Key themes and facts

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954

1. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was a denial of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed in the 14th Amendment 2. The Supreme Court decision directly contradicted the legal principle of "separate but equal" established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 3. As a result of its victory in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the NAACP continued to base its court suits on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment

The Compromise of 1877

1. The compromise called for the removal of all federal troops from the South 2. It supported internal improvements in the South 3. It promised there would be at least one Southerner in the Cabinet 4. It gave conservative Southern Democrats some control over local patronage 5. It gave the South a "free hand" in race relations. As a result, White conservatives returned to power, lynchings increased, and Black voters were disenfranchised

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896

1. The decision upheld segregated railroad facilities 2. The Supreme Court decision sanctioned "separate but equal" public facilities for African Americans

The positions of the republicans and democrats on slavery

1. The democratic Party was divided on the issue of expanding slavery into the territories 2. The Republican Party opposed the extension of slavery into the territories. However, the Republicans acknowledged that slavery should be protected in the states where it already existed

King Cotton

1. The following factors contributed to making cotton the South's most important cash crop: -The invention of the cotton gin made it possible and profitable to harvest short-staple cotton Rich new farmland in the Deep South was opened to the cultivation of cotton. By 1850, the geographic center of slavery was moving southward and westward -The rise of textile manufacturing in England created enormous demand for cotton

Free African Americans

1. The following factors contributed to the growth of the free African American population: -The gradual emancipation laws of individual states -Manumission granted for Revolutionary War service -Manumission granted by slaveholders' wills -Natural increase among free African Americans

American Colonization Society

1. The growth of the American Colonization Society was the return of freed slaves to Africa 2. The leaders of the American Colonization Society were middle class men and women

Sharecroppers

1. The majority of freedmen entered sharecropping arrangements with former masters and other nearby planters 2. Sharecropping and the crop lien system led to a cycle of debt and depression for Southern tenant farmers 3. The freedmen did not receive 40 acres each

Ostend Manifesto, 1854

1. The manifesto was a proposal to seize Cuba by force 2. Enraged antislavery Northerners prevented it from being implemented

The beginning of slavery

1. The profitable cultivation of tobacco required inexpensive labor 2. Slave labor in colonial Virginia and Maryland spread rapidly in the last quarter of the 17th century, as Blacks displaced White indentured servants in the tobacco fields.

Bacon's rebellion, 1676

1. The rebellion exposed tensions between backcountry farmers an the tidewater gentry 2. The rebellion prompted the tidewater gentry to reevaluate their commitment to the system of indentured servants

The Second Great Awakening

1. The religious spirit of the Second Great Awakening increased public awareness of the moral outrages perpetuated by slavery 2. The Second Great awakening contributed to the growth of the abolitionist movement

The Stono rebellion

1. The stono rebellion was one of the earliest known acts of rebellion against slavery in America. 2. It was organized and led by slaves living south of Charleston, South Carolina. The slaves tried unsuccessfully to flee to Spanish Florida, where they hoped to gain their freedom.

The Haitian slave rebellion

1. This rebellion fot he 1790's prompted an increased fear of slave revolts in the South. 2. The rebellion was led by Toussaint L'Ouverture.

The Dred Scott Decision, 1857

1. The Supreme Court ruled that Black people were not citizens of the US and therefore could not petition the Court 2. The Dred Scott decision established the principle that national legislation could not limit the spread of slavery into the territories 3. By stating that Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories, the Dred Scott decision repealed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 4. The Dred Scott decision became a contentious issue during the Lincoln-Douglas debates

The Harlem Renaissance

1. It thrived during the 1920s 2. It was an outpouring of Black artistic and literary creativity 3. Harlem Renaissance writers and artists expressed pride in their African American culture 4. Key figures in the Harlem Renaissance included James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Josephine Baker

Malcom X

1. Malcom X and Stokely Carmichael opposed Dr. King's strategy of nonviolent demonstration 2. He was a key leader of the Black Muslims

Black leaders who favored separatism

1. Marcus garvey-The Back-to-Africa Movement 2. Elijah Muhammad-The Black Muslim Movement 3. Stokey Carmichael-The Black Power Movement 4. Huey Newton-The Black Panther Movement

