African Americans in the Segregated South: Loss of Voting Rights and Jim Crow Laws, Lecture notes of Political Science

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African Americans in the

Segregated South

Mr. McAtee

Iroquois High School, Elma, NY

APUSH - March 2015

End of Reconstruction- The North withdrew troops that had been protecting the freedman Southern Democrats worked to retake control of state govts State laws passed to restrict the votes of freed black men Segregation [Jim Crow] laws were enacted to separate white and blacks

How did Blacks Loose the Right to Vote?

How did Blacks Loose the Right to Vote? Violence and/or threats of violence against those who attempted to vote Literacy Tests - Prove that you can read, write, and understand the Constitution Poll Taxes - Pay a fee (tax) to vote These laws applied to all voters. However, “ Grandfather Clauses ” allowed whites to skirt the laws - they were allowed to vote if their grandfather could vote before 1870

Jim Crow Laws Separate Whites and Blacks Segregation was an all- encompassing system of white supremacy over blacks Disenfranchisement Separation in public places Blacks expected to show deference to whites (Example - step off sidewalk to allow whites to pass)

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) In 1892, Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting on a “white only” train car in New Orleans Plessy argued that his arrest violated the “Equal Protection” clause of the 14th Amendment Court rejected Plessy’s argument. Separate but equal doctrine

Booker T. Washington Established the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881 as an industrial and agricultural school for African Americans Born a slave in 1854 Died in 1915 Preached the virtues of hard work, moderation and economic self-help Earning money was like having a little green ballot that would empower African Americans more than a political ballot

Washington’s Atlanta Exposition Speech - 1895

The opportunity to earn a dollar in a

factory just now is worth infinitely more

than the opportunity to spend a dollar in

an opera house

In all things purely social we can be as

separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand

in all things essential to mutual progress

Some African Americans, such as W.E.B. DuBois, began to criticize Washington for being too willing to accept discrimination.

W.E.B. DuBois Born in Massachusetts, 1868 Died in 1963 First African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard (1895 - Sociology) He became one of the leaders of the Niagara Movement - which wanted equal rights for blacks Opposed Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” One of the founders of the NAACP in 1909 “Talented Tenth” to develop new strategies to gain rights for black citizens