Thesis: The Jim Crow Era negatively impacted African Americans after the Civil War, stripping them of their rights, freedoms, and opportunities. These difficult situations led to change ultimately because leaders stood up to protest against this unfair treatment.
Black Codes created Jim Crow Laws to come about that limited African Americans rights and freedoms:
After the Civil War, white supremacy laws were laws that restricted African American rights that were caused because of Black Codes. “Immediately following the Civil War and adoption of the 13th Amendment, most states of the former Confederacy adopted Black Codes, laws modeled on former slave laws. These laws were intended to limit the new freedom of emancipated African Americans by restricting their movement and by forcing them into a labor economy based on low wages and debt” (VCU Library, 1). For example, some African Americans were arrested for minor reasons. These laws were called vagrancy laws. Any African Americans convicted for vagrancy would basically be forced back into slavery in the form of being a worker that was not paid. Black codes, such as the vagrancy laws created the way for white supremacy laws known as Jim Crow laws.
African American’s Right to Vote during the Jim Crow Era:
During the Jim Crow Era many African Americans were still not given the rights and freedoms that many fought for during the Civil War. People still found ways from stopping African Americans from totally being free. Intimidation and other types of violent actions were taken against African Americans to stop them from voting. For example, in 1870, when the Southern economy declined,“democrats took over power in Southern legislatures and used intimidation tactics to suppress black voters. Tactics included violence against blacks and those tactics continued well into the 1900s. Lynchings were a common form of terrorism practiced against blacks to intimidate them” (Howard University, 1). This reduced the number of African American voters in the South and negatively impacted their voice.
Plessy v. Ferguson and segregation/separate but equal:
Supreme Court rulings, such as Plessy v. Ferguson created rules that promoted segregation and stated as long as they were separate but equal it was okay to segregate African Americans from whites. However, many services or facilities were worse for African Americans compared to similar services or facilities that were used for whites. “The Supreme Court naively speculated in Plessy v. Ferguson that somehow mankind wouldn't show its worst nature and that segregation could occur without one side being significantly disadvantaged despite all evidence to the contrary, we can look back in hindsight and see that the Court was either foolishly optimistic or suffering from the same racism that gripped the other arms of the government at the time. In practice, the services and facilities for blacks were consistently inferior, underfunded, and more inconvenient as compared to those offered to whites - or the services and facilities did not exist at all for blacks” (Howard University, 1). Some places of segregation included: separate schools, churches, bathrooms, restaurant sections, and bus seats. Segregation was not just common law in the South, but it was also practiced in the North as well through discrimination in housing, private businesses, bank loans, and jobs. This negatively impacted African Americans' way of life; and generally provided inadequate and unfair opportunities and services for African Americans.
Ku Klux Klan’s acts of violence, and intimidation towards African Americans and other groups:
The Ku Klux Klan also terrorized the African American population again. This caused fear and uncertainty for many African Americans during this time. “In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan experienced a resurgence and spread all over the country, finding a significant popularity that has lingered to this day in the Midwest. It was claimed at the height of the second incarnation of the KKK that its membership exceeded 4 million people nationwide” (Howard University, 1). They would burn crosses in front of people’s homes to cause fear. They targeted not just African Americans, but also other groups that were not white Protestant, such as Jews or Catholics. These fears and attacks created fear for not just African Americans but anyone who wanted to help them create change and fairness in the United States during that time.
Leaders who created change and went against the segregation rules and Jim Crow Rules:
Many leaders and people fought to end segregation. Rosa Parks refused to move her seat on a bus for a white man and refused to listen to the bus driver. Therefore she was arrested. “When Parks agreed to have her case contested, it became a cause célèbre in the fight against Jim Crow laws. Her trial for this act of civil disobedience triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history, and launched Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the boycott, to the forefront of the civil rights movement that fostered peaceful protests to Jim Crow laws” (VCU Library, 1). Protest and peaceful organized fights against segregation started because of a few brave souls looking for change, fairness, and their rights. Our president at the time, John F. Kennedy even spoke up in the fight to help create more equality and fairness because of the demonstrations of these protestors. He sent a civil rights bill to Congress on June 19, 1963. It was a bill that helped protect African Americans rights where they could shop, eat and go to school. It also addressed voting rights. Change occurred because people spoke up and made change as it was necessary to become one more step closer to fairness, freedom, and equality.
Work Cited:
Howard University, School of Law. “HUSL Library: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Jim Crow Era.” Jim Crow Era - A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States - HUSL Library at Howard University School of Law, 6 Jan. 2023, library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/jimcrow.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries. Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation.” Social Welfare History Project, 12 September 2023, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/civil-war-reconstruction/jim-crow-laws-andracial-segregation/.
