Their Eyes Were Watching God took place in an interesting time period being the early 1900’s, as the civil war recently ended and racial tensions were on the rise in the south with lynching and segregation still existing. Although African Americans were free they were viewed as second-class citizens because of the strong prejudice against black people during that time period and stagnancy within their lives due to lack of education. Women had very few rights and could not make a good living for themselves on their own during this time period. Black women specifically were at a disadvantage during the early 1900’s, cause young black women to have a lack of sense of self. This is reflected through the text as Janie’s never knew whom her father
