Jim Crow test: Jim Crow era

What was Reconstruction trying to accomplish, and how did Jim Crow undo it?

Reconstruction aimed for racial equality and Black male voting rights. Jim Crow undermined these goals through segregation, violence, and voter suppression.

What was Jim Crow?

A system of laws and customs that enforced racial segregation and discrimination against Black Americans, especially in the South.

What was blackface?

A performance practice in which people, usually white performers, darkened their skin to mock Black Americans and reinforce racist stereotypes.

What did the “Uncle Tom” and “Sambo” stereotypes portray?

Black men as submissive, obedient, and dependent on white people.

What was the “Brute” stereotype?

A racist portrayal of Black men as violent and dangerous, used to justify discrimination and racial violence.

What was the “Mammy” stereotype?

A portrayal of Black women as happy, loyal servants who cared for white families.

What was the “Jezebel” stereotype?

A racist stereotype portraying Black women as overly sexual, used to excuse sexual exploitation and violence.

What was the “Pickaninny” stereotype?

A racist caricature portraying Black children as dirty, foolish, or less than human.

What was disenfranchisement?

The process of taking away or restricting people's right to vote.

How did Southern states use poll taxes to suppress Black voters?

They required voters to pay fees that many Black citizens could not afford.

How were literacy tests used to suppress Black voters?

Officials used unfair and difficult tests designed to prevent Black citizens from registering to vote.

What were grandfather clauses?

Laws that exempted people from voting restrictions if their ancestors had been eligible to vote before a certain date, usually benefiting whites.

What were white primaries?

Primary elections that excluded Black voters, preventing them from influencing which candidates advanced to general elections.

What were anti-miscegenation laws?

Laws banning interracial marriage and, in some cases, interracial relationships. They were struck down in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.

What was Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?

A Supreme Court decision that upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.

What did “separate but equal” mean in practice?

Black and white people could be separated by law, but facilities for Black Americans were usually underfunded and inferior.

What was sharecropping?

A farming system in which tenants worked landowners’ land in exchange for part of the crops.

How did sharecropping trap Black farmers in poverty?

High rent and supply costs created debts that farmers struggled to repay, keeping many dependent on landowners.

What was the convict leasing system?

A system in which states leased incarcerated people to private businesses for forced labor under harsh conditions.

How did Black Codes contribute to convict leasing?

Black Codes criminalized certain behaviors and restricted Black freedom, allowing authorities to arrest and lease many Black people for labor.

How did the 13th Amendment allow convict leasing to continue?

It abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime, creating a loophole exploited through forced prison labor.

How did Black community institutions help people survive Jim Crow?

Churches, schools, and mutual aid societies provided education, support, leadership, safety, and community.

What was code-switching?

Adjusting speech or behavior to fit different social situations and expectations.

What was dissembling under Jim Crow?

Hiding one's true thoughts or abilities and appearing compliant to reduce the risk of discrimination or violence.

What did Booker T. Washington believe Black Americans should prioritize?

Vocational education, practical job skills, and economic independence as a path toward advancement.

What was the Tuskegee Institute?

A school founded by Booker T. Washington that trained Black students in agriculture, trades, and practical skills.

What was the Atlanta Compromise speech of 1895?

A speech in which Booker T. Washington encouraged Black Americans to focus on economic progress while temporarily accepting social segregation.

What were lynchings?

Extrajudicial killings, often committed by white mobs to terrorize Black Americans and maintain white supremacy.

What was Without Sanctuary?

A collection documenting the history and evidence of lynching in the United States.

Who was Ida B. Wells-Barnett?

A Black journalist and activist who investigated lynchings and fought racial injustice.

What was The Red Record?

Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s 1895 publication documenting lynching and challenging the excuses used to justify it.

What was the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill?

A proposed federal law intended to make lynching a federal crime. It passed the House but failed to become law.

How did W.E.B. Du Bois disagree with Booker T. Washington?

Du Bois demanded immediate civil rights, political equality, and higher education rather than accepting segregation and delaying political demands.

What was The Souls of Black Folk?

W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1903 book criticizing racism and challenging Booker T. Washington’s approach.

What was Du Bois’s Talented Tenth idea?

He argued that highly educated Black Americans should become leaders and help advance racial equality.

What was the Niagara Movement?

A civil rights movement founded in 1905 that demanded equal rights and an end to racial discrimination.

What was the NAACP?

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to fight racial discrimination through legal action, advocacy, and organizing.

How did the Harlem Renaissance resist racism?

Black writers, artists, and musicians celebrated Black identity, challenged stereotypes, and promoted racial pride through their work.

When and where did the Harlem Renaissance take place?

Mainly during the 1920s in Harlem, New York City.

What was the Great Migration?

The movement of millions of Black Americans from the rural South to Northern and other regions in search of better opportunities and freedom from Jim Crow.

What pushed Black Americans to leave the South?

Racial violence, lynchings, segregation, voter suppression, sharecropping debt, and limited opportunities.

Why did Black Americans migrate to Chicago?

Chicago offered industrial and stockyard jobs, growing Black communities, and newspapers such as The Chicago Defender.

Who were the Exodusters, and why did they migrate to Kansas?

Black migrants who moved to Kansas, especially in the late 1870s, seeking land ownership, safety, and greater independence.

Why was Harlem important to Black Americans?

Harlem became a major center of Black culture, artistic expression, political organizing, and community life.