Black
Segregation History for kids: Segregation before the Civil War
Black Segregation history began before the Civil War in the towns
and cities in both the North and the South. The reason for
segregation in the cities was to ensure that to ensure that Blacks
Americans lived apart from White Americans. During the Slavery Era
the majority of Black Americans lived in the rural locations in the
South where it was necessary to implement segregation schemes -
southern black slaves were automatically isolated from White
Americans by the plantation system and the practice of slavery. This
was not the case in the cities of the Northern states.
Racial segregation systems were developed in the Northern towns and
cities to ensure that African Americans were given a subordinate
status to White Americans. This was achieved by denying them equal
access to public facilities used by whites such as public transport
on streetcars and railroads and banning Black Americans from hotels,
theaters, museums and restaurants. As blacks were poorly paid they
lived in different neighborhoods and attended segregated churches.
The
Dred Scott
Court Decision
in 1857, which stated that slaves were not citizens but the property
of their owners, was seen as justifying the subordinate status of
Black Americans, whether they were free or slaves.
Black
Segregation History for kids: Segregation during the Civil War (1861-1865)
Black Segregation history continued during the Civil War. At the
beginning of the Civil War, the national government refused to allow
blacks to fight in the U. S. military, it was discrimination based
on color and race. This form of black segregation and discrimination
continued when in 1862 when the United States government allowed
blacks to enlist, but in segregated units, led by white officers.
The black soldiers were
only paid half of what the white soldiers were paid in the Civil
War.
Black
Segregation History for kids: The 1862 Homestead Act
The succession of the Southern States provided a clear
path for passing the
1862
Homestead Act which
Abolitionists
believed could help to destroy the practice and institution of
slavery, segregation and racial discrimination by giving away free
farming land.
Black
Segregation History for kids: Constitutional Amendments after the Civil War
After the Civil War three important amendments were
made to the Constitution:
● The 13th Amendment (1865)
ended slavery
● The 14th Amendment (1868)
dealt with Civil Rights
and asserted that there were
equal protection rights of all US citizens including those that
were part of a minority group. The
Fourteenth amendment nullified part of the Dred Scott decision
and prohibiting state laws that denied citizens equal protection
under the laws
● The 15th Amendment (1870),
prohibited racial discrimination in voting
stating that a citizen's
right to vote cannot be taken away because of race, the color of
their skin, or because they were previously slaves
Black
Segregation History 1865 & 1866: The Black Codes
Segregation History: The issue of slavery might have been addressed but Black Segregation
history but racial discrimination and segregation escalated.
In 1865 and 1866 a series of laws
called the
Black Codes were
passed to restrict the ex-slaves new found freedom. The Black Codes restricted
the freedom of Black Americans by restricting the right to own property, buy and lease land,
conduct business and move freely through public
spaces. The Black Codes
also discriminated against Black Americans with different
laws and punishments, the laws banned
them from bearing arms and prevented them from voting or serving on juries.
Black
Segregation History 1865 for kids: The Freedmen's Bureau
The
Freedmen's Bureau
Bill was passed on March 3, 1865 to establish a temporary government
agency to help and protect emancipated slaves (freedmen) in the
South during their transition from a life of slavery to a life of
freedom. The Freedman's Bureau provided food, housing and medical
aid and established schools and offered legal assistance. The
Freedmen's Bureau was hated by the Southerners as it also operated
as a political mechanism, organizing the black vote for the
Republican party. The Freedmen's Bureau
closed in 1869.
Black
Segregation History 1865: The Sharecropping System
Segregation History: The
Sharecropping
system that employed tenant farmers became widespread during the
period of Reconstruction. The Sharecroppers provided labor for the
plantation owners after the Civil War, and the farm owners,
provided everything else - at a price.
The plantation landlords owned the
land, cabins, the tools and equipment, the animals and the seeds to
grow the crops. The landlords enforced strict labor conditions
on the sharecroppers. The system resulted in a low standard of
living for the tenant farmers in conditions that were little better
than slavery with no hope of escaping constant debt and the poverty
trap. Black segregation and racial discrimination were common
features of the Sharecropping System.
