1.06 Face of Freedom

literacy tests:

reading comprehension tests used to prevent African American voters from casting ballots

nadir:

the lowest point, or bottom; the term was used to describe relations between Africans Americans and whites in the South in the period between 1877 and 1920

Great Migration:

the movement of African Americans from the South during the early 1900s

How Did the Government Respond to Jim Crow?

After Reconstruction ended in 1877, it seemed to many African Americans and white sympathizers that the government had turned its back on them. The Supreme Court did nothing to overturn obstacles for African American voters. In fact, as African Americans were losing their voting rights, they were also being further segregated from white society. At the end of the 19th century, many southern states created racial segregation laws that separated white citizens and African Americans in schools, hospitals, parks, and on railroads. These laws were known as Jim Crow laws, named for a white minstrel who blackened his face to create an offensive stereotype of an African American.

Where Did African Americans Settle After Leaving the South?

At the end of the Civil War, fewer than 10 percent of African Americans lived outside of the South. As the events of the post-Civil War years unfolded, some African Americans decided to leave the region. The first large migration of African Americans from the South occurred soon after Reconstruction ended. At that time, more than 50,000 African Americans moved west toward Kansas and the Oklahoma territory. Some of these migrants were known as "Exodusters." This was a reference to the Biblical book of Exodus and to the dry landscape of the Great Plains. The town of Nicodemus, Kansas, was one of the first towns settled by African Americans who had left the South. African Americans continued to migrate during the final years of the 19th century. Some traveled west as far as California. Many others moved to cities in the North and Midwest, hoping to find jobs in the growing industries there.

How Did Black Codes Restrict African Americans?

Black codes, which passed soon after the Civil War ended, were an effort to restrict civil rights for African Americans. They also helped maintain a cheap source of farm labor and sustained the social hierarchy. These codes made it illegal for African Americans to carry weapons or vote. They could not serve on juries, testify in court against or marry white citizens, or travel without permits. Some codes even restricted African Americans' ability to own land. Black codes often permitted the arrest of poor, unemployed persons, usually African American, for lack of homes or money. The codes differed from state to state. They were found in the northern states as well as in southern states. Although the Thirteenth Amendment had outlawed slavery, it was clear to many lawmakers that the Black Codes had to be abolished as well. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. This amendment affirmed that African Americans were citizens. Its "due process" clause prohibited state governments from depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." It also declared that state and local governments must give all citizens "equal protection of the laws." In effect, this amendment meant the end of the Black Codes. However, it did not mean an end to segregation and discrimination. In some cases, African American groups did not object to segregation laws. They were more interested in developing the black community than in integrating with the white community. After years of white influence, African Americans were finally able to direct their own churches, schools, and other institutions. While the black codes may have been erased from the law books, they served as an ominous preview of the Jim Crow laws that emerged at the end of the 19th century.

Ku Klux Klan

Chief among the organized groups terrorizing African American was the Ku Klux Klan. This group started as a social club for former Confederate soldiers in Tennessee in 1866. It quickly became a terrorist group devoted to white supremacy. Its goal was to prevent African Americans from exercising their new political power. Its methods included intimidating voters, burning schools, and destroying homes of both black and sympathetic white citizens. Perhaps the most terrifying tactic of all was lynching. Lynching, or public hanging for an alleged offense without benefit of trial, struck fear into the African American community. The federal government's response to the intimidation and violence was partially effective. The Enforcement Acts passed in 1870 and 1871 gave the government power to supervise elections in Southern states. They also empowered the government to employ federal troops against Klan violence. President Ulysses Grant used the Enforcement Acts to arrest and imprison some Klan leaders. Klan violence diminished in the late 1870s. By that time, however, white supremacy had re-asserted itself in many parts of the South. Extreme tactics to restrain the rights of African Americans were no longer necessary.

