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Line 21: + − In the first stage of "Presidential Reconstruction," 1865-66 all white Southern legislatures abolished laws regarding slavery but passed the black codes, which gave new rights to the freedmen but fewer than whites possessed. The codes were not actually enforced but they caused a sharp reaction in the North. The [[Radical Republicans]] passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which gave freedmen legal rights (but not the right to vote). The country, by 1870, passed the 14th and 15th Amendments to the [[United States Constitution]], guaranteeing civil rights and the right to vote. The southern states came under Republican control— a party comprising the Freedmen, white Southerners ("[[Scalawags]]") and migrants from the North ([Carpetbaggers]]. The [[Ku Klux Klan]] and related groups reacted violently, but they were suppressed by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] using the federal courts and troops. By 1877, the conservatives and Democrats, forming a Redeemer coalition, ousted all the Republican governments. From 1877 until the 1970s, the Southern Democrats largely controlled every Southern state. Line 31:
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Line 44: + − Jim Crow was supported politically by nearly all white politicians. To do otherwise was political death. The southern states formed a "Solid South" -- that is the region voted for (almost) all Democratic candidates at the state level, and was a powerful bloc in presidential elections.<ref> Republicans [[Herbert Hoover]] in 1928 and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1952 and 1956 were the only Republicans to win notable support in the white South between 1876 and 1960.</ref> The Democrats dominated all aspects of local, state, and federal political life in the post-Civil War South, into the 1970s and 1980s. In 1956, nearly all Southern Congressmen and Senators signed the "Southern Manifesto," condemning the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Brown v. Board of Education.'' Line 49:
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[[Image:JimCrow.gif|thumb|minstrel character "Jim Crow"]]
[[Image:JimCrow.gif|thumb|minstrel character "Jim Crow"]]
'''Jim Crow''' was the system of racial segregation in the Southern U.S. from the 1880s to 1964 in which African Americans were segregated (separated) in public schools and public places, so that they did not mingle in public with whites on equal terms. In addition to segregation it also means that blacks had little or no political power. It was a low point in [[Black history]] after the euphoria of [[Reconstruction]].
'''Jim Crow''' was the system of racial segregation in the Southern U.S. from the 1880s to 1964 in which [[African American]]s were segregated (separated) in [[public school]]s and public places, so that they could not mingle in public with whites on equal terms. In addition to segregation, Jim Crow also assured that blacks had little or no political power. It was a low point in [[Black history]] after the euphoria of [[Reconstruction]].
==Supreme Court approves==
==Supreme Court approves==
The Supreme Court of the United States held in the ''Civil Rights Cases'' (1883) that the Fourteenth Amendment did NOT give the federal government the power to outlaw private discrimination. In an even more important decision the Supreme Court held in ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) that Jim Crow laws were constitutional as long as they allowed for "separate but equal" facilities. Everyone knew that the "equal" in "separate but equal" was a technicality, and that gross inequality was tolerated in practice.
The [[Supreme Court]] of the United States held in the ''Civil Rights Cases'' (1883) that the [[Fourteenth Amendment]] did not give the federal government the power to outlaw private discrimination. In an even more important decision, the Court held in ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' (1896) that Jim Crow laws were constitutional as long as they allowed for "separate but equal" facilities. Everyone knew that the "equal" in "separate but equal" was a technicality, and that gross inequality was tolerated in practice.
==Courts reverse==
==Courts reverse==
After 1945, the Civil Rights movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow. The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954 in [[Brown vs. Board of Education]]. The Sufederal courts then systematically ended Jim Crow in practice by the 1970s.<ref> Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006) </ref>
After 1945, the [[Civil Rights]] movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow. The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954 in [[Brown vs. Board of Education]]. The Sufederal courts then systematically ended Jim Crow in practice by the 1970s.<ref> Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006) </ref>
President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of liberal northern Democrats and conservative Northern Republicans, pushed Congress to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] which immediately ended Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation. In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.
President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of [[liberal]] northern [[Democrat]]s and [[conservative]] Northern [[Republicans]], pushed [[Congress]] to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] which immediately ended Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation. In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.
