History: The Quick(ish) African American Version

African American History: The Quick(ish)

Version

Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum

Period 1(1491-1607)

AP Key Concept 1.2

Contact among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans resulted in the Columbian Exchange and significant social, cultural, and political changes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Beginnings of Slave Labor in the Americas

- Spaniards enslave Native Americans under encomienda and hacienda systems, but many Native Americans die of European diseases (ex. Measles, smallpox, influenza, etc.) + resist Spanish control (ex. Pueblo Revolt) → 1st African slaves forcibly brought to Americas (Spanish Empire) around 1502 by Nicolas Ovando

- “Inspired” by Portuguese slave trade in N Africa

- ↑ Euro demand for sugar → > farmers can afford slaves → enslavement of Africans in the Spanish colonies explodes

West African Cultures

- Most Africans brought to the Americas via the Middle Passage were from Western Africa

- Western African societies characterized by polytheistic religion, rigid matrilineal social order, and advanced farming methods

- Traded iron, crops, livestock, gold, ivory, slaves, etc. within Africa and to Mediterranean (Ghana + Mali only)

- Women played an important role in trade + tribal politics- When Western African tribes went to war, POWs captured would often be

used/sold as slaves, but eventually released back to their tribe- European slave traders took advantage of this + bought POWs from W

African tribes in exchange for European goods- Slave traders also captured non-POWs and sold them into slavery

Impact of the Slave Trade on Africa + the Americas

Africa The Americas

- Most slaves taken to the Americas were men → gender imbalance in W Africa → increased rates of polygamy

- African slave traders get rich → new social hierarchies in W Africa

- Slave trade introduces European goods (+ diseases) into W Africa

- Exchange of diseases (ex. malaria)- Complex racial hierarchies form

- Peninsular → Creole → Mestizo → Mulatto → Indigenous → African

- Syncretic religions form, blending African + Christian religious traditions (ex. Voodoo)

- Slave trade becomes profitable for Portuguese → stimulates econs

Conditions of African Slave Labor in New Spain

- Sugar= main cash crop being cultivated in Spanish colonies- Sugar very labor-intensive → high demand for workers + high death rate

among slaves farming sugarcane- Slaves live in extremely poor conditions (unsanitary, long work hours, no

medical care, beatings, etc.) → high death rate → little natural increase + more and more slaves imported from W Africa

- Slaves packed into crowded ships (tight packing) + many die on Middle Passage

- Slave ships also often strategically packed so that slaves were put with others who didn’t speak the same language (to prevent uprisings)

Period 21607-1754

AP Key Concept 2.1

Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and the varied North American environments where they settled, and they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.

AP Key Concept 2.2

The British colonies participated in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to Britain’s control.

Beginnings of African Slave Labor in the British Colonies

- African slave labor 1st introduced into British colonies in 1619 when a Dutch ship brought 20 African slaves to the Jamestown colony

- Although we can’t be certain how these 1st 20 slaves were treated, there is evidence to indicate that the English viewed them more as indentured servants at 1st (lifelong enslavement not condoned by religion)

- British colonists begin to view non-whites as less human (change from previous view of just non-Christians being less human)

- 1641 Massachusetts becomes 1st colony to explicitly legalize slavery- 1661 Virginia legalizes slavery + says that children of slave women are

born slaves

Growth of Slavery in the Chesapeake Colonies

- 1622 tobacco boom → ↑ labor demand in British colonies (especially the Chesapeake)

- British tobacco planters prefer Euro indentured servants until around 1670s- Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) → ↑ incentive to use slave labor over

indentured servitude (once the indentured servants are free, they get mad + revolt)

- Also, people get richer → can afford more slaves (more cost efficient than indentured servants)

- More slavery in the Chesapeake area than New England bc tobacco cultivation in Chesapeake (New England doesn’t have fertile soil)

- Royal African Co. = (est. 1672) facilitates slave trade; loses monopoly → ↑ slave imports to British colonies (5,000/yr → 45,000/yr)

Triangular Trade

Slavery in the Caribbean

- Sugarcane most lucrative crop- Labor-intensive → import African slaves (by the late 1600s, 4X as many

African slaves than white settlers)- Powerful white minority vs. oppressed slave majority → slave revolts →

beginning 1660s, all islands enact harsh slave codes that give masters total authority over slaves

- Little attention to welfare of slaves → many die (disease, exhaustion, beatings, etc.) + replaced by newly imported slaves → little natural increase + high turnover of slaves → unstable society

- Caribbean colonies main source of slaves for mainland British colonies + provide a plantation model for the other colonies to follow

Slavery in Carolina- S Carolina has strong trading relationship w/ Barbados → form slave-based

plantation society in Carolina - The 4 proprietors of Carolina also had financial interests in the African

slave trade → encourage importation of African slaves- Mostly rice + indigo farming (labor-intensive + specific skills required) →

import slaves from specific regions of Africa (ex. Senegal, Angola) who have experience farming rice

- → ↑ slaves who speak same lang → uprisings - Stono Rebellion= Angolan slaves try to escape to St. Augustine (bc Spanish

offer freedom if British slaves fight for them) + kill some whites along the way → British mad + go to war w/ Spanish

- → Negro Act= limits black rights + places duties on slave imports

Slave Codes- Created by 1700s due to fears of rebellion (ex. Stono

Rebellion)- Slaves not allowed to read, earn own $, assemble

together, move freely w/out passes from masters, testify in court, etc.

