Civil rights, human rights, and the rise of Jim Crow Laws
The first colored senator and representatives - in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States
Credit: Library of Congress
Essential Question:
After the establishment of the Reconstruction amendments in the 1860s, African Americans, including those formerly enslaved, had civil and human rights for a brief period. They were able to do things like vote, hold office, and buy land. However, this was all short-lived. By the late 1870s, racist Jim Crow laws began appearing across the United States. The goal of these Jim Crow laws was to strip African American people of their civil and human rights. Jim Crow laws continued well into the 1950s.
Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments promised freedom, equality, and voting rights, many white lawmakers, especially in the South, passed laws to limit those rights. These Jim Crow laws forced Black and white people to use separate schools, buses, restaurants, and other public spaces. They also made it much harder for African Americans to vote. Some states required literacy tests, poll taxes, or made people answer confusing questions to block them from voting.
Despite these unfair laws, African Americans continued to resist. Community leaders, activists, and everyday people worked to challenge segregation and fight for equality. Their efforts laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement that would grow in the 1950s and 1960s.
Based on the video clips from Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect, how were African Americans in the 20th century denied human and civil rights that were established in the U.S. Constitution through the Reconstruction Amendments?
