The Rise of Segregation
Resistance and Repression
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After Reconstruction
many African Americans
in the rural South lived
in conditions that were
little better than slavery.
They were “free” but
most lived in total
poverty. Many were
sharecroppers, landless
farmers who had to
hand over to the
landlord a large portion
of their crops to cover
the cost of basic
supplies. They stayed in
constant debt.
Disfranchising African Americans
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The 15th Amendment had prohibited banning
someone from voting because of race-but not for
being illiterate or not owning land. Southern
states used these loopholes to prevent African
Americans from voting.
Mississippi for example used a $2 poll tax and a
literacy test to prevent African Americans from
voting. Most did not have this amount of money
and almost all former slaves were illiterate or
after slavery were not provided any chance for an
education. Those that could read were given
extremely difficult passages that most educated
people couldn’t understand.
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Examples of effects in other states
Louisiana’s registered voters fell from
130,00 in 1890 to 5,300 in 1900
 Alabama’s fell from 181,000 to 3,700
Poor whites that could not meet these
qualifications were given an exception
called a grandfather clause-if one of
your ancestors had voted in 1867 you
were given the right-this eliminated
almost all African American voters
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Legalizing Segregation
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Segregation also existed
in the North, however
the difference in the
South was that it was
enforced by law (de
facto vs. de jure). The
statutes enforcing
segregation were call
Jim Crow laws.
In 1883 the Supreme
Court set the stage for
legalized segregation by
overturning the Civil
Rights Act of 1875.
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That law had prohibited
keeping people out of
public places on the
basis of race and
prohibited discrimination
in selecting jurors.
The 1883 decision said
that he 14th Amendment
only provided that “no
state” could deny
citizens equal protection
under the law. Private
organizations and
businesses-hotels,
railroads, theaters and
others were free to
practice segregation.
Encouraged by this decision
southern states passed a series of
laws to segregate every aspect of
public life: railroad cars, dining
halls, water fountains, restrooms,
hotels and swimming pools.
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In 1892 an African American named
Homer Plessy challenged a
Louisiana law that forced him to ride
in a separate railroad car. Criminal
court judge John Ferguson rejected
Plessy’s argument that the law was
unconstitutional. In 1896 the
Supreme Court in Plessy v.
Ferguson, upheld the Louisiana law
and expressed anew legal doctrine.
“SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”?
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This ruling established the legal
basis for discrimination for the next
50 years. Public facilities were
always separate, but they were far
from equal.
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Racial Violence
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Even worse than Jim Crow laws was
the brutality leveled against African
Americans. Mob violence increased
drastically during this time.
Between 1890 and 1899, there was
an average of 187 lynching'sexecutions without a court trialcarried out by mobs each year. 80
percent of these were in the South.
The African American Response
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In 1892 a fiery young African American
woman from Tennessee name Ida B.
Wells, launched a fearless crusade against
lynching.
She pointed out that greed, not just racial
prejudice, was often behind these brutal
acts. She reported in the Memphis Free
Speech paper that 3 African American
grocers had been lynched for simply
competing successfully against white
grocers.
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A mob destroyed the papers printing
press and drove her out of town. She
relocated to Chicago and continued her
campaign.
She demanded a fair trial for those
accused of a crime and fair punishment
for those found guilty.
Congress rejected an anti-lynching law,
but lynching's decreased drastically in the
1900’s, mostly due the efforts of
individuals like Wells.
A Call for Compromise
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While some protested the
unfair treatment of society,
others chose to advocate
different approaches.
One such person was the
influential educator Booker T.
Washington. He suggested
that African Americans focus on
economic goals instead of legal
or political ones.
He gave a famous speech in
front of mostly white audiencethis speech called the Atlanta
Compromise-encouraged
African Americans to delay the
fight for civil rights and to
instead focus on educational
and vocational equality.
Voice of the Future
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This compromise provoked a strong
challenge from W.E.B. Du Bois, the
leader of a new generation of
African American activists born after
the Civil War. In his book The Souls
of Black Folk, he stated that white
southerners had continued to strip
African Americans of their civil
rights.
He said this was true despite
economic and vocational
advancement. He said it was
necessary to demand your rights be
given.
He was very concerned with voting
rights and believed that voting was
part of proper manhood and that
denying these rights was barbaric.
In the years that followed many
African Americans continued to fight
for an end to discrimination and for
equal rights. This would prove to
be a very long fight.
Exodus to Kansas
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70 year old Benjamin Singleton took action
to escape the conditions of the rural South.
He organized a mass migration of
thousands of African Americans from the
rural South to Kansas.
Newspapers called it an exodus and the
migrants became known as “Exodusters”.
These people hoped to escape control by
the very people that once held them as
slaves
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Those that did not leave the south
joined farmers alliance with poor
white farmers.
However eventually many realized
the need for a separate alliance and
created The Colored Farmers’
National Alliance.
Many African Americans joined the
Populist Party because they believed
it would unite the poor white and
black people of the nation.
Crushing the Populist Revolt
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The Populist Party was weakened by the
Democratic Party using racism to persuade
members to leave the party.
The Democrats feared that a unified black
and white voting population would create a
situation like Reconstruction when antiSouthern Republicans dominated politics.
They began to utilize the methods
previously mentioned to prevent African
Americans from voting.