living in cities increased from 8% (1940) to 30% (1960). Militancy responded to urbanization and Native American struggles.
32
# 5
Suppression of NAs
- The Dawes Act led to Native Americans losing 2/3 of their land through the sale of "surplus" land.
- Only 39% of Native Americans voted for the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA).
- The buffalo population fell dramatically from 30 million in 1800 to only 18 good specimens in 1886.
- 133,417 reservation Indians were located across 20 states, occupying 78.5 million acres of land, mostly desert.
- During his presidency (1795-1849), the US territory grew by more than 1/3, extending across the continent for the first time.
33
# 5
Wages & Immigration, Industrial Growth and Labor Unions:
- Wages rose by 60% for skilled workers despite an increasing workforce due to immigration.
- American industry overtook Britain to become the world’s largest producer, increasing labor demand.
- Knights of Labour membership grew from 20,000 (1881) to 700,000 (1886) after the Wabash Railroad Strike, including African Americans and women.
- American Federation of Labour (AFL), formed in 1886, represented skilled workers and grew to 500,000 members by 1900.
- The Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO) formed in 1935, including unskilled, black, and female workers, reaching 3.7 million members.
34
# 2
The Gilded Age for workers
- Marked by growing inequality—2% of the population owned 30% of wealth. Tycoons like Carnegie and Rockefeller exploited workers.
- Mechanization increased demand for skilled labor, with unskilled workers earning 30% of skilled wages.
35
Workers’ Rights & Conditions and Union Struggles:
- Dangerous working conditions: 2,000 rail workers killed in 1889; high industrial accident rates.
- Female and ethnic minority workers were particularly mistreated.
- Defeats in strikes like the Great South West Railroad Strike and Haymarket Affair (1886) hurt union reputation.
- The Pullman Strike (1894) saw government intervention, with federal troops killing 30 strikers.
36
# 3
New Deal Era for workers
- By 1933, many major industries joined the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which supported workers’ rights to organize.
- Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) established minimum wages and banned child labor.
- Union membership grew from 3.7 million in 1933 to 9 million in 1938 due to favorable New Deal policies.
37
# 3
African American Workers and Strikes & Presidential Intervention:
- Black workers faced discrimination and low-wage jobs, with many forced into agricultural or domestic labor.
- DRUM, a Black Power group, formed at Chrysler’s Detroit factory to challenge racial inequality in union representation.
- Presidents like Hayes, Cleveland, and Reagan used federal troops or threats to break strikes, such as the Pullman Strike (1894) and PATCO Strike (1981).
38
# 3
Labor Legislation & Court Decisions and Post-War Union Decline:
- After WWII, union power declined due to the rise of white-collar jobs and decreased union membership from 27% to 15% between 1970-1992.
- The Supreme Court was hostile to workers' rights, supporting anti-union laws in cases like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1895), Lochner Case (1905), and Adair Case (1908).
- Anti-union legislation included the Taft-Hartley Act (1947) and Smith-Connally Act (1943).
38
# 4
Strikes & Violence and Discrimination:
- Memorial Day Massacre (1937) saw police kill 10 striking workers.
- Employers like Ford and “Little Steel” used violence to resist unions, with incidents like the Ford factory beating and Memorial Day Massacre.
- African Americans, mostly in agriculture/domestic work, were excluded from New Deal protections.
- The Black Power movement highlighted unemployment among black Americans, especially as factories automated.
