Segregation
Jim Crow Laws
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Designed to keep blacks from
exercising their rights under
the 15th Amendment
Literacy tests: had to prove
you could read and
comprehend in order to vote
Poll taxes: had to pay a fee to
vote
Grandfather clauses: anyone
whose ancestor had voted in
past elections was exempt
from literacy tests or poll taxes
Other Jim Crow laws would
enforce segregation in all
public facilities
The Ku Klux Klan
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Founded in the 1860s
Used violence to prevent
blacks from voting and to
intimidate them from
seeking legal help
In worst cases, resorted
to lynching – mob
violence involving torture,
mutilation, and hanging
Reached peak strength in
1920s, but still exists
Benjamin “Pap” Singleton
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1809 – 1892
Escaped slave
Believed that blacks
would never be treated
as equals in the South,
promoted idea of black
separatism
Started the Exoduster
movement
Late in life, tried
unsuccessfully to get US
government to create a
special “black state” in
Oklahoma
The Exodusters
As Reconstruction ended
in the late 1870s, many
blacks left the South to
seek a better life in
Kansas and other Plains
states
 About 50,000 left the
South in 1879 & 1880
alone
 Migration continued well
into the 1900s
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Wilmington Race Riot
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November 10, 1898
Democratic Party members
and white supremacists
illegally burned the offices of
the black newspaper the Daily
Record and overthrew the
Republican municipal
government of Wilmington,
NC, many of whom were black
An unknown number of blacks
were killed in the violence that
followed (est. of 6 to over 100)
NC Gov. Russell and US Pres.
McKinley took no action
against those responsible
“De jure” Segregation
Segregation under the
law or legal
segregation
 Many Southern states
passed laws banning
blacks and whites
from mixing in public
spaces such as
restaurants, schools,
hospitals, theaters,
restrooms, etc.
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“De facto” Segregation
Segregation “in fact”
 Not required by law,
but rather due to
social norms
 For example, many
churches and
neighborhoods
remain segregated
today due to de facto
segregation – by the
choice of the people
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Plessy v. Ferguson
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1896
Homer Plessy (who was 1/8th
black) was arrested in
Louisiana for sitting in a
whites-only car on a train
Plessy sued, saying the
Louisiana law was
unconstitutional, but the
Supreme Court ruled that so
long as facilities were supplied
to both blacks and whites that
were “separate but equal” then
de jure segregation was legal
Only 1 Justice dissented with
the ruling!
Booker T. Washington
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1856 – 1915
Launched the Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama
Encouraged blacks to achieve
economic freedom by learning
a blue-collar trade
Believed that racial equality
would have to be earned over
generations, would not come
overnight
Received great attention for
his Atlanta Address of 1895 in
which he explained these
philosophies to a mostly white
audience
W.E.B. Du Bois
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1868 – 1963
Strongly opposed Booker T.
Washington’s ideas, referred to
his famous speech as the
Atlanta Compromise
Argued that blacks should
strive to achieve jobs in
management and professional
fields and be strongly
politically active to safeguard
their legal rights
Refused to accept segregation
as a social norm, also refused
to wait for social equality
Later emigrated to Africa
Niagara Movement
Founded in 1905
 Civil rights movement
which sought a
“mighty current” of
change
 Called for an end to
segregation and open
opposition in the
black community to
beliefs like Booker T.
Washington’s
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Ida Wells-Barnett
1862 – 1931
 Rose to fame after
refusing to give up
her seat on a train
 Became an outspoken
writer and newspaper
editor who focused on
racial relations,
lynchings, and
women’s suffrage
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The NAACP
Founded in 1909 “to promote
equality of rights and to eradicate
caste or race prejudice among the
citizens of the United States; to
advance the interest of colored
citizens; to secure for them
impartial suffrage; and to increase
their opportunities for securing
justice in the courts, education for
the children, employment
according to their ability and
complete equality before law.”
 Founders included Du Bois & Ida
Wells; replaced the Niagara
Movement as the premiere civil
rights organization in the US
 NOT a “blacks only” organization –
has historically had as many
Jewish members as black!
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Marcus Garvey
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1887 – 1940
Jamaican born newspaper editor
and activist
Endorsed his “Back to Africa”
movement - the idea that most
people of African descent should
return to Africa and all Europeans
should leave Africa
Once met with the leader of the
KKK, arguing that they should
work together since they wanted
the same thing!
Created a sense of “black pride” in
African cultural heritage for many
African-Americans
Convicted of mail fraud and
deported in 1927
Considered a prophet in the
religion of Rastafarianism
The Great Migration
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Between 1910 and 1930,
about 2 million blacks left
the South in an effort to
escape racism and to find
good industrial jobs in
Northern and Midwestern
cities
This migration continued
into the 1970s, but has
since reversed – today,
many blacks are leaving
the North and moving
south
Native American Suffrage Act
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Also called the Snyder Act
of 1924 or Indian
Citizenship Act
Gave US citizenship to all
Native Americans without
requiring them to
surrender their tribal
affiliations
Act was pushed through
by whites – Indians had
learned enough not to
trust the federal
government’s promises!