Reconstruction &

Old Jim CrowLECTURE NOTES

What is Reconstruction?

Post Civil War period (1865-1877)

The period following the Civil War of

rebuilding the United States.

Region: South

Reconstruction Amendments

13th Amendment: Abolished slavery. FREE

14th Amendment: Gave African-Americans

citizenship. CITIZENSHIP

15th Amendment: Gave African-Americans the right to vote. VOTE

Jim Crow Laws

Laws put into place at the

state and local level to

enforce segregation

Segregation: the separation of whites and blacks

Examples of Jim Crow Laws

Segregation of public schools

Segregation of public places such as libraries, pools, and parks

Denial of services at restaurants

Segregation of restroom and water fountains

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court ruling that

upheld Jim Crow laws and

the doctrine of “separate,

but equal”.

Significance of the Plessy Decision

Due to this decision,

the doctrine of

“separate, but

equal” remained

legal until the mid-

1950’s

The Fight Against

Jim CrowKEY FIGURES

Ida B. Wells

Organized the national Anti-Lynching Crusade.

Lynching – murder by hanging.

One of the main tactics used to terrorize African Americans, especially in the South.

Her research revealed that 728 African American men and women had been lynched in the past decade.

W.E.B DuBois

Real name was William Edward Burghardt.

First African American to receive a Ph. D from Harvard University.

Noted Historian.

One of the founders of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Editor of the journal The Crisis.

Wanted immediate racial equality and integration.

Booker T. Washington

Prominent African American leader.

Argued African Americans should:

Seek gradual equality

Focus on job training

Do not be too demanding with

integration

Established the Tuskegee Institute.

Atlanta Compromise Speech (1895)