Jim Crow in the "New South" (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

After Reconstruction ended in 1877, Southern states implemented laws to legalize segregation. These laws made it difficult for Black Americans to advance economically and socially. The laws, known as Jim Crow laws, maintained a system of inequality. 

The effects of segregation extended well into the 20^th century, fueling the Great Migration of millions of African Americans to northern cities in search of better opportunities. The injustices of Jim Crow eventually sparked the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which aimed to dismantle segregation through landmark legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Despite these victories, the legacy of Jim Crow laws continued to shape racial inequality in America, influencing debate about systemic racism and civil rights in the decades to come.

Segregation

Jim Crow Laws   

• Segregation is the separation of individuals based on race

  • It was the foundation of Southern society during this period

• Jim Crow Laws made segregation legal throughout society

  • Separate restrooms, drinking fountains, transportation, schools, and restaurants were enforced

  • Interracial marriages were prohibited

  • African Americans were prevented from serving on juries or being elected to public office

• False accusations were often made under Jim Crow laws, with African Americans not always getting court appearances or fair trials

• Lynch mobs used violence and vigilante justice to enforce racial hierarchies and to convict and punish African Americans

  • Between 1890 and 1899, over 1,100 African Americans were lynched in the United States

Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

• This Supreme Court case challenged segregation laws in Louisiana where Homer Plessy, an African American man, refused to sit in a train carriage designated for Black passengers

• The Supreme Court upheld segregation under the principle of “Separate but equal”

• This effectively legalized segregation nationwide

  • This led to widespread marginalization of African Americans 

Resistance to Jim Crow

• African Americans resisted segregation and inequality in various ways

• Ida B. Wells

  • Wells was a journalist and editor of African American newspaper 

  • She advocated for anti-lynching campaigns and exposed the violence and discrimination faced by African Americans

  • Her activism helped spark the early civil rights movement

• Henry Turner

  • Established the International Migration Society in 1894

  • Sought to emigrate African Americans to Africa as a way to escape oppression in the United States

  • The movement faced a mixed reception:

    • strong resistance by African Americans who did not want to leave their homes despite the challenges they faced

• Booker T. Washington

  • Reformer and educator who supported the idea that African Americans should become self-sufficient through the improvement of themselves without the help of government

    • Focused on vocational training and self-sufficiency

  • Wanted to improve African American communities and foster technical skills as a pathway to equality

  • His approach contrasted with other leaders who pushed for immediate civil rights and integration