Black
Segregation History 1866: The 1866 Southern Homestead Act
Segregation History: The 1866 Southern Homestead
Act was passed to allow poor tenant farmers and sharecroppers in the
south to become land owners during reconstruction. The law that
opened up 46 million acres of public land in the states of Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The purpose of the
legislation was to provide the opportunity to former slaves to buy
farmland for themselves. There was massive Southern opposition to
the black landownership and the sharecropping system made it
impossible for most black African Americans to participate in the
scheme. The Freedmen's Bureau completely failed in establishing the
freed slaves as landowners in the South. The Southern Homestead Act
was repealed by Congress in June 1876, before too much land was
distributed.
Black
Segregation History 1866: The 1866 Civil Rights Act
Segregation History: The
Civil Rights Act
of 1866 was designed to protect ex-slaves
from legislation such as the Black Codes
but it was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson who stated that blacks
were not qualified for United States citizenship and that the bill
would "operate in favor of the colored and against the white race." Congress
was outraged and overrode the President's veto and passed the Civil
Rights Act on
April 9, 1866. By 1868
most Southern states had
repealed the Black Code laws
and access to streetcars and railroads began on an integrated basis.
Black Americans also
gained access to auditoriums and theaters
but discrimination continued as they had to occupy separate
sections.
Black
Segregation History 1865: The Ku Klux Klan
Segregation History: The 1866 Civil Rights Act led to
violent
acts of vigilantism and increased the membership
of secret organizations such as the
Ku Klux Klan.
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
was founded by White Supremacists and its purpose was to
maintain racial segregation in the South. The Ku Klux Klan used
terror tactics and acts of extreme violence against Black Americans
including arson, whippings, lynching, murder, rape, and
bombing.
Black
Segregation History 1870 for kids: The Enforcement Acts
Segregation
History: In 1870 the federal
government stepped in to investigate the activities of
the Ku Klux Klan. As a result of the investigations the
Enforcement Acts
of 1870/1871 (including the Ku Klux Klan Act) were
passed. The Enforcement Acts consisted of several important Civil
Rights Acts to implement and extend the fundamental guarantees of
the Constitution to all citizens and protect African Americans from
violence carried out by the Ku Klux Klan. The Enforcement Acts made
night-riding a crime, empowered the
president to use federal troops to put down
conspirators by force and provided
penalties for people convicted of
conspiracies with the intention of denying others
their civil rights.
Black
Segregation History 1874: The White League
Segregation History: The White League was an American white paramilitary group that
started in Louisiana in 1874. The members operated in the open,
sought newspaper coverage. The objective of the White League was to
prevent freedmen from voting and participating in political
activities. Through violence and intimidation, its paramilitary
members reduced Republican voting and contributed to the Democrats'
taking over control of the Louisiana Legislature in 1876. A similar
group called the Red Shirts was started in Mississippi in 1875.
Black
Segregation History 1875: The 1875 Civil Rights Act Fails
Segregation History: The
Civil Rights
Act of 1875 was a law to protect all citizens in
their civil and legal rights. The Civil Rights Act of
1875 was an
another step in the struggle for racial equality but it
was not enforced, and the Supreme Court declared it
unconstitutional in 1883
and gave
constitutional foundation to the Jim Crow Laws
enabling racial discrimination, inequality and
racial bigotry to survive in the name
of states’ rights, until the 1960s.
Black
Segregation History 1879: The Exodusters
Segregation History: The Homestead Law was opening the state of Kansas up for settlement.
To escape intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan, the White League and
the Red Shirts, and racial discrimination and segregation practices,
a mass migration of thousands of African Americans from the southern
states along the Mississippi River to Kansas was organized in 1879
by Benjamin "Pap" Singleton. The newspapers called it “an Exodus"
comparing it to the Hebrews escape from Egyptian bondage. The black
migrants were subsequently called the
Exodusters.