Conservatives and liberals alike denounce the policy of Jim Crow as an unacceptable violation of the principle of equal rights for all. [[File:Strangecareer.jpg|thumb|200px|the standard history]]
Conservatives and liberals alike denounce the policy of Jim Crow as an unacceptable violation of the principle of equal rights for all. [[File:Strangecareer.jpg|thumb|200px|the standard history]]
==De Facto Segregation==
==De Facto Segregation==
The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal segregation. The Federal courts tried to end it in school districts by ordering the busing of students to achieve racial balance in the schools. Busing was enormously unpopular (and was never ordered by Congress), and the courts generally ended the practice by the 1990s.
The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal segregation. The Federal courts tried to end it in school districts by ordering the busing of students to achieve racial balance in the schools. Busing was enormously unpopular (and was never ordered by Congress), and the courts generally ended the practice by the 1990s.
==De Jure segregation==
==De Jure segregation==
"De jure" or legal segregation took place when state laws required it, in the South and some border states.<ref>"De facto" segregation refers to the practice of segregation, especially in Northern cities, that was in effect by custom and not by law. </ref> These laws mandated physical separation of the races in order to create a social distance and minimize violence. The facilities purchased by taxpayers for black use was almost always inferior to those provided to whites. The most important laws required that public schools, public places and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks. (These Jim Crow Laws were separate from the 1800-66 "Black Codes", which had defined an inferior legal status for free blacks. State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in the seminal case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. All the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
"De jure" or legal segregation took place when state laws required it, in the South and some border states.<ref>"De facto" segregation refers to the practice of segregation, especially in Northern cities, that was in effect by custom and not by law. </ref> These laws mandated physical separation of the races in order to create a social distance and minimize violence. The facilities purchased by taxpayers for black use was almost always inferior to those provided to whites. The most important laws required that public schools, public places and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks. (These Jim Crow Laws were separate from the 1800-66 "Black Codes", which had defined an inferior legal status for free blacks. State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in the seminal case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. All the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
==Origins==
==Origins==
In the first stage of "Presidential Reconstruction," 1865-66 all white Southern legislatures abolished laws regarding slavery but passed the black codes, which gave new rights to the freedmen but fewer than whites possessed. The codes were not actually enforced but they caused a sharp reaction in the North. The [[Radical Republicans]] passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which gave freedmen legal rights (but not the right to vote). The country, by 1870, passed the 14th and 15th Amendments to the [[United States Constitution]], guaranteeing civil rights and the right to vote. The southern states came under Republican control— a party comprising the Freedmen, white Southerners ("[[Scalawags]]") and migrants from the North ([Carpetbaggers]]. The [[Ku Klux Klan]] and related groups reacted violently, but they were suppressed by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] using the federal courts and troops. By 1877, the conservatives and Democrats, forming a Redeemer coalition, ousted all the Republican governments. From 1877 until the 1970s, the Southern Democrats largely controlled every Southern state.
===Redeemers===
===Redeemers===
After 1877, the [[Redeemers]] reversed many of the civil rights gains that African Americans had made during Reconstruction, passing laws that mandated discrimination by both local governments and by private citizens. Since "Jim Crow law" is a blanket term for any of this type of legislation, the date of inception for the laws varies by state. The most important laws came in the 1890s with the adoption of legislation segregating railroad cars in [[New Orleans]] as the first genuine Jim Crow law. By 1915, every Southern state had effectively destroyed the gains in civil rights and liberties that blacks had enjoyed from the Reconstructionist efforts.
After 1877, the [[Redeemers]] reversed many of the civil rights gains that African Americans had made during Reconstruction, passing laws that mandated discrimination by both local governments and by private citizens. Since "Jim Crow law" is a blanket term for any of this type of legislation, the date of inception for the laws varies by state. The most important laws came in the 1890s with the adoption of legislation segregating railroad cars in [[New Orleans]] as the first genuine Jim Crow law. By 1915, every Southern state had effectively destroyed the gains in civil rights and liberties that blacks had enjoyed from the Reconstructionist efforts.
===Voting disfranchisement===
===Voting disfranchisement===
Between 1890 and 1920, many state governments prevented most blacks from voting by various techniques, such as poll taxes (a person had to pay a voluntary tax to vote) and fake literacy tests (that whites always passed but blacks always failed).<ref> Whites who would be limited by the voting laws were protected by "grandfather clauses"--they could vote if their grandfather could vote. These clauses were found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1915.</ref> Of 181,000 African-American males of voting age in [[Alabama]] in 1900, only 3,000 were registered to vote. Typically, the ministers and and ten to fifty prominent blacks in every county were allowed to vote.