Black Codes created Jim Crow Laws to come about that limited African Americans rights and freedoms:
After the Civil War, white supremacy laws were laws that restricted African American rights that were caused because of Black Codes. “Immediately following the Civil War and adoption of the 13th Amendment, most states of the former Confederacy adopted Black Codes, laws modeled on former slave laws. These laws were intended to limit the new freedom of emancipated African Americans by restricting their movement and by forcing them into a labor economy based on low wages and debt” (VCU Library, 1). For example, some African Americans were arrested for minor reasons. These laws were called vagrancy laws. Any African Americans convicted for vagrancy would basically be forced back into slavery in the form of being a worker that was not paid. Black codes, such as the vagrancy laws created the way for white supremacy laws known as Jim Crow laws.
African American’s Right to Vote during the Jim Crow Era:
During the Jim Crow Era many African Americans were still not given the rights and freedoms that many fought for during the Civil War. People still found ways from stopping African Americans from totally being free. Intimidation and other types of violent actions were taken against African Americans to stop them from voting. For example, in 1870, when the Southern economy declined,“democrats took over power in Southern legislatures and used intimidation tactics to suppress black voters. Tactics included violence against blacks and those tactics continued well into the 1900s. Lynchings were a common form of terrorism practiced against blacks to intimidate them” (Howard University, 1). This reduced the number of African American voters in the South and negatively impacted their voice.
Plessy v. Ferguson and segregation/separate but equal:
Supreme Court rulings, such as Plessy v. Ferguson created rules that promoted segregation and stated as long as they were separate but equal it was okay to segregate African Americans from whites. However, many services or facilities were worse for African Americans compared to similar services or facilities that were used for whites. “The Supreme Court naively speculated in Plessy v. Ferguson that somehow mankind wouldn't show its worst nature and that segregation could occur without one side being significantly disadvantaged despite all evidence to the contrary, we can look back in hindsight and see that the Court was either foolishly optimistic or suffering from the same racism that gripped the other arms of the government at the time. In practice, the services and facilities for blacks were consistently inferior, underfunded, and more inconvenient as compared to those offered to whites - or the services and facilities did not exist at all for blacks” (Howard University, 1). Some places of segregation included: separate schools, churches, bathrooms, restaurant sections, and bus seats. Segregation was not just common law in the South, but it was also practiced in the North as well through discrimination in housing, private businesses, bank loans, and jobs. This negatively impacted African Americans' way of life; and generally provided inadequate and unfair opportunities and services for African Americans.
Ku Klux Klan’s acts of violence, and intimidation towards African Americans and other groups:
The Ku Klux Klan also terrorized the African American population again. This caused fear and uncertainty for many African Americans during this time. “In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan experienced a resurgence and spread all over the country, finding a significant popularity that has lingered to this day in the Midwest. It was claimed at the height of the second incarnation of the KKK that its membership exceeded 4 million people nationwide” (Howard University, 1). They would burn crosses in front of people’s homes to cause fear. They targeted not just African Americans, but also other groups that were not white Protestant, such as Jews or Catholics. These fears and attacks created fear for not just African Americans but anyone who wanted to help them create change and fairness in the United States during that time.
Leaders who created change and went against the segregation rules and Jim Crow Rules:
Many leaders and people fought to end segregation. Rosa Parks refused to move her seat on a bus for a white man and refused to listen to the bus driver. Therefore she was arrested. “When Parks agreed to have her case contested, it became a cause célèbre in the fight against Jim Crow laws. Her trial for this act of civil disobedience triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history, and launched Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the boycott, to the forefront of the civil rights movement that fostered peaceful protests to Jim Crow laws” (VCU Library, 1). Protest and peaceful organized fights against segregation started because of a few brave souls looking for change, fairness, and their rights. Our president at the time, John F. Kennedy even spoke up in the fight to help create more equality and fairness because of the demonstrations of these protestors. He sent a civil rights bill to Congress on June 19, 1963. It was a bill that helped protect African Americans rights where they could shop, eat and go to school. It also addressed voting rights. Change occurred because people spoke up and made change as it was necessary to become one more step closer to fairness, freedom, and equality.
Work Cited:
Howard University, School of Law. “HUSL Library: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Jim Crow Era.” Jim Crow Era - A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States - HUSL Library at Howard University School of Law, 6 Jan. 2023, library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/jimcrow.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries. Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation.” Social Welfare History Project, 12 September 2023, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/civil-war-reconstruction/jim-crow-laws-andracial-segregation/.