The New Deal

1. New Deal program did help African Americans survive the Great Depression 2. The New Deal did not directly confront racial segregation and injustice. As a result, there was no major action on civil rights

Texas

1. President Jackson resisted the admission of Texas into the Union in 1836, primarily because he feared that the debate over the admission of Texas would ignite controversy over slavery 2. Following a joint resolution of Congress, Texas joined the Union in December 1845

The Birth of a Nation and the KKK

1. The Ku Klux Klan first emerged during Radical Reconstruction (1865-1877) 2.D. W. Griffith's epic film The Birth of a Nation (1915) became controversial because of its depiction of KKK activities as heroic and commendable 3. The Birth of a Nation played a role in the resurgence of the KKK during the Progressive Era 4. The KKK favored White supremacy and immigration restriction

The NAACP

1. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rejected Booker T. Washington's gradualism and separatism 2. The NAACP focused on using the courts to achieve equality and justice

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787

1. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 excluded slavery north of the Ohio river. 2. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was the first national document containing a prohibition of slavery.

World War I

1. African Americans fought in strictly segregated units, usually under the command of White officers 2. The first massive migration of Black Americans from the South occurred during and immediately after WWI

The Constitution

1. As written in 1787, the U.S. Constitution explicitly guaranteed the legality of slavery in every state. 2. The 3/5's Compromis was an agreement between the South and North states. Under the terms of this compromise, 3/5's of the population of slaves would be counted for enumeration purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives. 3. The Fourteenth Amendment invalidated the 3/5's Compromise. The amendment specifically states, "Representatives shall be apportioned... counting the whole number of persons in each state."

Black Codes

1. Black Codes were intended to place limits on the socioeconomic opportunities and freedoms open to Black people 2. Black Codes forced Black Americans to work under conditions that closely resembled slavery

The 1873 slaughterhouse cases and the 1883 civil rights cases

1. Both cases narrowed the meaning and effectiveness of the 14th Amendment 2. Both cases weakened the protection given to African Americans under the 14th Amendment

The Compromise of 1850

1. California was admitted to the Union as a free state 2. Slave ttrae was abolished in D.C. 3. Territorial gov'ts were created in New Mexico and Utah without an immediate decision as to whether they would be slave or free 4. A stringent measure- the Fugitive Slave Act- was enacted. The act proved to be the most controversial and divisive component of the Compromise of 1850

The Progressives

1. Civil rights laws for Black Americans were not part of the Progressive program of reforms 2. Progressive Era legislation was least concerned with ending racial segregation

The Sit-in movement

1. College students staged the first sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960 to protest segregation in public facilities 2. The Sit-ins provide an excellent example of nonviolent civil disobedience

Slave society

1. Despite forced separations, slaves maintained social networks among kindred and friends 2. The dramatic increase int eh South's slave labor force was due to the natural population increase of American-born slaves 3. During the antebellum period, free African Americans were able to accumulate some property in spite of discrimination 4. Although Southern legal codes did not uniformly provide for the legalization and stability of slave marriage, slaves were generally able to marry and the institution of marriage was common on Southern plantations 5. The majority of slaves adapted to the oppressive conditions imposed on them by developing a separate African American culture 6. Slave revolts were infrequent. Most Southern slaves resisted their masters by feigning illness and working as slowly as possible

Dr. MLK Jr.

1. Dr. King's goal was a peaceful integration of the races in all areas of society 2. His theory of nonviolent civil disobedience was influenced by the writings of Henry David Thoreau 3. He was head of the SCLC 4. In his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. King argued that citizens have "a moral responsiblity to disobey unjust laws." He believed that civil disobedience is justified in the face of unjust laws 5. The following quote vividly expresses Dr. King's nonviolent philosophy: "The problem with hatred and violence is that they intensify the fears of the White majority, and leave them less ashamed of their prejudices toward Negroes. In the guilt and confusion confronting our society, violence only adds to chaos. It deepens the brutality of the oppressor and increases the bitterness of the oppressed. Violence is the antithesis of creativity and wholeness. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible."