- Slaves can be beaten, killed, etc. w/ no consequences for their assailant (usually their master)

- Basically legalize dehumanization + violence against free black people + slaves + restrict rights

- In practice, applied to anyone w/ African ancestry (1 drop rule)

Slavery in New York

- New York used to belong to the Dutch (prominent in slave trade) → has a lot of slaves

- Slaves in NY have more trade-type work bc NY not good for farming/plantations

- Cosmopolitan setting → more interaction between blacks + whites than in other colonies (ex. Some intermarriage)

- Still essentially the same restrictions on slaves + free black people as in the other colonies though

Slavery in Other Colonies

- Georgia- At 1st, prohibit slavery (along with rum + Catholicism) bc Oglethorpe

worried that slavery would cause social unrest + rebellions→ residents unhappy → James Oglethorpe + other proprietors relax rules

- Rice farming prevalent → econ eventually dependant on slavery- Pennsylvania

- Quakers believe in equality + are against slavery → little slavery in Pennsylvania

-

Plantation Slavery- Nuclear families often separated → slaves form extended kinship networks- Syncretic languages form (ex. Gullah= blend of English + African langs)

- Syncretic religions blend Christianity + polytheistic African religions- High racial separations on plantations

- Also separations w/in slave groups (ex. House slaves + field hands get different privileges → separations)

- Some masters more cruel than others, but the vast majority use harsh physical punishments

- Slave women also often sexually abused/assaulted by white masters + overseers → mixed-race children born

- Some slaves eventually buy their freedom w/ $ earned from handiwork, etc., but not a very common occurrence

Period 31754-1800

AP Key Concept 3.2

The American Revolution’s democratic and republican ideals inspired new experiments with different forms of government.

Revolutionary War

- Many slaves take advantage of British presence in S to escape- British let it happen to disrupt American war effort

- S + Carribean more Loyalist bc fear that Revolution → slave uprisings- Revolution → Patriots promote concept of liberty + equality → ↑ resistance

to white control- Ex. Thomas Jeremiah= free black man in S Carolina executed for

conspiring to get British guns to slaves to revolt- Abolitionist sentiments begin spreading in N colonies- Some whites try to justify by arguing that slavery for African Americans

is the only way to ensure freedom for whites

African Americans in the New Nation

- ⅗ Compromise= slaves counted as ⅗ of a person for taxation + representation purposes; part of Great Compromise which combines Virginia + New Jersey Plans

- S fears that trade regs will harm slave econ → Congress can’t tax exports or impose > $10 duty per slave + can’t stop slave trade for 20 yrs

- Constitution provides no protections for African Americans, but also never mentions the word “slavery”

- The Fugitive Slave Act: (1796) allowed Southern slave owners to recapture slaves who escaped to free states

- Naturalization Act of 1790= creates path to citizenship for immigrants, but only whites (free blacks can’t be US citizens)

Racism and Republican Values

- Republican values of equality and freedom contrast starkly w/ the institution of slavery

- “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

- → growing opposition to slavery (ex. James Otis argues that all men are born free) + lays foundation for later movements against slavery

- Some interpreted the right to property to equate to the right to own slaves to justify the practice

Early Abolitionism- Olaudah Equiano= former Nigerian slave who promoted the abolitionist cause +

wrote a famous account of his enslavement (“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”) showing the horrors of slavery

- Slavery abolished relatively early in New England (few slaves) + Pennsylvania (religiously opposed to slavery)

- 1775 Quakers form 1st antislavery society- Every state but Georgia + S Carolina ban further importation of slaves from abroad

by late 1780s- HOWEVER, slavery still survives in S + border states

- By 1804, every northern state took steps toward abolishing slavery → more free African Americans

- The S, however, ultimately did not bring an end to slavery in their region bc their economy depended too much on it

Period 41800-1848

AP Key Concept 4.1

The United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans sought to define the nation’s democratic ideals and change their society and institutions to match them.

AP Key Concept 4.2

Innovations in technology, agriculture, and commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy, precipitating profound changes to U.S. society and to national and regional identities.

AP Key Concept 4.3

The U.S. interest in increasing foreign trade and expanding its national borders shaped the nation’s foreign policy and spurred government and private initiatives.