Black
Segregation History 1880's for kids: The Jim Crow Laws Legalize Segregation
in the South
Segregation History: The
Jim Crow Laws legalized segregation
between black and white Americans. The Jim Crow Laws were a series
of different laws enacted by Southern states during the 1880s that
excluded African Americans from exercising their rights as citizens
of the United States. The Jim Crow Laws were typified by the
"Whites Only" and "Colored Only" signs and restricted the rights of
African Americans:
● Public Transport:
Segregation measures on
Steamboats, Railroads and Streetcars requiring separate seating
areas for black riders with separate waiting rooms and toilet
facilities
●
Schools and Education:
Prohibiting black and white children from attending the same
schools
● Voting:
Tests were introduced
in an attempt to eliminate the black vote by applying poll taxes, literacy
tests, and the "grandfather clause"
●
Marriage: Prohibiting
a person of "pure white blood" from marrying or engaging in
"illicit carnal intercourse" with anyone with African blood
● Segregation in Public
Places: Segregation in
libraries, hotels, restaurants, bars, hospitals, theaters,
parks, beaches and restrooms. The Jim Crow Laws also segregated cemeteries and prisons
●
The Jim Crow Laws also made it
difficult for black people to find decent employment
Black
Segregation History 1880's - 1890's: Lynching
Black Segregation history and racial discrimination took a violent
turn in the 1880's as racial violence escalated. The lynching of
Black people in the South became a a common method used by whites to
terrorize Blacks and maintain white supremacy. Lynching was a
violent method of illegal execution carried out by mobs. Between
1890 and 1899, there was an average of 187 lynchings carried out by
mobs every year. The largest number of lynchings occurred in 1892
when 230 people were lynched, 80% of the victims were African
Americans. The practice of lynching decreased in the 1900's and was
eventually addressed in 1922 by the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.
Black
Segregation History 1896: Plessy vs. Ferguson - Federal government Sanctions Racial
Segregation
Segregation History: The Federal government Sanctions Racial Segregation in 1896 as a
result of the
Plessy vs. Ferguson Case. The Plessy vs. Ferguson case
of 1896 in which the Supreme Court decided that "separate but
equal" facilities satisfied the 14th Amendment guarantees, thus
giving legal sanction to "Jim Crow" segregation laws. Private
organizations and businesses, such as hotels, theaters, and
railroads, were free to practice segregation. In 1954, the Supreme
Court justices in Brown v. the Board of Education reversed the
decision made in the Plessy case by making the decision that legally
sanctioned racial segregation was inherently unequal and a violation
of the 14th Amendment.
Black
Segregation History 1900's: Race Riots, NAACP and the Harlem Rennaissance
Segregation History: Lynchings decreased but the 1900's saw the emergence of a new type
racial violence in which white mobs attacked entire Black
communities - the race riots that occurred in the period surrounding
WW1 and coincided with the
Resurgence
of the 1920's Ku Klux Klan. Large-scale inter-racial violence escalated in the cities with
the increasing levels of migration of Black Americans from the
South. The most serious race riots were those which occurred in 1906
in Atlanta, St. Louis in 1917, Chicago in 1919 and Tulsa in 1921.
The Springfield race riots in 1908 led to the founding of the
NAACP.
The 1920's saw the emergence of the
Harlem
Renaissance and
Marcus Garvey.
Black
Segregation History 1913: Racial Segregation in Government Offices
Black Segregation history continued when in 1913 the federal
government, under President Wilson, imposed racial segregation in
government offices in Washington, D.C. This federal policy of Racial
segregation was not be reversed until the administration of Franklin
D. Roosevelt in the 1930s.
Black
Segregation History for kids: World War 2
The Segregation history in America continued. As the United States
entered World War II (1939-1945), the South was a fully segregated
society. Segregation was still a policy of the U. S. military. At
the beginning of WWII Black Americans were assigned to non-combat
units and relegated to service duties, such as maintenance, and
transportation. The situation changed towards the end of the war as
troop losses virtually forced the U.S. military to place African
American soldiers into combat positions in the army, navy and air
force. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order
de-segregating the armed forces.
