140 likes | 311 Views
The Reform Movements. Civil Rights & Immigration. The Jim Crow South. After Reconstruction, most of the newly won freedoms of African Americans began to disappear. This systemic discrimination was called “Jim Crow” (after a minstrel song-and-dance).
E N D
The Reform Movements
The Jim Crow South • After Reconstruction, most of the newly won freedoms of African Americans began to disappear. • This systemic discrimination was called “Jim Crow” (after a minstrel song-and-dance). • Jim Crow laws began in the South and had spread throughout the country by 1900… • Dominating every aspect of life for African Americans.
The Effectsof Jim Crow • Voting Restrictions—poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. • Segregation—schools, parks, public buildings, hospitals, transportation systems, etc. • RandomViolence—lynching of suspected criminals. • MassMigration—many Africans move north, seeking to escape discrimination…causing race riots in major cities.
Plessy v. Ferguson • Was the upholding of the Jim Crow laws by the Supreme Court. • The case arose when “Octoroon”Homer Plessy was refused a seat on the Louisiana Public Railroad. • The court held that segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities were “equal”… • Which led to the “Separate but Equal” standard for all public places. • African American facilities were rarely (if ever) equal.
African American Resistance • Booker T.Washington—supported legal challenges to segregation and “economic equality”…criticized for his quiet moderation. • W.E.B.Dubois—founded the Niagara Movement, which called for full civil liberties and an end to racial discrimination…argued that education was the key to equality. • NAACP—founded in 1909 and became the main organizing force in the fight for civil rights. W.E.B. Dubois
Immigrants • Between 1865 and 1920, 30 million immigrants arrived in the US… • Most came from northern Europe… • They traveled in steerage—a large open area below deck. • 70% came through New York City’s Ellis Island facilities (the “Golden Door”). • Many were placed in quarantine upon arriving. • Most settled in the Northeast, some went to western mining towns… • Only 2% settled in the South. • In big cities, pay for immigrants was always very low.
An immigrant in quarantine
Nativism • A political movement that sought to guarantee better treatment for native-born Americans… • And also promoted SUSPICION of immigrants. • The American ProtectiveAssociation—called for the teaching of American culture and English-only instruction in schools. • Fought for the Chinese Exclusion act… • Supported forced literacy tests for immigrants. • The biggest targets were immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and Asia.