The Cotton Economy

● 1800s shift of economic power from “upper South” to“lower South”; Reflects growing dominance of cotton in S. economy

● Short-staple cotton able to be grown in variety of climates/soils + 1763 Eli Whitney’s cotton gin easily removes seeds → ↑ cotton farming → ↑ slavery

● Cotton dominates “lower South” or “Cotton Kingdom” = settlement like gold rush era where profit lures wealthy planters to transfer plantations + small slaveholders hoping for social status

● Sale of slaves to Southwest important economic activity

The Slave Trade

- Domestic slave trade widespread + often separates families- Foreign slave trade technically illegal, but smuggling continues + gov’t often

turns a blind eye- The Amistad= (1839) 53 slaves being transported from Cuba try to sail back

to Africa, but get caught; Supreme Court ruling allows slaves to return to Africa

- The Creole= (1841) 135 slaves revolt + take ship headed from Virginia to Louisiana to the British Bahamas instead → freed by British → US mad

Antebellum Society

- “Slave-ocracy”= class divisions in the South based upon slave ownership; top 1% (plantation owners) own 27% of the wealth

- Plantation aristocracy lived a lavish lifestyle- Most Southern whites didn’t own slaves + were self-sufficient farmers

- Some poor whites criticized the planter aristocrats, but most were primarily focused on resenting the North

-

Antebellum Plantation Slavery

- Gang System= cotton, sugar, tobacco; divided in groups and work for how many hours master wants under supervision of slave driver

- Slave driver= employees of master who ensured that slaves filled quotas; often violent in methods

- Task System= rice culture, slaves given particular task in morning and can rest for rest of day after finished

- Plantation size and working conditions- Small plantations: more paternal/affectionate relationship bet. slaves

and masters- Large Plantations: use of “head drivers” and overseer, separated by

location and no interaction

Urban Slavery

- < distinction between slavery and freedom in urban settings

- > autonomy in business + interactions w/ free blacks + poor whites

- Slave # in cities decline as S. cities grow b/c fear conspiracies/insurrections so most slaves are rural slaves

- More urban female slaves than male + more white men than women in cities → ↑ mixed-race population

- Forced segregation increases in cities to make up for less strict slave codes

Slave Culture- Vocal music very important in religion + daily life

- Used in fields to carry messages + pass the time- Songs usually contained a lot of symbolic language to avoid censorship

by masters (ex. “Go Down Moses”)- Slaves were usually members of the same denomination of Christianity as

their masters- African Americans worshipped separate from whites in larger cities, but in

rural areas, they often worshipped in the same church (w/ segregated seating)

- Autonomous black churches were illegal (must be dependent on a white church) + slaves almost always worshipped under a white minister

Slave Culture, Cont.

- Slave religion focused on ideas of freedom + deliverance- Secret “prayer meetings” outside of regular church allowed slaves to

worship independently- Religious images were often used in resistance to slavery- No legal marriages between slaves, but customary to marry and remain

partners for life- Nuclear families often separated by sales → extended kinship networks- Men + women tend to have more equal roles in slave society- Slave women often have children + marry young (less stigma than in white

society + encouraged by owners to make more slaves)

African Americans and the Second Great Awakening

- In some areas, revivals were open to people of all races → some African Americans become involved in the 2nd Great Awakening

- Egalitarian message of the revivals (salvation for all) led many to promote egalitarianism for black people

- Black revival meetings in Virginia → Gabriel Prosser Rebellion= (1800) 1,000 slaves rebel near Richmond, VA, but militia stopped since 2 slaves gave away plot

Slave Resistance

- Many slaves felt resigned to their position and/or dependent upon their masters

- Most common acts of resistance were small things like stealing, doing work poorly, breaking tools, etc.

- Some slaves (mostly young, single men) attempt to escape alone or via Underground Railroad, but most caught by slave patrols (“pattyrollers”) - Underground Railroad= system of abolitionists who harbored slaves +

eventually helped them escape to free states or Canada- Nat Turner Rebellion= (1831) Nat Turner (slave preacher) leads armed

African Americans to Southampton County, VA, killing 60 whites before kill 100 slaves ; only large-scale slave insurrection in 1800s

-

Abolitionism

- American Colonization Society (ACS)= (est. 1817) proposed gradual manumission + slave owner compensation while avoiding challenge to Southerners/their rights- Supported solution of “colonization” = relocating African Americans

outside of US to Liberia (1830)- S. cotton boom + colonization non-viability → abolitionism growth

halted- David Walker= militant free African American; published An Appeal… to the

Colored Citizens (1829); ridiculed conflict between liberty + slavery; said slaves would revolt if slavery continued

Abolitionism, Cont.

- William Lloyd Garrison= editor of The Liberator (abolitionist newspaper) + leading white abolitionist; rejected “gradualism” + demanded immediate emancipation; followers known as “Garrisonians”

- American Anti-Slavery Society = (est. 1833 by Theodore Dwight Weld + William Lloyd Garrison) 1st national militant abolitionist society

- Grows → by 1838: 1350 chapters + 250,000 members nationwide- Underground Railroad: a loose network of sympathetic abolitionists who hid

fugitives in their homes + smuggled them to subsequent “stations” + eventually to free states or Canada- Harriet Tubman: former slave who escaped to Philadelphia + became a

leader in the Underground Railroad

Abolitionism, Cont.

