Topic 1: Reconstruction And Race Relations Post 1877 Flashcards
(26 cards)
What dates are given to the first reconstruction?
1865-1877
What was James Pikes position in ‘The Prostrate State?’ 1874
South Carolina had mass black barbarism and this fitted with some peoples beliefs that reconstruction had caused black supremacy.
What was Claude Bowers position in the 1929 ‘The Tragic Era?’
That African Americans were above their station and that the AAs should be put in their place. Used many of Bowers arguments.
What was WEB Dubois’s position in ‘Black Reconstruction’ 1935?
Offered the alternative explanation that reconstruction was a failure and racially charged. Exposed the new and subtle ways that southerners tried to replace slavery and subjugate the African American population.
What was Kenneth Stampps position in ‘The Peculiar Institution?’ 1956
He argued against slavery being a benign and paternalistic position for blacks and that they resisted it actively. They did this through uprisings, work slowdowns, breaking of tools, theft from masters and many other means.
What did Lincoln call reconstruction?
A presidential prerogative
In what year was Lincoln assassinated and who took over from him?
1865
Andrew Johnson
How did Andrew Johnsons approach to reconstruction differ from that of Lincoln?
We will really never know because Lincoln died before being able to enact anything. However, Johnson saw USA as a white mans country that should be governed by white men.
He vetoed the civil rights bill in 1886 and objected to the 14th ammendment
What was the Friedman’s Bureau?
Set up during the civil war to help provide AAs with education, healthcare and employment assistance.
Did not survive after 1870
Did good work in the south after 1869
What were the black codes?
Big part of Johnsons reconstruction policy
Laws passed to restrict the freedoms and movement of AAs
They allowed marriage and property rights for example, but prevented them from testifying in court against whites and prevented former slaves from being integrated.
What happened when Ulysses S Grant was elected?
Won a small republican majority in 1869
Identified with the radical wing of the party
Allowed the 15th amendment to pass
How many AAs held office between 1865-1877
2000
Including Herman Revels and Blanche K Bruce (MS)
Facts about the KKK
Started in Tennesse in 1886
Inflicted violence and threats on AAs
1882-1903, 2060 AAs were lynched
1895 - 1900, average of 100 AAs were lynched each year
What was sharecropping?
A process put in place after the civil war so that AA families could rent a share of a farm and then pay the rent with the harvest
Why was sharecropping so bad for AAs?
They made no profits
In order to buy seeds, services and other things they needed it cost too much money to keep a sharecropping going
It enslaved many AAs back to their old owners and many were very badly treated during the process
What were the two ways that the south sought to keep AAs in their place?
Segregation
Racial etiquette
What was Vann Woodward’s approach to segregation in ‘The Strange Career of Jim Crow’?
That segregation was unworkable during slavery and was an invention of the reconstruction (and years that followed)
What did the Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896 decision say?
That companies were obliged to provide services for AAs but they could be separate and they must be equal.
What does Michael J Kalimantan conclude about the Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling?
That it would have made little difference to the lives of AAs as they were already being forced to subjugation through social and segregation pressures, especially in the south.
What victories did AAs have during reconstruction?
Democrats had victories in North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas - these office holders were called the redeemers
What happened during the 1877 contested election?
Hayes (r) and Tilden (d)
Tilden won the popular vote and the most electoral college votes
4 states were contested
A electoral commission gave the victory to Hayes
This brought reconstruction to an end
What was Booker T Washingtons Postition
AAs needed to be educated and develop real practical skills first
They should provide themselves in order to gain equality
Compromise over Force
What was WEB Dubois Position
That challenging racism in every form, chipping away at lawsuits and little victories would win out in the end
How did Washington and Dubois disagree?
Washington thought that AAs should work within the system, Dubois thought that the system was wrong and should be removed (Jim Crow) and al rights given without question.
