VII. Jim Crow & African Americans

Black Codes

Laws enacted by Southern states immediately after the Civil War that restricted the rights and economic opportunities of formerly enslaved people. They matter because they demonstrated Southern efforts to maintain racial and economic control even after slavery was abolished.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation and discrimination, particularly in the South, beginning in the late nineteenth century. They matter because they established a legal system of racial inequality that replaced slavery and restricted African Americans' political, social, and economic opportunities.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal." It matters because it gave constitutional approval to segregation and helped establish the legal foundation of Jim Crow for decades.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system in which farmers worked land owned by someone else in exchange for a share of the crops, often becoming trapped in cycles of debt. It matters because it became a major source of economic dependence for formerly enslaved people and poor Southern farmers after the Civil War.

Booker T. Washington

An African American educator who emphasized vocational education, economic self-sufficiency, and gradual advancement as strategies for Black Americans. He matters because his approach represented one major response to racial discrimination during the Jim Crow era and influenced Black education and economic development.

W.E.B. Du Bois

An African American scholar and activist who advocated immediate civil rights, voting rights, higher education, and political equality. He matters because he challenged gradualist approaches to racial equality and became one of the most influential early civil rights leaders.

Talented Tenth

W.E.B. Du Bois's idea that the most highly educated and accomplished ten percent of Black Americans could help lead the broader Black community. It matters because it reflected Du Bois's emphasis on higher education and Black leadership as tools for challenging racial inequality.