- Frederick Douglass= 1847 purchased freedom/founded North Star (anti-slavery newspaper), achieved renown for autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), demanded full social/economic equality in addition to freedom for African Americans

- Sojourner Truth= freed black woman known for being spokeswoman for the abolitionist movement, gave important speeches supporting feminist/abolitionist cause (ex. “Ain’t I A Woman?”)

- 1st black abolitionist convention held in 1831 + influence grew by forging alliances w/ white abolitionist leaders

Abolitionism, Cont.

- Abolitionists spread their message via newspapers, books, rallies, door-to-door campaigns, etc.

- Political abolitionism → frustrations expression of public anger through propaganda

- Some abolitionist publications used images of whiter-looking, mixed-race slaves to appeal their arguments to bigoted Southern whites (protested slavery on the grounds that whites were being enslaved)

Anti-Abolitionism

- Anti-abolitionists often justified views w/ racist beliefs that blacks were undeserving/inferior

- believed blacks incapable of independent living + slavery was beneficial to them

- rooted in Southern society’s hierarchical perspective: subordination necessary to support stable/orderly lifestyle

- Argued slavery was a “positive good” + not just a necessary evil- Argued that slavery was integral to the Southern economy, and therefore the

US economy as a whole → claimed abolishing slavery would devastate the economy

- Used religion + false scientific claims in attempts to justify the enslavement of African Americans

The Missouri Compromise

- Tallmadge Amendment= (1819) proposed by James Tallmadge Jr.; would prohibit slaves from being brought to Missouri + gradually free those already there; → big controversy bc would upset balance between slave + free states

- Maine also wants to be a state → Henry Clay says that if Tallmadge Amendment passes, S won’t let Maine in

- → Missouri Compromise= (1820) Maine free state, Missouri slave state; to relieve growing sectional tensions

- Thomas Amendment= no slavery in Louisiana purchase land N of Missouri

Period 51844-1877

AP Key Concept 5.2

Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.

AP Key Concept 5.3

The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

- Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe - Considered most powerful document of abolitionist propaganda- Appeared as antislavery newspaper serial in 1851 + published in 1852 as a

book (sold 300k copies within 1st year of publication)- Brought abolitionism message to broader audience (combination of political

ideas w/ conventional literary styles)- Depicted good/kindly slaves victimized by cruel institution of slavery,

became popular American legend/work of fiction- Inflamed sectional tensions between North/South as novel’s impacts

resonated throughout the nation

Westward Expansion and Sectional Tensions Over Slavery

- Manifest Destiny= idea that US destined to expand + spread ideals- Many Western settlers want to bring slaves w/ them → tensions over

whether slavery should be allowed in W territories- Wilmot Proviso= debated bill that would ban slavery in territory from

Mexican-American War- James K. Polk wants to extend Missouri Compromise line to Pacific Coast,

but others promote popular sovereignty (each territory decides whether it wants to have slavery)

- Free Soil Party= wants end to slavery; support WIlmot Proviso; get 10 seats in Congress in 1848 election

Sectional Tensions Over Slavery, Cont.

- Personal Liberty Laws= laws in N that allow courts + police to defy Fugitive Slave Act + not return runaway slaves

- Clay’s Compromise= proposed California free state, new territorial govs in lands from Texas get popular sovereignty, abolition of slave trade, new fugitive slave law in DC

- → fails in Congress, but big debate over slavery → Compromise of 1850= Wilmot Proviso rejected; Texas surrenders claim to New Mexico; slavery banned in DC; stricter Fugitive Slave Law; doesn’t solve sectional tensions

- Dred Scott Decision: (1857) affirmed right of slave owners to take slaves into W territories

-

Sectional Tensions Over Slavery, Cont.

- White settlement expands to Plains → ↑ conflict over slavery- Kansas-Nebraska Act= (1854, Stephen Douglas) splits Kansas-Nebraska

territory in 2; repeals Missouri Compromise; grants popular sovereignty in Kansas + Nebraska

- → ↓ Whigs + formation of Republican Party 1854- Bleeding Kansas

- Missourians move to Kansas to vote pro-slavery → Lecompton Constitution → free-soil people set up 2nd gov + claim legitimacy + declare slavery illegal in Kansas → violent conflicts between pro-slavery + anti-slavery forces

- Kansas statehood ultimately postponed until 1861 (free state)

Sectional Tensions Over Slavery, Cont.

