Notes for Racism and violence against African Americans - IB | RevisionDojo
Racism and violence against African Americans Notes
Jim Crow was more than segregation laws; it was a system of disenfranchisement, economic control, and racial terror that upheld white supremacy after Reconstruction.
Racism and violence against African Americans
The roots of the African American Civil Rights Movement stretch back to the abolitionist movement before the Civil War.
A major turning point came in 1954 with the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
This began to dismantle the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent of “separate but equal.”
This case study for Paper 1 focuses on the period 1954–1964.
However, to understand the basis and structure of systemic racism in the US, we must look back to the second half of the 19th century.
We will also study:
Different strategies and organizations that led legal challenges.
Small-scale activism before 1954.
The post-1954 era of widespread mass protests, which challenged deeply resistant U.S. institutions and demanded full equality for African Americans.
Background
During the American Civil War (1861–65), President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1863).
It declared all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free.
This shifted the Civil War’s focus to include the abolition of slavery as a Union war aim.
After the Civil War, the Constitution was amended:
13th Amendment (1865): Abolished slavery.
14th Amendment (1868): Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.
15th Amendment (1870): Secured voting rights regardless of race or former enslavement.
Note
Amendments are a formal change or addition to the U.S. Constitution that modifies its original text to expand, limit, or clarify the rights and powers of government or citizens.
They are proposed either by a two-thirds vote in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures. To become law, they must then be ratified by three-fourths of the states (either by state legislatures or state conventions).
This shows that the issuing of the 13th, 14th and 15th had significant consensus, but it also shows that laws were needed to combat racism and discrimination that was present in spite of the Civil War abolishing slavery.
Civil Rights Act
1866: The US Congress passed the Civil Rights Act to protect the civil rights of newly freed African Americans after the Civil War.
The Act granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States (except Native Americans).
It guaranteed equal rights to make contracts, own property, and access the courts.
Despite this, there was no sustained political will to enforce the Act.
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Note
The Historical Context of Racism and Violence in the United States
After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments aimed to secure freedom and equality for African Americans.
However, the withdrawal of federal troops in 1877 marked the end of Reconstruction, allowing Southern states to implement Jim Crow laws.
DefinitionJim Crow lawsLaws that enforced racial segregation in public spaces, education, and transportation, creating a system of legalized discrimination.
Many African Americans were trapped in sharecropping and peonage, systems that perpetuated economic dependency and exploitation.
The convict lease system further exploited Black labor, with prisoners forced to work under brutal conditions.
ExampleThe Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company used convict labor to maintain low costs, highlighting the integration of Northern economic interests with Southern racial oppression.
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other white supremacist groups used violence to suppress African American political and social rights.
Lynchings and race riots were common, with thousands of African Americans killed between 1888 and 1923.
NoteIt's a common misconception that lynching was only a Southern phenomenon. While the South had the highest number of lynchings, racial violence also occurred in Northern and Western states.
