Jim Crow laws were meant to segregate black Americans, but looking at the bigger picture, how did the Jim Crow laws effect Americans? Jim Crow isn’t a man, but rather the name of certain laws that took place in America from 1877-1954. It started from the end of Reconstruction and began at the start of the Civil Rights movement. The laws were written to enforce racial segregation mainly in the South. Even though slavery was ended, the hate towards the African Americans was still firmly rested on a majority of the white American in America. The Jim Crow Laws affected both African Americans and Caucasians, but in different ways; the Caucasians were in support of the laws, while the African Americans were against them-this caused many movements,
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"So long as Negroes were slaves, so long as they posed no threat to the political and economic supremacy of whites, men were content to live with them on terms of relative intimacy. But when the slave became a citizen, when he got a ballot in his hot hand and a wrench and pencil and paper Ñ well, something had to be done with him," Lerone Bennett said in his book. Blacks in the South were much too powerless and were economically dependent on the whites. Once the blacks tried to gain a status economically, they would be put down or threatened by the white society. The African Americans weren’t allowed in politics and economics the least bit, but leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Du Bois thought it would be best to put blacks in politics, economics, trades, and liberal arts. People ignored these leaders, and thought it would be harmful for the blacks to gain so much power, because it would mean for the whites to give up much of their power to the blacks. “Men of the South, the time for words has passed, the hour for action has struck. The Grand Turk will execute this negro to-night and fling his body on the lawn of the black Lieutenant- Governor of the State.” Thomas Dixon, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan (pg. 325). This quote is from a book published in 1905 by Thomas Dixon, about …show more content…
The majority of the white population during that time believed it was good for the African Americans to be treated under the Jim Crow laws, because it was a much peaceful way of living according to them. On the other hand, there were very few whites who didn’t believe treating African Americans the way they were be treating was the right thing to do. In that case, many whites stood up for the blacks and tried to change the way blacks were being treated (“not equal”), but this would bring those whites into very dangerous waters. When anyone tried to make the African Americans gain equality or admiration, they would be punished and suffer severe consequences. Overall, during that time if you weren’t against racial equality, than you were in trouble, everyone would turn against
"So long as Negroes were slaves, so long as they posed no threat to the political and economic supremacy of whites, men were content to live with them on terms of relative intimacy. But when the slave became a citizen, when he got a ballot in his hot hand and a wrench and pencil and paper Ñ well, something had to be done with him," Lerone Bennett said in his book. Blacks in the South were much too powerless and were economically dependent on the whites. Once the blacks tried to gain a status economically, they would be put down or threatened by the white society. The African Americans weren’t allowed in politics and economics the least bit, but leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Du Bois thought it would be best to put blacks in politics, economics, trades, and liberal arts. People ignored these leaders, and thought it would be harmful for the blacks to gain so much power, because it would mean for the whites to give up much of their power to the blacks. “Men of the South, the time for words has passed, the hour for action has struck. The Grand Turk will execute this negro to-night and fling his body on the lawn of the black Lieutenant- Governor of the State.” Thomas Dixon, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan (pg. 325). This quote is from a book published in 1905 by Thomas Dixon, about …show more content…
The majority of the white population during that time believed it was good for the African Americans to be treated under the Jim Crow laws, because it was a much peaceful way of living according to them. On the other hand, there were very few whites who didn’t believe treating African Americans the way they were be treating was the right thing to do. In that case, many whites stood up for the blacks and tried to change the way blacks were being treated (“not equal”), but this would bring those whites into very dangerous waters. When anyone tried to make the African Americans gain equality or admiration, they would be punished and suffer severe consequences. Overall, during that time if you weren’t against racial equality, than you were in trouble, everyone would turn against