- Pottawatomie Massacre= John Brown (fervent abolitionist in Kansas) kills 5 pro-slavery people; → ↓ image of abolitionists

- Conflict over slavery → Congressman Preston Brooks literally beats Charles Sumner w/ a cane after Sumner gives “The Crime Against Kansas” speech

- “Slave Power Conspiracy”= idea that Southern society is the antithesis to democracy + that the N must fight slavery to save democracy; core idea of Republican Party

- John Brown’s Raid= (1859) John Brown tries to cause slave uprising by taking US arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA → fails + executed for treason

- S thinks Reps supported Brown’s actions → ↑ desire for secession

Abraham Lincoln

- The Lincoln-Douglas Debates= Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas debates over slavery; Lincoln argues that if the gov’t can say that black people have no rights, they could equally deny the rights of white people + that free labor is good for the econ

- Would probably still be considered racist today, but was open to abolishing slavery

The Civil War(Disclaimer: I’m not going to get into all the battles and who seceded when.)

- Crittenden Compromise= calls for constitutional amendment to guarantee slavery + reinstate Missouri Compromise, but rejected

- Confiscation Act of 1861= all slaves used for insurrection declared free; not really effective considering that the S doesn’t follow the N’s laws

- 2nd Confiscation Act= slaves of rebels free + US can use African Americans as soldiers; bans slavery in DC + W territories

- Emancipation Proclamation= (1863) slaves in Confederate states freed; doesn’t include Union slave states; few immediate effects

- In chaos of war, many slaves in S escape to the N + join Union Army- ↓ quality of life for slaves still in S

The Civil War, Cont.

- 54th Massachusetts Infantry= African American troops commanded by white Robert Gould Shaw

- Exception to the rule-- most African American Union soldiers had menial tasks

- Many black soldiers die of disease + are paid less- Some black soldiers captured by Confederates + returned to owners or

sold into slavery- The 13th Amendment= (1865) abolishes slavery throughout the US

Reconstruction

- ↑ African American communities (ex. Churches, schools, aid societies)- Also ↑ black influence in ptix (ex. Hiram Revels + Blanche Bruce serve in

Senate)- Many former slaves forced to stay on plantations + work as tenant farmers

or sharecroppers- African Americans in S experience reactionary violence (ex. lynchings) from

upset whites (ex. 1st rise of the KKK)- Freedmen’s Bureau= (est. 1865) distributes food + establishes schools for

black people + poor whites; only operates for 1 yr + underfunded- More traditional family structures → ↑ gender roles in African American

communities (i.e. women do domestic work, men = breadwinners)

The Crop-Lien System + Sharecropping- Sharecropping

- Black people work whites’ land + pay rent + supply costs- Often leaves African Americans trapped in a cycle of debt to the

landowner - Some landowners treat black sharecroppers like slaves (ex. Physical

punishment)- The Crop-Lien System

- When take out loan for farming supplies, put lien on crops as collateral- Leaves many people in debt (especially African Americans) + ↑

dependency on cash crops- HOWEVER, also ↑ black share of profits + allows African Americans to

work fewer hours than before

Reconstruction Plans

- 10% Plan= (Lincoln) amnesty to Southerners who take loyalty pledge + when 10% of a state does, can set up state gov’t

- Wade-Davis Bill= (1864) authorizes president to appoint provisional governors for S states + when majority in state take oath, can do Constitutional Convention; new Constitutions must ban slavery + punish leaders of rebellion; vetoed by Lincoln

- Ironclad Oath= pledge that they have never fought against the Union- Presidential Plan= (Johnson) amnesty to Southerners who take loyalty

pledge, but not leaders; otherwise basically like Wade-Davis Bill; little support to African Americans

- Rejected by Radical Republican Congress

Reconstruction Plans, Cont.

- Congressional Reconstruction= states that ratify 14th Amendment can be readmitted; outlined in 3 bills; all those who didn’t fight for S can vote in readmitted states; new state constitutions must be approved by Congress

Black Codes and Civil Rights

- Black Codes= laws in S states that oppress African Americans; police can arrest unemployed black people for vagrancy + send them to prison where forced to work on plantations in chain gangs; black people can only have jobs as servants + plantation workers

- Civil Rights Act of 1866= African Americans US citizens + USFG can interfere w/ state gov’ts to protect citizens’ rights

- 14th Amendment= defines birthright citizenship + grants equal protection of the laws; places penalties on state gov’ts that deny universal male suffrage; people who aided Confederacy can’t hold office

- 15th Amendment= forbids denying suffrage on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

The 1st Rise of the KKK

- Klu Klux Klan (KKK)= (est. 1866) secret society of white racists founded by Nathan Bedford Forrest; go on “midnight rides” to terrorize + lynch African Americans + carpetbaggers

- Enforcement Acts/KKK Acts= outlaw voting discrimination + allows USFG to prosecute individuals under federal law; president can use military + suspend habeas corpus to protect civil rights

- → Grant uses federal troops to stop 1st rise of the KKK in S Carolina in 1871

Booker T. Washington

- Advocate for African American education + founded Tuskegee Institute- Encourages black people to assimilate into white society to win white

support- Atlanta Compromise= idea that African Americans should strive for

econ gains + demonstrate “worthiness” of rights instead of fighting for immediate social + political equality

Legacies of Reconstruction

- Ultimately, the Reconstruction failed to resolve racial tensions in the US, which were arguably the root cause of the Civil War in the 1st place

- People too scared to infringe upon states’ rights + private property rights- Most white people still held internalized racist beliefs about black people- 14th + 15th Amendments serve as basis for later civil rights movements

Period 61865-1898

AP Key Concept 6.1

Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States.