Between 1890 and 1920, many state governments prevented most blacks from voting by various techniques, such as poll taxes (a person had to pay a voluntary tax to vote) and fake literacy tests (that whites always passed but blacks always failed).<ref> Whites who would be limited by the voting laws were protected by "grandfather clauses"--they could vote if their grandfather could vote. These clauses were found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1915.</ref> Of 181,000 African-American males of voting age in [[Alabama]] in 1900, only 3,000 were registered to vote. Typically, the ministers and and ten to fifty prominent blacks in every county were allowed to vote.
In 1890, Louisiana passed a law requiring separate accommodations for colored and white passengers on railroads. Louisiana law distinguished between "white," "black" and "colored" (that is, people of mixed white and black ancestry). The law already had provided that blacks could not ride with white people, but colored people could ride with whites prior to 1890. A group of concerned black, colored and white citizens in New Orleans formed an association dedicated to the repeal of the law. They had Homer Plessy purchase a first-class railroad ticket. Plessy was directed to leave that car and sit instead in the "coloreds only" car. He refused and was immediately arrested. The Citizens Committee of New Orleans fought the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They lost in 1896, and ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' validated the segregation laws as constitutional.
In 1890, Louisiana passed a law requiring separate accommodations for colored and white passengers on railroads. Louisiana law distinguished between "white," "black" and "colored" (that is, people of mixed white and black ancestry). The law already had provided that blacks could not ride with white people, but colored people could ride with whites prior to 1890. A group of concerned black, colored and white citizens in New Orleans formed an association dedicated to the repeal of the law. They had Homer Plessy purchase a first-class railroad ticket. Plessy was directed to leave that car and sit instead in the "coloreds only" car. He refused and was immediately arrested. The Citizens Committee of New Orleans fought the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They lost in 1896, and ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' validated the segregation laws as constitutional.
Jim Crow was supported politically by nearly all white politicians. To do otherwise was political death. The southern states formed a "Solid South" -- that is the region voted for (almost) all Democratic candidates at the state level, and was a powerful bloc in presidential elections.<ref> Republicans [[Herbert Hoover]] in 1928 and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1952 and 1956 were the only Republicans to win notable support in the white South between 1876 and 1960.</ref> The Democrats dominated all aspects of local, state, and federal political life in the post-Civil War South, into the 1970s and 1980s. In 1956, nearly all Southern Congressmen and Senators signed the "Southern Manifesto," condemning the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Brown v. Board of Education.''
===Black opposition===
===Black opposition===
[[Booker T. Washington]] publicly accepted Jim Crow, but secretly financed numerous cases in federal court that chipped away at the system. In general, the black community in the South quietly accepted the system and did not cause trouble. In the North the black political leadership routinely denounced Jim Crow in the South (where it was part of state law) and ignored informal Jim Crow in the North.
[[Booker T. Washington]] publicly accepted Jim Crow, but secretly financed numerous cases in federal court that chipped away at the system. In general, the black community in the South quietly accepted the system and did not cause trouble. In the North the black political leadership routinely denounced Jim Crow in the South (where it was part of state law) and ignored informal Jim Crow in the North.
===Social mobility for blacks===
===Social mobility for blacks===
Jim Crow limited blackl upward mobility and opportunity. Therefore millions moved to northern cities in the [[Great Migration]] (1917-1960).
Jim Crow limited black upward mobility and opportunity. Therefore millions moved to northern cities in the [[Great Migration]] (1917-1960).
African-American entertainers, musicians, and literary figures had separate, small niches in the world of art and culture in the North. The most successful writers formed the "[[Harlem Renaissance]]" of the 1920s in New York City, Jazz musicians developed their new music in Jim Crow Memphis and New Orleans, and took it north to Chicago and New York to largely black audiences (whites could hear jazz in the North, but were not allowed in all-black venues in the South).
African-American entertainers, musicians, and literary figures had separate, small niches in the world of art and culture in the North. The most successful writers formed the "[[Harlem Renaissance]]" of the 1920s in New York City, Jazz musicians developed their new music in Jim Crow Memphis and New Orleans, and took it north to Chicago and New York to largely black audiences (whites could hear jazz in the North, but were not allowed in all-black venues in the South).