A Very Brief History of the
American South
ELA 20
Slavery’s Beginning
Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North
American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such
lucrative crops as tobacco.
The Slave Trade
The American Colonies
Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th and
18th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic
foundations of the new nation. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793
solidified the central importance of slavery to the South's economy.
The Expansion of Slavery
By the mid-19th century, America's westward expansion, along with a growing
abolition movement in the North, would provoke a great debate over slavery that
would tear the nation apart in the bloody American Civil War (1861-65).
The Underground Railroad 1780-1862
The Underground Railroad, a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the
North and to Canada, was not run by any single organization or person. Rather, it consisted of
many individuals -- many whites but predominantly black -- who knew only of the local efforts
to aid fugitives and not of the overall operation. Still, it effectively moved hundreds of slaves
northward each year -- according to one estimate, the South lost 100,000 slaves between
1810 and 1850.
The Underground Railroad.
1780-1862 cont.
The system grew, and around 1831 it was dubbed "The Underground Railroad," after the
then emerging steam railroads. The system even used terms used in railroading: the homes
and businesses where fugitives would rest and eat were called "stations" and "depots" and
were run by "stationmasters," those who contributed money or goods were "stockholders,"
and the "conductor" was responsible for moving fugitives from one station to the next.
The Underground Railroad. 1780-1862 cont.
For the slave, running away to the North was anything but easy. The first step was to
escape from the slaveholder. For many slaves, this meant relying on his or her own
resources. Sometimes a "conductor," posing as a slave, would enter a plantation and then
guide the runaways northward. The fugitives would move at night. They would generally
travel between 10 and 20 miles to the next station, where they would rest and eat, hiding
in barns and other out-of-the-way places. While they waited, a message would be sent to
the next station to alert its stationmaster.
The American Civil War 1861-1865
In the spring of 1861, decades of simmering tensions between the northern and southern
United States over issues including states' rights versus federal authority, westward
expansion and slavery exploded into the American Civil War (1861-65). The election of the
anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 caused seven southern states
to secede from the Union to form the Confederate States of America; four more joined
them after the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
American Civil War cont.
Four years of brutal conflict were marked by historic battles at Bull Run (Manassas), Antietam,
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, among others. The War Between the States, as
the Civil War was also known, pitted neighbor against neighbor and in some cases, brother
against brother.
American Civil War cont.
By the time it ended in Confederate surrender in 1865, the Civil War proved to be the costliest
war ever fought on American soil, with some 620,000 of 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more
injured and the population and territory of the South devastated.
“Black Codes”
The Union victory in the Civil War may have given some 4 million slaves their freedom, but
African Americans faced a new onslaught of obstacles and injustices during the Reconstruction
era (1865-1877). By late 1865, when the 13th Amendment officially outlawed the institution of
slavery, the question of freed blacks' status in the postwar South was still very much
unresolved. Under the lenient Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson, white
southerners reestablished civil authority in the former Confederate states in 1865 and 1866.
They enacted a series of restrictive laws known as "black codes," which were designed to
restrict freed blacks' activity and ensure their availability as a labor force now that slavery had
been abolished.
The black codes stated that African Americans could marry, own property, sue, and be
educated. The codes restricted African Americans from serving on juries, carrying weapons,
testifying against whites, or marrying someone outside of their race. In addition, the black
codes set up a curfew for all blacks and required them to have a special permit in order to
travel.
The Jim Crow Laws
From the 1880s into the 1960s, a majority of American states enforced segregation through
"Jim Crow" laws (so called after a black character in minstrel shows). From Delaware to
California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states (and cities, too) could impose legal
punishments on people for consorting with members of another race. The most common
types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to
keep their black and white clientele separated.
The Jim Crow Laws cont.
Here is a sampling of laws from various states.
Nurses No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or
rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed. Alabama
Restaurants It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food
in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such
white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the
floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the
street is provided for each compartment. Alabama
The Jim Crow Laws cont.
Toilet Facilities, Male Every employer of white or negro males shall provide for such white or
negro males reasonably accessible and separate toilet facilities. Alabama
Intermarriage The marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay,
or Hindu shall be null and void. Arizona
Intermarriage All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white
person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby
forever prohibited. Florida
Education The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be
conducted separately. Florida
Parks It shall be unlawful for colored people to frequent any park owned or maintained by
the city for the benefit, use and enjoyment of white persons...and unlawful for any white
person to frequent any park owned or maintained by the city for the use and benefit of
colored persons. Georgia
The Jim Crow Laws cont.
Railroads All railroad companies and corporations, and all persons running or operating cars
or coaches by steam on any railroad line or track in the State of Maryland, for the
transportation of passengers, are hereby required to provide separate cars or coaches for the
travel and transportation of the white and colored passengers. Maryland
Education Separate schools shall be maintained for the children of the white and colored
races. Mississippi
The Jim Crow Laws cont.
The Jim Crow Laws cont.
Promotion of Equality. Any person...who shall be guilty of printing, publishing or circulating
printed, typewritten or written matter urging or presenting for public acceptance or general
information, arguments or suggestions in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between
whites and Negroes, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fine or not exceeding five
hundred (500.00) dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months or both. Mississippi
The Jim Crow Laws cont.
The Great Depression
In 1929, the United States’ stalk
market crashed. This day became
known as Black Tuesday. As
unemployment rose, people were
forced out of their homes. Half of all
children, as well as their families, in
the U.S. did not have enough food,
shelter or medical care.
Unemployment rose to 25% by 1933.
There was no unemployment
insurance and no social security.
There was also no insurance on bank
deposits so when 11,000 out of the
25, 000 U.S. banks failed by 1933,
people lost what little money they
had with no way to get it back.
Rural Areas
Farmers were also hit hard by The Great Depression.
During World War I, they worked hard to produce
record crops and livestock. When prices fell they tried
to produce even more to pay their debts, taxes and
living expenses. In the early 1930s prices dropped so
low that many farmers went bankrupt and lost their
farms. As well as The Great Depression, an
unprecedented decade of drought set in that made
their situation more hopeless.
Effects on African American People
As discussed before, the 1930s were
home to racial tension and
segregation so The Great Depression
hit African Americans the hardest.
While 1.5 million African American
people moved north for jobs in the
1920s, more than 4 out of 5 of them
lived in the South during the 1930s.
Unemployment rates rose over 50%
and any jobs in the North and South
were given to white workers or
eliminated altogether. Disparities in
wages meant that even African
Americans with jobs could not
support their families. Infant
mortality rates for African American
babies (10%) nearly doubled the
rates of Caucasian babies (6%).
The United States did not recover from The Great Depression until after World
War II (which took place between 1939 and 1945). This was also the last war that
had segregated troops.