Key Definitions and Concepts

• Missouri Compromise (1820)

  • Aim: Maintain balance between free and slave states.

  • Established a line of latitude:

  • North of the line: Free states

  • South of the line: Slave states

• Kansas-Nebraska Act

  • Allowed people to vote on whether new territories would be free or slave.

  • Nullified the Missouri Compromise.

• Bleeding Kansas

  • Violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

• Scott v. Sandford

  • Supreme Court case that stated slavery could spread into new territories.

  • Angered Northerners who opposed slavery; pleased Southerners.

• Popular Sovereignty

  • Concept allowing residents of a territory to decide on the legality of slavery.

• Secession

  • The act of Southern states leaving the U.S. to form their own government.

• 13th Amendment

  • Abolished slavery in the United States.

• 14th Amendment

  • Granted citizenship to individuals born in the U.S. and protected their rights.

• 15th Amendment

  • Granted voting rights to Black men.

• 24th Amendment

  • Abolished poll taxes designed to hinder Black voters.

• Reconstruction

  • Post-Civil War period aimed at rebuilding the Southern economy while integrating freed slaves.

• Plessy v. Ferguson

  • Supreme Court case that upheld segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

• Brown v. Board of Education

  • Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation in schools unconstitutional.

• Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

  • Hate group that terrorized Black individuals and communities.

• Freedmen's Bureau

  • Agency that provided assistance to freed slaves to aid in their transition to freedom.

• Lynching

  • Illegal and extrajudicial killings of Black individuals, often by hanging.

• Segregation

  • The enforced separation of racial groups in various public and private settings.

• De Facto Segregation

  • Segregation that occurs naturally without legal enforcement.

• De Jure Segregation

  • Segregation enforced by law, now illegal.

Jim Crow Laws and Voting Restrictions

• Jim Crow Laws

  • Laws that enforced racial segregation and limited the rights of Black Americans in the South.

• Grandfather Clause

  • Law that exempted individuals from literacy tests and poll taxes if their grandfathers had previously been able to vote; effectively disenfranchised Black voters.

• Literacy Tests

  • Tests designed to assess reading and writing skills, often made intentionally difficult to disenfranchise Black voters.

• Poll Tax

  • A fee required to vote, disproportionately impacting Black citizens who could not afford it.

Civil Rights Movement

• Civil Rights Act of 1964

  • Legislation that outlawed segregation in public places and employment, dismantling Jim Crow laws.

• Voting Rights Act of 1965

  • Legislation transferring voter registration control to the federal government and ensuring voter protection.

Key Events and Questions

• March to Selma

  • Civil rights march that led directly to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

• Plessy v. Ferguson Significance

  • Affirmed that segregation was legal if facilities were "separate but equal."

• Discrimination in the South

  • Segregation: Black individuals detained from sharing public spaces.

  • Violence: KKK lynchings and threats.

  • Employment: Discriminatory practices preventing equal job opportunities.

• Voting Prevention Tactics

  • Grandfather Clause: Limited voting rights based on ancestry.

  • Literacy Tests: Deliberately difficult assessments designed to exclude Black voters.

  • Poll Tax: Financial barrier to voting.

• Impact of Brown v. Board

  • Overturned segregation in schools by declaring it unconstitutional; crucial step toward ending segregation.

• MLK on Nonviolence

  • Advocated for nonviolent resistance to highlight injustice, inspired by Gandhi and successful peaceful protests such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.