The Great Migration

However, the South was not the only region troubled by racial issues. African Americans faced segregation and discrimination in many northern cities as well. Labor union leaders who did not want them as members discriminated against African Americans, whom they feared would take their jobs. Real estate agents kept them from buying homes in particular neighborhoods. Business owners hired African Americans only if no other labor source was available. African American workers were often the first ones fired when business slowed. Clearly, the more radical Southerners were not alone in forgetting the words of Christ, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39). Despite these challenges, African Americans continued to leave the South. After 1900, growing numbers of African migrated to cities in the North and Midwest. Eventually, this movement became known as the Great Migration. By one means or another, African Americans sought to better position themselves in a rapidly changing world. Their struggle continued into the 20th century.

What Struggles Did African Americans Face As They Exercised Their Rights?

In the time between the end of the Black Codes and the passage of Jim Crow laws, the lives of African Americans improved marginally. Economic conditions at the end of the 19th century were an obstacle to improvement for African Americans. During the Civil War, countries deprived of cotton from the South had begun to grow their own cotton. By the time production resumed in the South, market prices had been cut in half. Banks that had loaned money to the Confederate government could not collect their debts. Credit became increasingly hard to obtain. An economic panic in 1873 led to the closure of some banks. Railroad companies went out of business, and the stock market collapsed. Uncertain economic times and the loss of political power led many white Southerners to lash out at African Americans. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, some whites launched a campaign of terror.

Racial Discrimination

Southern states passed laws that increased racial discrimination. Literacy tests and poll taxes were used to keep black voters away from ballot boxes. Some states limited the right to vote to those who could pass a literacy test. Often, white voters were given easier passages than African Americans. White election officials had the final say on whether a potential voter passed the test. African American voters were also kept from voting through poll taxes. This annual tax was required to be paid before a vote could be cast. Sharecroppers often did not have enough money to pay the tax. To allow only white citizens to cast ballots, many Southern states created a grandfather clause. It stated that anyone whose father or grandfather had been eligible to vote before January 1, 1867 was guaranteed the right to vote. The date was important. Before that time, freed slaves did not have the right to vote. The grandfather clause, poll taxes, and literacy tests disenfranchised many African Americans. Critics charged that they violated the Fifteenth Amendment, which promises that the right to vote cannot be denied on the basis "of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

What Role Does the Government Play in Protecting the Rights of its Citizens?

The period after the Civil War seemed full of promise for African Americans. New constitutional amendments seemed to open up the doors of opportunity for formerly enslaved peoples. The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, while the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments guaranteed equal treatment and voting rights to African Americans. However, within a few years, African Americans found that their new rights came with some limitations. State laws were passed that undermined the constitutional amendments. The sharecropping system of agriculture kept many former slaves bound to the land. Few could escape the violence, poverty, and state-supported discrimination. Historian Rayford Logan described this period as "the nadir of American race relations." In that time, African Americans fought against terror and prejudice. It was the beginning of a civil rights struggle that continues today.

Struggle for Equality

To many people, these segregation laws violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which holds that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property." Arguments about the constitutionality of laws ensuring racial segregation finally reached the Supreme Court in 1896. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the court upheld segregation as constitutional. As long as the services provided to white and black citizens were of equal quality, it was legal for the races to be separated. However, equality in theory was very different from equality in practice. Segregated Southern schools educated white students and African American students. But the white students had new textbooks and clean, well-lighted facilities. African Americans had to make do with torn, out-of-date books. Often several grades of African American students were crowded into a single room. African Americans found themselves in a bitter struggle. They had to fight for their rights without the help of the federal government. It was the nadir of race relations in the United States. For many African Americans there was little choice. To remain in the South was to face poverty, violence, and discrimination. Leaving the South seemed to be the only option.

grandfather clause:

a provision that allowed poor whites in the South to vote even if they failed the literacy test or could not pay the poll tax, and also stopped African Americans from voting as their grandfathers would not have voted prior to 1865

Ku Klux Klan:

a secret organization that used terror to restore white supremacy to the South

Plessy v. Ferguson:

an 1896 Supreme Court decision that ruled 'separate but equal' facilities for blacks and whites did not violate the Constitution's 'equal protection' clause

poll taxes:

an annual tax paid by those in the South who wished to vote; it was often used to disenfranchise black voters

black codes:

discriminatory laws passed in the post-war South to prevent African Americans from exercising civil and political rights

Jim Crow laws:

discriminatory laws passed mainly in Southern states to deny African Americans equal economic, political, and social treatment