Roots of the Civil Rights Movement US History * Mr. Marinello

Life After Slavery After the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, African-Americans were full citizens (on paper) Under Northern, Federal control the south elected the first African-American members of Congress Once reconstruction ended power shifted back to former slave owners. Many White Americans were uncomfortable with the shifting dynamic of power in the south Some used elected office to “re-balance” the power in their favor and some used violence.

Racial Terrorism Former Confederate Officer, Nathan Bedford Forrest founds the Ku Klux Klan. Focused on Southern power against newly freed slave and northern whites running Reconstruction. The group goes through several iteration from 1865 through the 1950s By the 1950s the Klan was a collection of loosely affiliated local organizations. They formed alliances and connection with elected state and local officials in the South, allowing them to act with impunity.

Jim Crow After Reconstruction a climate of separation began to take hold in the south. Not the law Not equal Many southern state officials did not want African-Americans to exercise their rights to vote Poll taxes Literacy taxes Grandfather clauses States began to adopt laws designed to separate White and Black citizens Jim Crow Laws Many of these laws centered on voting What is the impact of “disenfranchising” black voters?

Segregation Jim Crow laws increasingly divided the South into “Whites” and “Colored” areas. Schools, libraries, transportation and restaurants were all segregated. The aim of Jim Crows Laws was to create “separate, but equal” facilities This was far from the truth In 1892, a black man named Homer Plessy boarded a “Whites Only” car on a railroad. He argues that the facilities were not equal and there for his 14th Amendment rights were being violated.

Plessy vs. Ferguson The case goes to the Supreme Court The Court decided that the statue of “separate but equal” is constitutional. As long as the facilities are equal This decision makes Jim Crow laws constitutional This would be the law of the land until 1954