Key civil rights leaders

1. Dr. King- SCLC 2. Roy Wilkins-NAACP 3. Stokely Carmichael-Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 4. Black Panthers-Huey Newton 5. Black Muslims-Malcom X

W.E.B. Du Bois

1. During the Progressive Era, W.E.B. Du Bois emerged as the most influential advocate of full political, economic, and social equality for Black Americans 2. Du Bois founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909 3. He advocated the intellectual development of a "talented tenth" of the Black population. Du Bois hoped that this talented tenth would become influential through methods such as continuing their education, writing books, or becoming directly involved in social change 4. Du Bois opposed the implementation of Booker T. Washington's program for Black progress

African Americans at War

1. For most of the Civil War, African American soldiers were paid less than White soldiers of equal rank 2. The South considered African Americans serving in the Union army as contraband

Fredrick Douglass

1. Frederick Douglas was the most prominent Black abolitionist during the antebellum period 2. Published in 1845, Douglass's autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave exposed Americans to the horrors inhumanity of slavery 3. Although best known as an abolitionist, Douglass championed equal rights for women and Native Americanism. He often declared "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong"

William Lloyd Garrison

1. Garrison issued the first call for the "immediate and uncompensated emancipation of the slaves." 2. Here s a famous quote from the first issue of the Liberator: "Let Southern oppressors tremble... I will be as harsh as Truth and as uncompromising as Justice.. I am in earnest- I will not retreat a single inch- and I WILL BE HEARD!"

Harriet Beecher Stowe

1. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin 2. Uncle Tom's Cabin intensified Northern opposition to slavery. Only the Bible sold more copies

President Eisenhower

1. He sent federal troops to Little Rock's Central High School to enforce court-ordered desegregation 2. Ike supported his decision by saying, "The very basis of our individual rights and freedoms rests upon the certainty that that the President and the Executive Branch of Gov't will support and insure the carrying out of the decisions of the federal courts, even, when necessary, with all the means at the President's command." 3. Although President Eisenhower did send troops to Little Rock, he was not a vigorous supporter of civil rights legislation 4. The primary power granted to the Civil Rights Commission in 1957 was the authority to investivate and report on cases involving discrimination

Marcus Garvey

1. He was the leader of the Universal Negro improvement Association 2. Garveyism was identified with the following: -Black pride -Black economic development -Black nationalism -Pan-Africanism 3. Garvey was committed to the idea that Black Americans should return to Africa

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Dar

1. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) barred Marian Anderson, a world-renowned African-American singer, from performing at Constitution Hall in D.C. 2. Outraged by this action, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned form the DAR 3. Roosevelt's dramatic act of conscience gave national attention to the issue of racial discrimination

Booker T. Washington

1. In his Atlanta Compromise speech (1895), Washington called on Blacks to seek economic opportunities rather than political rights. Here is an excerpt from his speech: "In all things purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand inall things essential to mutual progress." 2. He particularly stressed the importance of vocational education and economic self-help. Washington urged Black Americans to avoid public political agitation 3. He supported all of the following: -Accommodation to White society -Economic self-help -Industrial education 4. He opposed public political agitation

The slave trade

1. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the vast majority of Africans who survived the transatlantic passaged ended up working on plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean. 2. The fewest slaves were brought into British North America.

Southern society

1. It is very important to remember that a majority of White adult males were small farmers rather than wealthy planters 2. The majority of White families in the antebellum South owned no slaves 3. Nonetheless, a small minority of planters who owned 20 or more slaves dominated the antebellum South 4. The cost of slave labor rose sharply between 1800 and 1860

The Wilmot Proviso

1. It specifically provided for the prohibition of slavery in lands acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War 2. Congress did not pass the Wilmot Proviso

The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

1. President Lincoln refrained from taking action to emancipate slaves until the Civil War had been in progress for almost two years. Lincoln delayed because he wanted to retain the loyalty of the Border states 2. The Union victory at Antietam gave Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation 3. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the rebellious states 4. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in the Border States 5. The immediate effect of the Emancipation Proclamation was to strengthen the moral cause of the Union