AP Key Concept 6.2

The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.

AP Key Concept 6.3

The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies.

Increasing Racial Discrimination

- 1883 Supreme Court rules that private co.s + people can discriminate on the basis of race

- Plessy v. Ferguson= (1896) segregation allowed if accomodations “separate but equal”

- ↑ African American voting restrictions in 1890s (ex. Poll tax, literacy tests affirmed by Supreme Court in Williams v. Mississippi, grandfather laws)

- Jim Crow Laws= network of state statutes that segregate + disenfranchise black people; maintains racial order in S + strips black people of gains made in 1880s

- ↑ lynchings + authorities cooperate → Anti-Lynching Movement started by Ida B. Wells in 1892, but fail to get federal anti-lynching law

African Americans in the West

- Multiracial working class, but still racial stratification- Cowboys often odd combination of former Confederate soldiers + freed

slaves- Some black people in the West, like whites, started farming

- Experienced same grievances over high shipping rates for crops, high interest rates, low demand, etc. as other farmers of the time period

- The West represents freedom + a new frontier; in many cases, a new life for recently freed African Americans

African American Farmers

- ↑ farming technology → ↓ smaller farms → puts many African Americans’ livelihoods in danger

- Some African Americans join Populist Movement → “Colored Alliances” = groups of African American populists; most white populists ok w/ it except Southerners

- However, eventually ↑ bigotry (of all sorts) in populist party

African Americans in the Industrial Society

- Social Darwinism= idea that applies Darwin’s theory of evolution to economics + sociology; claims that those who are poor or underprivileged (including many African Americans) are just inherently less “fit” than others; justifies the disadvantages of laissez-faire capitalism

- At the same time, however, many believe in the idea of the “Self-Made Man,” but it wasn’t necessarily realistic for all Americans to achieve that vision due to factors such as poverty and racism

- Some middle-class African Americans get to reap the benefits of growing consumer society, but most black people remain working class

- Urban neighborhoods often segregated by race + national origins

African Americans and the Labor Movement

- The Knights of Labor included both African Americans and women, who were excluded by the NFL (National Federation of Labor)

- Failed strikes → Knights of Labor forced to disband by mid-1890s- American Federation of Labor refuses to organize unskilled laborers, many

of whom were black → weakens labor movement as a whole + fails to gain rights for many African American workers

Black Soldiers in the Spanish-American War

- Yellow fever spreading in Tampa, Florida, as US is trying to gather troops to deploy them → send African American soldiers as “immunes” (... but many still die of yellow fever anyway)

- Soldiers still segregated + black soldiers typically given menial tasks- 10th Cavalry= group of black soldiers; help US win battle @ Kettle Hill, but

not recognized at the time due to racism

Period 71890-1945

AP Key Concept 7.1

Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.

AP Key Concept 7.2

Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.

AP Key Concept 7.3

Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.

Continued Segregation

- Cummings v. County Board of Education= (1899) white-only schools allowed even if no comparable African American schools exist

African Americans and Progressivism

- Social Gospel seeks to reform cities + reduce urban poverty, which often affected African Americans due to limited job opportunities + lower pay

- For many white women, the push for women’s suffrage was justified by the fact that African American men already had suffrage

- Upper-class white women were salty that they couldn’t vote + black men could

- Many suffragists actively excluded black women bc they thought including them would delegitimize their cause

- That said, some African American women were involved in suffrage via “colored women’s associations”

African Americans and Progressivism, Cont.

- W.E.B. DuBois= argues for equality of African Americans via social change in “The Souls of Black Folk”

- Niagra Movement= (est. 1905) DuBois supporters- Niagra Movement + white progressives → NAACP (National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People)= organization to fight for the legal rights of African Americans

- Guinn v. US= (1915) grandfather clause unconstitutional- Buchanan v. Worley= (1917) residential segregation can’t be

enforced by law

African Americans in World War I

- 400,000 African American soldiers either volunteer or are enlisted under Selective Service Act

- Most put in menial positions + military still segregated- Racial conflicts between soldiers (ex. 1917 African American soldiers on a

base in Houston riot → 17 die)- French treat African American soldiers as equals → Colonel J.L.A. Linard of

the American Expeditionary Force writes memo to the French requesting that they follow Jim Crow laws + segregate themselves from US black soldiers

Red Summer of 1919

- African American soldiers return from WWI → ↑ demand for equal rights, but also ↑ racism against black people (esp. soldiers)

- 1919 Chicago Race Riots= whites kill black teen for being on beach → black people protest → riots

- Similar riots take place across the nation, often requiring federal or state troops to quell them

- Newspapers + police were often very sympathetic to the white rioters compared to the black ones

- Marcus Garvey= promotes black resistance to white racism + violence; forms United Negro Improvement Association

- (Note: See “Returning Soldiers” packet for WAY more info than I can fit here.)

