Status of Black People in 1945
Aim: To investigate the status of black people at the end of the Second World War
Watch this clip and bullet point what you find out about the lives of black people in 1945https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h-JcQp_Sbc (3 mins)
Northern and Southern States of America
Examples of northern states – Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania
Examples of southern states – Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina
• Segregation• Jim Crow laws• Farmers• KKK
• Worked in factories
• Lived in ghettos• Could vote• Earned 50% less
than white people
Term Definition
15th amendment 1870 These laws separated black people from white people
Segregation Freed from slavery
Jim Crow Southern states only allowed black people to vote if they could read and write
Grandfather laws Everyone who was an American citizen could vote
Literacy test Encouraged black people to register to vote. Proportion of black voters rose from 2% in 1940 to 15% in 1945
EmancipationSouthern states said black people could only vote if their grandfathers had been able to
Voter registration campaign Separation
Watch this clip and take notes on the experience of black people during the Second World Warhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7xeHMa7to (3 mins)
Summarise the status of black people by the end of the Second world War. Write a paragraph to explain the positive and negative changes. Include these key words/ phrases:
• Voting• Unemployment• Soldiers• Segregation
• Constitution• Voter registration campaigns• Agriculture• Ghettos
By the end of the Second World War, black peoples lives had improved a bit. For example…..
However, they still faced lots of problems, such as….
Treated completely differently everywhere
Treated exactly the same
How equal were black people and white people in 1945?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
