Jim Crow Laws Oppressed African Americans

Jim Crow was a set of laws to enforce the superiority of whites to blacks. The Jim Crow laws were needed because people thought that blacks are of a lesser human. A few examples of these laws include illegal marriage of blacks and whites, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. A white person had been always superior. Some punishments for blacks not following the laws include lynching, torture, and death (Pilgrim).

This lead to black codes which were laws passed by southern states in 1865 and 1866 in the United States after the American civil war with the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans’ freedom ,and of compelling them to work in the labor economy based on low wages or debts. On February 3, 1870 the 15th Amendment granted African Americans the right to vote. Blacks were scared of the Ku Klux Klan, which used violence, such as lynchings to scare African Americans from voting. This was a hate group in the southern U.S. who was active for several years after the civil war, which aimed to suppress the newly acquired rights of black people and to oppose carpetbaggers from the North, and which was responsible for many lawless and violent

They had a very difficult life in their way of living. In 1861 the north were against having slaves, but the south wanted to allow slavery. Then the Civil War between the North and South began. Finally, the North won, and the slaves became free. Frances Ellen Watkins

In the three decades leading up to the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the abolitionist movement, through direct actions and sentiment against slavery, sowed radical reactionary responses across the southern slave states. While the actions and views of abolitionists did not reflect the widespread or majority opinion of the free states, the reciprocal effect of the abolitionist propaganda and violent actions led to greater polarization in America over the topic of slavery and its expansion. Additionally, the various actions performed by the northern based abolitionist created an aura of fear and paranoia amongst the ruling slaveholding political elite in the south who increasingly saw the actions as an attack on the southern slave

Even a century after slavery was outlawed in the United States, black people were still not seen as equals to whites. Jim Crow laws took an entire group of people that in all reality were not different than those enforcing these laws and made them feel as though they were worth less than animals. Even black people who worked incredibly hard to fight through racism and reach their goals weren’t afforded the same privileges as white people. An examination of the book “Coming of Age in Mississippi,” shows Moody’s strong belief on different races, and the Jim Crow laws and beliefs by those living in the South, it becomes clear that racism made and still makes a very negative impact not just on a black person 's emotions and thoughts but on their ability to live the life they want without interruption or discrimination from

Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans

President Andrew Johnson had very lenient policies for Reconstruction after the Civil War, which allowed southerners from the Confederate states to enact restrictive laws against blacks. These laws were called “Black Codes”, and were primarily designed to restrict African Americans’ labor and activity even though slavery had already been abolished. The Black Codes took away rights from African Americans that were guaranteed to them by the Fourteenth Amendment. For example, some states had laws that required African Americans to sign labor contracts each year and if they refused, they could be arrested, fined, or forced to work without pay. According to the fourteenth amendment, this was not allowed.

For many African Americans during this time, that meant that you were freed as a slave only to be arrested and deemed a slave once again. How does this relate to mass or wrongful incarceration today? Well, what I'm trying to do is to create a timeline of how twisted the "judicial" system was and still is. I mention the confederacy because it is an accurate representation of how racist the roots of the United States are and also on a side note, how anti American the confederacy actually was. A concept that many do not seem to be aware of.

During 1450-1750, a change in the foundation of the labor systems, which would be slavery, was never considered by the majority. This, in itself, was inherently inhumane, but those who practiced slavery didn’t take into account the changes in society that the predominance of slavery would bring. The subjugation of a specific set of people, based on race instead of war prisoners as before, impacted the white man 's perspective on equality between

The term Reconstruction is used because this was the period in time when the federal government was trying to get restore the seceded states to the Union. The Reconstruction Era was made of unique political conflict and of in-depth changes in the American government. At the national level, new laws and constitutional amendments permanently altered the federal system and the definition of citizenship. Reconstruction Era for African Americans resulted in a lack of sustenance and medical care which in effect caused a high death rate for African Americans, especially for the children. The parts of cities that African Americans where in or an entire cities would be run down and in ruins.

This continued through 1865, after the Civil War, where slavery was finally made illegal. People now had to pay their maids and workers. Even though slavery was now illegal that didn’t stop people from treated blacks like trash. In the book people were disgraced even when people, like Atticus, would tried to help an innocent man who was being tried for

The Southern people are not so welcoming towards African Americans, they wish that they would either return to being slaves or go back to Africa or where they were taken from. These laws affected both the north and the south. The North had a big hand in helping the South

Keeping African Americans separate and not treating them equally lead to even more discrimination later. After reconstruction, African Americans were in as much danger as when they had been as slaves, sometimes even more. Reconstruction

When slavery was declared illegal in the 19th century, US laws have often been changed or have been manipulated in order to exclude Blacks from financial success, individual freedom, and public participation in our society. As Reverend Harriet Walden, who works on Black on Black violence in Seattle, WA, has said “We cannot talk about this without talking about white supremacy and racism.” From Jim Crow, to redlining, to racial profiling, these barriers have been effective in frustrating Black people’s legal efforts to support themselves and their families. And when people are unable to participate in a legitimate economy, they have at times turned to illegal economies. And those environments support and encourage violence.

If you were to have the advantage to time travel and go back to the day’s when the African Americans were not treated as equals, it would more than be a horrific sight to see. The color of their skin determined their rights in life. To me that sounds like a horrible way to live. For instance during the civil war President Abraham Lincoln was working on purging the country from segregation. However, he was not able to finish this job he had started because of his unfortunate assassination.