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Effects of Segregation
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After the slaves were freed in 1865, African Americans were
hopeful that their lives would improve. The federal government
gave them new rights, and they received medicine, education,
and financial assistance. Despite the fact that African Americans
had legally gained new rights, they faced widespread
discrimination and segregation and were often denied their
promised rights and privileges.
Fighting Reconstruction Laws
After the Civil War, the South had to free the African Americans from slavery.
New laws passed during the Reconstruction era started to give African Americans
rights and privileges. Some white people, particularly in the South, were opposed
to extending new rights to African Americans and fought to keep them from being
treated as equal citizens.
Black Codes
Black codes were a series of laws passed by ex-Confederate states following the
Civil War that restricted the rights of African Americans living in the South.
These codes included segregation in public spaces and restrictions on the rights
of African Americans. These included the rights to be free laborers, to own land
and homes, and to testify in court. An African American traveling without a
permit, owning a firearm, or being seen out on the streets after sunset could be
punished by law.
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow laws required racial separation in public places such as restrooms,
schools, and parks, and in public transportation. The Jim Crow laws were upheld
in the Supreme Court decision in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896.
Plessy v. Ferguson
In the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
segregation in public places that was "separate but equal" was legal. It was not
until 1954 that this policy was declared unconstitutional.
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was organized in 1866 by a group of white Southerners
who were opposed to Reconstruction. The organizers of the KKK were
proponents of white supremacy who had been opposed the abolition of slavery
and the new rights extended to African Americans. Members of the KKK
threatened African Americans with violence to keep them from voting and also
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threatened any whites who supported rights for the freed slaves. Many people
were hanged by angry mobs as a result, a form of violence known as lynching.
Fighting the Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution gave African Americans the right
to vote. At first it seemed to be a great accomplishment for African Americans.
However, white supremacists, especially in the South, came up with ways to keep
African Americans out of the voting booths. The act of preventing a group of
people from voting is called disenfranchisement. During the Jim Crow Era,
there were numerous instances in which whites in government passed laws that
prevented African Americans from voting. African Americans were prevented from
voting by:
Poll Taxes
Voters were required to pay money before voting. It was a fee many African
Americans could not afford.
Literacy Tests
Voters were required to prove they could read. Without an education, most
African Americans could not read.
Grandfather Clauses
Voters could vote if their ancestors were able to vote in 1867. African Americans
were not allowed to vote in 1867. The grandfather clause was adopted by
several states because the poll tax and literacy test kept some poor, uneducated
whites from voting. The grandfather clause allowed whites to vote while
preventing African Americans from being able to vote.
Moving North
A group of African Americans fled from the South to Kansas in 1879 and 1880.
These people were known as Exodusters. In Kansas, there was a large amount
of land that was available at low prices. Many African Americans felt they would
have more freedom there than in the South because Kansas had been a free state
all throughout the Civil War. The movement was not an organized migration, but it
did have some important leaders. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton was a major
promoter of migration out of the South to Kansas.
In the 1900s, a large number of African Americans moved to the North in the
Great Migration. They hoped to escape the problems of the South. The move
helped many, but it was not the solution to the problem. Though they mainly lived
without fear for their lives, they mostly lived in poverty in urban ghettos. Racial
tensions grew as more African Americans filled factory and labor jobs. Race riots
broke out, and the Ku Klux Klan followed the African Americans to the North.
Discrimination was no longer just a Southern issue. Civil rights were threatened all
across the United States.
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