Great Migration

- Racism + poverty in the S + new opportunities in the N → many African Americans migrate N

- ↑ Southern African Americans in N cities → ↑ racial conflict (ex. St. Louis white mob kills 40 black migrants)

- Some Northern black people resented the influx of Southern African Americans bc they thought they presented a bad/backwards image of black people

- Great Migration → new black cultural movements- Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters= African American union founded by

A. Philip Randolph; fights for higher wages + fewer hours

The Harlem Renaissance

- ↑ African American artists + intellectuals - Jazz plays a big role in urban black culture during the Harlem Renaissance

- Big names include Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, etc.

- Cotton Club= famous jazz club w/ lots of prominent African American artists

- Langston Hughes= black poet who wrote poems promoting black pride (ex. “I am a Negro-- and beautiful”)

- Alain Locke= wrote “The New Negro”; 1st black Rhodes Scholar - Aaron Douglas= prominent black painter; used Afro-centric imagery to

portray social issues + promote black rights

The Second Rise of the KKK

- 2nd Rise of the KKK begins 1915- Start targeting Catholics, Jews, + foreigners in addition to black people- Prompted by rising immigration → ↑ nativism + racism

- “The Birth of a Nation”= film that glorifies the KKK; encourages people to join the KKK

- KKK claims to promote “traditional values” + “racial preservation” + not be a fundamentally racist organization like it is

- David Stephenson= head of KKK in Indiana; raped + murdered a secretary → ↓ KKK image + ↓ KKK membership after 1925

African Americans + the Great Depression

- @ beginning of Depression, most African Americans lived in the S as farmers

- Depression → whites claim they should have jobs before blacks → ↑ black unemployment → many head N in search of opportunities (continued Great Migration)

- Scottsboro Case= 9 black teens accused of raping white woman (but literally no evidence they did it) → 8 sentenced to death; decision overturned by Supreme Court in 1932

- ↑ role of NAACP in labor + helping black people find jobs during the Depression

- Black women especially lose jobs bc mostly domestic service

African Americans + the New Deal- New Deal doesn’t do a whole lot to help black people

- Enforces existing discrimination (ex. CCC segregated, NRA codes allow black people to be payed <, blacks excluded from TVA, etc.)

- Eleanor Roosevelt promotes racial equality (ex. Marian Anderson prevented from giving concert @ Daughters of the Revolution concert hall → Eleanor Roosevelt resigns from DoR + gets Anderson another venue → Easter Sunday Concert)

- “Black Cabinet”= group of black people in 2nd level gov positions appointed by Roosevelt; includes Robert Weaver, William Hastie, + Mary McLeod Bethune

- → ↑ New Deal relief to help black people → ↑ African American Democrats

African Americans in World War II

- A. Philip Randolph demands that co.s w/ contracts from USFG integrate → threatens march on Washington → FDR forms Fair Employment Practices Commission

- ↑ demand for war plant labor → ↑ African Americans in N cities → racial conflicts

- Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)= organization to protest discrimination- Put pressure on military → ↑ equality for black soldiers + ↑ black

enlistees → some racial conflicts (ex. Fort Dix)- Military still segregated

Period 81945-1980

AP Key Concept 8.2

New movements for civil rights and liberal efforts to expand the role of government generated a range of political and cultural responses.

AP Key Concept 8.3

Postwar economic and demographic changes had far-reaching consequences for American society, politics, and culture.

Aftermath of WWII

- Many African American and other minority workers booted out of their jobs as white men returned home from war

- African American service in WWII → Truman issues Executive Order 9981= (1948) desegregates military + forms advisory committee to make it happen

- → resistance, but by the end of the Korean War, the military is integrated

-

African Americans’ Role in the “Affluent Society”

- Many African Americans were persistently poor (not as impoverished as Native Americans, though)

- As many urban whites moved outwards to the suburbs, inner cities more neglected → “ghettos” form + trap many urban African Americans

- Attributed to a combination of migration, decrease in blue-collar jobs, and racism

- Furthered by African American migration from the rural S into N cities- “Urban renewal”= effort to tear down + rebuild poor areas of cities;

sometimes provided new public housing, but sometimes created slums

Causes of the Civil Rights Movement

- Legacy of African American service in WWII + WWI- Growth of urban black middle class after WWII

- Leaders of black communities lead efforts to gain equal rights (often more acutely aware of the rights being deprived)

- TV + popular culture remind African Americans of the advantages of the white majority + news broadcasts can spread imagery + info of black activism across the country + inspire new movements

- Cold War made racism really embarrassing as US was trying to present itself to the world as a model nation

- Northern African Americans politically mobilize in Democratic Party → party leaders can’t ignore them anymore

The Civil Rights Movement- Brown v. Board of Education= (1954) Supreme Court rules in favor of racial

integration in schools, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson decision- Thurgood Marshall= lead NAACP lawyer representing Brown; colleagues

include William Hastie + James Nabrit- Brown II= 2nd Supreme Court ruling providing rules for following the initial order

of the Brown decision; rules that communities must integrate w/ “all deliberate speed”

- Brown decision → widespread resistance among racists (called “massive resistance” in S)

- “White Citizens Councils” actively work against integration under guise of preserving order- Many school districts enact “pupil placement laws,” which were basically thinly veiled segregation, but

were ruled as constitutional in Shuttlesworth v. Board of Education

The Civil Rights Movement, Cont.

- Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas: had to be federally ordered to integrate + ultimately required bringing in the National Guard to stop white protestors from assaulting + harassing black students

- Rosa Parks= refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama → arrested → many boycott bus system in protest (Montgomery Bus Boycott) → Montgomery buses stop discriminatory seating policies

- Martin Luther King Jr.= civil rights activist + Baptist pastor; promoted nonviolent protest based on the teachings of Gandhi; organizes Montgomery Bus Boycott + March on Washington; “I Have a Dream” speech

The Civil Rights Movement, Cont.

- Civil Rights Act of 1957= establishes Civil Rights section of Justice Department + allows federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference w/ the right to vote

- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)= organizes sit-ins for black college students (ex. Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in)

- “Freedom rides” = bus trips in the S organized by CORE to protest bus segregation; → violence from whites → sometimes federal marshals needed to keep the peace

- Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)= creates citizen education programs organized by Ella Baker to mobilize African Americans against discrimination

The Civil Rights Movement, Cont.

- MLK organizes nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham 1963 → police attack protestors + Governor George Wallace prevents black students from enrolling in University of Alabama → federal marshals arrive and force Wallace to give in

- JFK supports civil rights movement → Civil Rights Act of 1964= prohibits segregation in public accomodations + barrs discrimination in employment

- March on Washington= 200,000 demonstrators gather in front of Lincoln Memorial + MLK gives “I Have a Dream” speech

- “Freedom Summer”= (1964) civil rights workers campaign throughout S for equal voting rights; → violent responses from S whites (ex. Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, + James Chaney killed by KKK)

The Civil Rights Movement, Cont.

- Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)= integrated alternative to Democratic Party; led by Fannie Lou Hamer; DNC only lets MFDP sit as observers

- Selma= (1965) march organized by MLK to protest for black voting rights; police sheriff Jim Clark leads attack on protestors + several killed → outrage → pushes LBJ to pass Voting Rights Act

- Civil Rights Act of 1965/Voting Rights Act= provides federal protections to African Americans trying to vote

- De jure vs. de facto segregation-- some black activists challenge de facto segregation + want affirmative action

- Chicago Campaign= attempts to show latent racism in N, but receives bad reaction from N whites

The Civil Rights Movement, Cont.

- Watts Riot= white police officer beats black bystander w/ club → week-long violence in protest (ex. Burning buildings, looting stores, shooting police, etc.); 34 people die before quelled by National Guard

- → Commission on Civil Disorders formed + recommends $ to ↑ conditions in ghettos

- → many white Americans become more hesitant about the Civil Rights Mvt.

Black Power

- Move away from racial cooperation + towards racial distinctiveness + pride- → ↑ black artistic + literary movements, ↑ African hair + clothing styles

- Black Power → schism w/in Civil Rights Movement (cooperation w/ whites vs. independence)

- More radical organizations such as the Black Panther Party (founded by Huey Newton + Bobby Seale) ok w/ violence as a means of self-defense

- → fear among some whites, but in reality, the Black Panthers were more often victims of police violence than practitioners of it

Black Power, Cont.

- Nation of Islam= (est. 1931 by Elijah Poole) taught African Americans to take responsibility for their own lives, live by strict codes of behavior, + resist dependence upon whites

- Malcolm X= spokesman for Black Muslims + Black Power mvt; didn’t advocate violence, but said that black people have a right to defend themselves; wrote “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”

- Fun fact: the “X” stands for his lost African surname

Period 91980-Present

AP Key Concept 9.1

A newly ascendant conservative movement achieved several political and policy goals during the 1980s and continued to strongly influence public discourse in the following decades.

African Americans After the Civil Rights Movement

- ↑ middle class African Americans + ↑ black education- However, many inner city African Americans remain impoverished,

underserved by the US education system, and incarcerated at a higher rate than white populations

- Aspects of black culture have risen in nationwide popularity, but are rarely given credit

Issues that Continue Today- The War on Drugs

- Disproportionate incarceration rates- According to John Ehrlichman (Nixon aid): “We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either

against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

- Representation- Popular culture- Politics

- Police Brutality- Black Lives Matter Movement- All Lives Matter/Blue Lives Matter Movement (reaction to BLM)

- Urban poverty + schools