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African Americans & the Gilded Age - Coggle Diagram
African Americans & the Gilded Age
In 1881 Tennessee segregated rail travel, the first state to do so - every Southern state soon followed
The number of registered AA voters in Mississippi fell from 90% of those elligible to 6% by 1900
there were over 20 AA members of Congress between 1870 & 1901
1883: in US v Harris the SC ruled that the Third Enforcement Act targeting the KKK was unconstitutional
1883 in the Civil Rights Cases (five individual cases) the SC decides that the 1875 Civil Rights Act is unconstitutional
'Redeemers' demand a return to Southern 'Bourbon' values
Last AA member of Congress left in 1901
In the 1890s an AA was lynched on average every two days
By 1900 there was a thriving AA middle class numbering over 50,000 supporting a parallel Black economy of professionals including teachers, lawyers, doctors and artists
A majority of the 8 million AA population lived in poverty due to sharecropping and limited economic opportunity
Feb 1877 - the Hayes-Tilden Compromise ends Reconstruction - Federal troops are withdrawn from the south
Although the KKK became inactive from the late 1870s, between 1885 & 1894 there were over 1700 recorded lynchings
1898 SC ruling Williams v Mississippi deems voter registration laws to be constitutional
32 states passed 'Jim Crow' laws including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, segregating transport, sports, hospitals, cemetries, prisons and schools
1896 SC ruling Plessy v Ferguson deems segregation to be legal on the grounds of 'separate but equal'
Many states pass 'miscegenation' laws banned inter-racial marriage
1890 - Mississippi introduces a new constitution that includes voter registration laws - other southern states quickly follow
Poll tax requirements, Literacy laws and the 'Grandfather clause' were used to limit AA voter registration
1880s: Coloured Farmers' Alliance set up to protect AA from violence
The 'Black Ivy League' of universities established eg Tuskegee, Hampton - the 'elite eight'
Educational provision improved - eg in Georgia over 1500 schools were built that educated more than 11000 AA students
AAs had achieved constitutional guarantees and were able to own businesses and land
The west was more indifferent to colour - 25% of cowboys were AA, Black businesses flourished and AA lawmen such as Bass Reeves earned formidable reputations
Literacy rates improved significantly for AA s, from 1 in 20 in 1865 to 1 in 2 by 1895
Louisiana had 13000 AA voters in 1896 - as a result of voter registration laws this fell to 5000 by 1900
EJ Waring, an AA lawyer, acted for the mutual Brotherhood of Liberty and encouraged lawsuits as a way of testing Jim Crow laws
Booker T Washington favoured segregation, arguing AA priviledges had to be earned rather than artificial gained by law
Segregated districts became common in both north and south - AAs were denied the opportunity to by homes in white areas
Violence and lynchings punished minor offenses and created a system of mob rule where AAs were not protected by the law
As a result of false arrests and imprisonment a disproportionate number of AAs were found in chain gangs and labour camps
There was a rise in the number of AA religious organisations, banks, insurance schemes and businesses
Robert Reed Church was the first southern AA millionaire - he founded the Solvent Savings Bank, extending credit to AAs, and used his wealth to improve segregated facilities in Memphis
Hundreds of AAs sat in southern state legislatures eg in S Carolina until 1900 and Georgia until 1908