History Revision: Post-13th Amendment Challenges for Black Americans

History Revision

Post-13th Amendment Challenges

• Despite the 13th Amendment's abolishment of slavery in 1865, Black Americans (BAs) faced hostility and discrimination.

Thomas Dartmouth Rice and 'Jim Crow'

• Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, white entertainer Thomas Dartmouth Rice performed a song and dance modeled after a slave, mocking Black Americans.
• He darkened his face to perform, popularizing the character 'Jim Crow'.

Jim Crow Laws

• Following the Civil War, most Southern states passed laws that denied basic human rights to Black Americans.
• 'Jim Crow' became shorthand for these laws.
• Public facilities, such as hotels and theaters, restricted use based on race.
• Segregation was enforced on trains and buses.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

• The KKK re-emerged in 1915 under William Simmons.
• They feared immigrants would damage their "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) way of life.
• The KKK carried out lynchings and beatings against Black Americans.

The Great Migration

• Many Black Americans moved north during World War I in what became known as the Great Migration.
• They sought better wages and opportunities, but this was not always the case.
• Black migrants ended up competing for jobs and were often blamed for tension.
• They were often seen as poorly educated and ended up in "ghettos" known for crime.

Voting Restrictions

• Black Americans did not accept these conditions and struggled to gain equality.
• The "Grandfather Clause" prevented Black Americans whose grandfathers had been slaves from voting.

Economic Hardships

• Most Black Americans were sharecroppers or farm laborers who earned little.
• They were often the first to be fired from jobs.

Responses to Discrimination

• Black Americans responded to discrimination through various means, including music, as exemplified by Duke Ellington.