President Harry S. Truman

1. President Truman issued an Executive Order to desegregate the armed forces in 1948 2. Dixiecrats walked out of the 1948 Democratic National Convention to demonstrate their opposition to President Truman's civil rights legislation

The Missouri Compromise of 1820

1. Provisions of the Missouri Compromise included the following: -Maine would enter the Union as a free state -Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state -The remaining territory fo the Louisiana Purchase above altitude 36°30' would be closed to slavery 2. Consequences included the following: -The number of Northerners and Southerners in the Senate remained the same -Most of the Louisiana Purchase was closed to slavery -The first major 19th century conflict over slavery was settling -Slavery was temporarily defused a national political issue

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

1. Provisions of the act included the following: -The propose Territory of Nebraska would be divided into 2 territories, Kansas and Nebraska -The status of slavery would be settle by popular sovereignty -Popular sovereignty meant that the settlers in a given territory would have the sole right to decide whether or not slavery would be allowed -Senator Sephen A. Douglas was the leading proponent of popular sovereignty. Her's how he explained the doctrine: "The great principle is the right of every community to judge and decide for itself whether a thing is right or wrong... It is no answer to this argument to say that slavery is an evil, and hence should not be tolerated. You must allowed the people to decide for themselves whether it is a good or an evil." 2. Consequences included the following: -The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, thus heightening sectional tensions -The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to the demise of the Whigs -The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to the rise of the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln -Kansas became the first test of popular sovereignty

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

1. She was an African American civil rights advocate and an early women's rights advocate 2. She was the principal public opponent of lynching in the South

Slavery in American colonies

1. Slavery was legally established in all 13 colonies by the early 1700's. 2. Although enslaved, Africans maintained cultural practices brought from Africa. 3. Tobacco was the most important cash crop grown in the chesapeake colonies. Rice was the most important cash crop grown in South Carolina. 4. Factors responsible for the development of slavery in the Southern colonies included the following: -The supply of indentured servants from England became insufficient by the late 17th century -The spread of tobacco cultivation westward created a demand for labor -Few 17th and early 18th century White colonists viewed human bondage as morally unacceptable -As its maritime power increased, England wanted to compete tin the profitable slave trade begun by the Portuguese and Dutch

Disenfranchising black voters

1. Southern politicians used a number of tactics to disenfranchise Black voters; tactics included these: -Literacy tests and poll taxes were used to deny African Americans the ballot -The grandfather clause exempted from these requirements anyone whose forebear had voted in 1860. Needless to say, slaves had not voted at that time -Electoral districts were gerrymandered to favor the Democratic Party

Indentured servants

1. The "headright" system enabled Chesapeake tobacco farmers to obtain both land and labor by importing workers from England 2. English indentured servants were the chief source of agricultural labor in Virginia and Maryland before 1675. They accounted for 75% of the 130,000 English immigrants to Virginia and Maryland during the 17th century.

The Reconstruction Amendments

1. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude 2. The 14th Amendment had 3 key components: -First, it made the former slaves citizens, thus invalidating the Dred Scott decision -Second, it stated, "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." -third, it protected recently passed congressional legislation guaranteeing civil rights to former slaves 3. The 15th Amendment provided suffrage for Black males

Black Power

1. The Black Power movement of the late 1960's advocated that African Americans establish control of their economic and political life 2. Huey Newton (Black panthers) and Stokely Carmichael were spokesmen for Black Power 3. The Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam emphasized a greater sense of Black nationalism and solidarity

Homefront (WWII)

1. The Black migration from the South to the North and West continued 2. President Roosevelt issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in defense industries. The order was monitored by the Fair Employment Practices Commission

The Declaration of Independence

1. The Declaration of Independence did not call for the abolition of the slave trade.

Shift in voting patterns

As a result of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Reconstruction amendments, African Americans were loyal voters for the Republican Party 2. The presidency of FDR witnessed a major shift of Black voters from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party

WWII

Black Americans continued to fight in segregated units. The armed forces were not racially integrated during WWII