Black
Segregation History 1954: The African-American Civil Rights Movement
After WW2 Segregation was still rife in the
United States. In 1947 the first "Freedom Riders" tested the laws of
interstate bus travel in the segregated South.
The African-American Civil Rights Movement emerged in
1954. Their goal was to end racial segregation and discrimination
against black Americans, particularly in the South.
Black Segregation History for kids: The Civil Rights Movement
Segregation
History: The segregation practices
in the school systems were challenged in 1954 in the
Brown vs. Board
of Education case. The result of the legal case was that the
Supreme Court banned the practice of school segregation
Segregation
History:
In 1955 Rosa Parks bravely refused to give up her seat and was
ejected from a racially segregated bus. Her action Rosa Parks
led her to follow the path of a civil rights activist. Rosa
Parks was later referred to as "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil
Rights Movement" by the U.S. Congress
Segregation
History:
Martin Luther King became the president of the Montgomery
Improvement Association in 1955 which was organized due to
protests against the incident involving Rosa Parks and the
Montgomery Bus Boycott
began.
Segregation
History: Congress passed the
Civil Rights Act of 1957 to ensure that all African Americans could
exercise their right to vote.
Segregation
History: In 1957 President Dwight
Eisenhower sent in the National Guard to enforce integration of
Little Rock's Central High School in the face of violent White
opposition to de-segregation
Segregation
History: The Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in 1960 and organized
'Sit-ins' and
Freedom Rides throughout the Deep South
Segregation
History: In 1963
Dr. Martin Luther King organized a massive peace
protest in the heavily segregated city of Birmingham, Alabama.
It resulted in violence when Birmingham’s commissioner
"Bull" Connor ordered the crack down on protesters using water
cannons and vicious police dogs.
Dr. Martin Luther King was arrested together with
hundreds of other protestors
Segregation
History: In 1963 Martin Luther King
meets with President John F. Kennedy and after their meeting JFK
fully endorses the civil rights movement. Dr. King then delivers
his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial to a crowd estimated at 250,000 that joined in the
March on Washington
Segregation History for kids: The Civil Rights Movement
Black
Segregation History for kids: 1964 Civil Rights Act Bans Segregation
Segregation History: President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963,
but the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, honored his commitment to
the civil rights movement. Lyndon B. Johnson passed the
Civil
Rights Act of 1964 that banned segregation and discrimination based on
race, nationality, or gender.
Black
Segregation History: 24th Amendment, Freedom Summer Campaign and the
1965 Voting Rights Act
Segregation History: The 24th Amendment was passed in 1964 making it
illegal to make anyone pay a tax to have the right to vote. The
Freedom Summer campaign was organized by SNCC activists who
traveled to Mississippi to register more black voters resulted in
more violence. President Johnson responded by passing the Voting
Rights Act to safeguard the right to vote of Black Americans. The
Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned the use of literacy tests.
Black
Segregation History: The Death of Martin Luther King and the End of
the Civil Rights Movement
Segregation History: Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed by James
Earl Ray on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. The
MLK Assassination of this
peaceful man was a great shock to the nation. The rise of Black
revolutionaries such as Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and the
Black Panthers together with the violence of the race riots created fear
in America and effectively ended the civil rights movement in 1968.
Black
History for kids: Important People and Events
For visitors interested in African American History
refer to Black History -
People and Events.
A useful resource for
teachers, kids, schools and colleges undertaking projects for the
Black History Month.
Segregation History for kids
The article on the Segregation History provides
detailed facts and a summary of the
most events in the history of the
United States
- a crash course in
American History. The following video will
give you additional important facts, history and dates about the
personal and political lives of all the US Presidents.
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