today we're looking at the history of jim crow laws
hello welcome to the daily bell ringer please don't forget to subscribe and take a look at
the questions down in the description also don't forget to check out dailybellringer.com where
you'll find more resources that go with many of the bellringer videos the period of jim crow
laws in the united states is an offensive and sad part of american history the discrimination and
purposeful unfair treatment of african americans by both states and local governments is a scar on
the history of the nation that still is in the process of healing what were jim crow laws jim
crow laws were laws that were in place from the late 1870s as reconstruction was coming to an
end through the 1960s as the civil rights movement was able to win victory against these unjust laws
jim crow laws sought to suppress the rights of african americans by making it more difficult
for african americans to vote hold a job get an education or freely participate in society
the term jim crow comes from a stage character portrayed by actor thomas dartmouth rice in the
1830s and 40s which depicted a very negative and mocking portrayal of african americans
prior to the institution of jim crow laws many states had adopted black codes in an attempt to
deny the rights of african-american citizens as the civil war came to an end in 1865 the nation
entered into a time period of reconstruction as leaders attempted to piece the country
back together after four years of fighting and slavery was abolished with the 13th amendment
former enslaved people found themselves with new freedoms and were seeking to find work and
stability within society but as new freedoms were introduced many whites particularly in the south
sought to keep former enslaved people in a state of slavery the predecessor to jim crow laws were
the black codes these codes included laws such as african americans and whites could not enter mary
african americans could not serve on juries could not testify in court against a white
and could not own land and also required african americans to sign contracts
with landowners to work on their land for example in a share cropping arrangement and then if they
did not have a contract they could be declared as a vagrant and arrested and to learn more about
sharecropping and the black codes check out my other video devoted strictly to that topic
coupled with the black codes were racially driven organizations such as the klu klux
klan that physically attacked terrorized and killed former enslaved people and law enforcement
in the south did little to stop their actions during reconstruction from 1865 to 1877 northern
lawmakers and equal rights advocates were able to undo or halt several of these black code practices
but with the end of reconstruction coming in 1877 as federal troops were pulled out of
southern states ensuring that federal laws were followed the era of jim crow began to
grow southern states began to pass laws requiring separate facilities for white and african-american
or colored citizens in 1890 the state of louisiana outlawed african-americans and whites from riding
together on trains in the same rail cars equal rights advocates challenged the law and eventually
the case of plessy versus ferguson was heard in the supreme court in 1896 the supreme court
upheld the law and argued segregation was legal as long as separate but equal facilities were
available of course none of these facilities were equal spaces reserved for african americans were
underfunded and were very poorly maintained by the states where these laws were in place by
1898 the supreme court again upheld jim crow laws by approving a mississippi voting law
that did not allow illiterate citizens to vote which basically excluded former enslaved people
who had had no opportunity for an education other states began to pass voting restrictions such as
only those that owned property could vote or prove that their grandfather had voted in order to have
the right to vote these laws severely limited african-american involvement in government
for example in 1896 in louisiana there were over a hundred and thirty thousand registered
african-american voters eight years later there were barely thirteen hundred from there jim crow
grew with with laws that segregated almost every aspect of life from segregated schools playgrounds
waiting rooms restaurants elevators neighborhoods even segregated cemeteries
beyond segregation african-americans face the threat of violence as the kkk grew in power
african-american schools and churches were burned and thousands of african-americans were murdered
by lynchings or hangings race riots became common throughout the early 1900s as african americans
fought for equality in 1909 the naacp or the national association for the advancement
of colored people was formed to try to protect the rights of african americans
the era of jim crow would last for almost 100 years gradually the supreme court declared several
of these laws unconstitutional and through the work of the civil rights movement of the 1960s
the jim crow era was finished but unfortunately the damage had been
done through years of discrimination and unfair treatment and the effects of the jim crow era
are still felt to this day so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching
you