Module 1: Jim Crow

Jim Crow

With the end of slavery, African-Americans had attempted to join the dominant "white culture" of the United States by becoming citizens.  And, during Reconstruction, some movement towards this egalitarian, multi-racial democracy was made.  African-American men could (and did) vote, hold office, and participate in public life.  

By 1877, however, Reconstruction largely been defeated by a combination of Klan violence and economic depression.  Once federal troops withdrew from the South, white Democrats regained control of southern state governments. They swiftly implemented Jim Crow laws to maintain racial hierarchy, segregating schools, public transportation, restaurants, and other public spaces. These laws codified the racial segregation that had existed informally but was now deeply entrenched in legal structures. Racism became institutionalized, and the social and economic status of African Americans was severely restricted, leading to a society where white supremacy prevailed.

Segregation was not limited to urban areas but was also deeply entrenched in rural parts of the South, where most African Americans lived. The economic conditions for African Americans in rural areas were grim, as many were trapped in the cycle of tenant farming. Tenant farmers, both black and white, worked on land owned by wealthier landowners but faced exploitative conditions. However, for African Americans, the situation was exacerbated by racial discrimination and a lack of opportunities for upward mobility. Many African Americans worked as sharecroppers, living in a system that resembled a form of economic slavery, where they were paid in a small share of the crops they produced but were perpetually in debt to the landowners. This system kept them dependent and largely powerless, while segregation ensured that they had limited access to education, healthcare, and political power.

The period between the end of Reconstruction and World War I marked the consolidation of white supremacy in the South, as Jim Crow laws and segregation became entrenched in every aspect of life. African Americans who challenged these laws, whether by seeking better education, attempting to vote, or demanding equal treatment, faced violent retaliation. Lynchings, often carried out with impunity, were used as a tool of terror to enforce racial subjugation. The rise of segregation was not just a southern phenomenon but part of a larger national pattern, as Northern states also exhibited racial prejudice and segregation, though it was often more subtle. This era set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement that would later emerge in the mid-20th century, as African Americans began to fight for their rights and seek an end to the oppressive system that had been imposed upon them since the end of Reconstruction.