African Americans In The 20th Century Essay

Improved Essays
During the 20th century and throughout the course of history up until the present day, there have been immense racial injustices inflicted upon African-Americans. After the conclusion of the Civil War, in 1865, African-Americans received their “freedom” however this freedom was short-lived due to the amount of racial tensions that existed in America during the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century. The treatment of this group of people was horrendous and despicable. However, African-Americans sought to make their everyday lives easier by fighting for what they believed in, which was racial equality for all colors of people. Their courageous efforts to demoralize racial inequality were noteworthy. They endured constant abuse and ignorance from other citizens in the United States, but they made the best out of their situation. …show more content…
Ferguson (1896) case. This Supreme-Court decision declared segregation constitutional and said that there could be separate but equal facilities for whites and African-Americans. The legitimization of segregation opened the doors for the Jim Crow Laws in the South. African-Americans were subject to racial injustices in restaurants, public transportation, lodging, and in many more locations. To keep the African-Americans in control, there was an increase in the amount of mob violence against African-Americans. Many were publically lynched so that other African-Americans would be intimated and scared to defy the segregation laws put in place by the Jim Crow laws (Bailey 507). However, the advent of World War I in Europe played a major role in bettering the lives of African-Americans. European immigration to the United States came to a standstill after World War I erupted in Europe. The government issues the Immigration Act of 1917, which greatly reduced the amount of Europeans allowed in the US (USCIS OL). There were requirements that made it necessary for

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Ferguson case was first argued on April 13, 1896. This case started because Homer Plessy was removed from the East Louisiana Railroad train and arrested because he violated the separate but equal clause that separated train car seats by race. So, because of this, Homer Plessy sued Judge John Ferguson. Homer Plessy sued to prove that he was white, and because of that, he should not have been arrested. The Jim Crow laws made segregation legal, as long as the accommodations were equal.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thousands of African American’s played a huge role during the War of Independence. In the end, some were freed and others lost their lives. These African American’s refused to sit down and do nothing during the war. However, after it was over, many people forgot to recognize them for what they did for our country and how they helped win our freedom.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Plessy V Ferguson

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The first major legal challenge of the Jim Crow laws was the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) for his removal from the car on a train all the way to the high court, which ultimately decided that "separate but equal" accommodations for African Americans and whites weren't discriminatory. The US Supreme Court ruled that under the Constitution (14th and 15th Amendments) African Americans had political rights, but social rights were not required. According to the court, as long as facilities were equal for both races they could be separate. This ruling helped to enforce the Jim Crow laws and acceptable in the US.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Plessy Vs Ferguson

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal" took place in 1896 known as the Plessy vs Ferguson act. The Plessy V. Ferguson did not make it to where blacks and whites had all the same rights, but at the time, they thought that it was a good decision. Little did they know, less than a hundred years later would we be trying to integrate white and black schools. It came from an incident in 1892 in which african american train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow train car, breaking a law in Louisiana.…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1980 Dbq

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Intro: Thesis: From 1877 to 1980, individuals had a greater impact in attempting to solve the issues facing the nation, especially at solving the problems involved in civil and equal rights for minority groups and domestic issues resulting from international conflicts. Owing to the discrimination and unequal rights African Americans and Women faced, Individual had taken much more powerful and effective actions than the government who were indifferent and banned people’s freedom. African Americans received numerous harsh treatments and punishments. For instance, from 1889 to 1909 in the south, more than seventeen hundred African Americans were killed by lynching.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They passed a law requiring that african american and caucasian to be separate but equal. The Jim crow laws spreads throughout the south, requiring the separation of each race in life. For example, everything in life like transportation, schools, public parks, theaters, hospitals, and restaurants, etc. Between 1890 and 1908, every state of the former Confederacy enacted laws to limit African American voting rights. African Americans (and many poor whites) were limited to voting rights and to participation in the political area. Many African American struggled fighting about racism and segregation because caucasians had more power than african american, making african american slaves farming and…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    African Americans’ life was not at all what they pictured, although they had schools, they were in very poor condition. When African Americans were freed the federal government granted the former slaves with basic rights. Even though…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Between the 1880s and the 1920s, white southerners rolled back rights African Americans held because white southerners felt that African American people were inferior to them. African Americans were finally awarded many rights that they deserved when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868. White people did whatever they could in order to “keep the black man down”. In order to accomplish taking back African American rights, white southerners used the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson trial to allow the idea of “separate but equal”, lynching, and unfair opportunities.…

    • 1717 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ever since 1787, and even before, African-Americans have struggled to gain political, legal, social, and economic equality. Although some national and state government programs were constructed to help African-Americans with this perpetual problem, it is also the same state and national government policies that expanded this problem. In fact, this is still a problem that persists today. The national and state governments definitely have gone a long way in providing African Americans with political, legal and social opportunities; however constant setbacks have lessened their effectiveness. Beginning in 1787 there was an unspoken guarantee that all states had the option to decide whether or not they wanted to be slave sates.…

    • 1951 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nevertheless, in 1896 the court case Plessy v. Ferguson proved to the courts to allow state laws requiring separate facilities for African American’s and whites. Segregation violated the fourteenth amendment of equal protection before the law. There was racial segregation in; schools, railroad cars, hospitals, waiting rooms, hotels, and cemeteries. African American’s couldn’t raise their voices in the presence of white people. Some states didn’t allow taxi drivers to transport one the one race at one…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the Reconstruction Era many years ago, the role and place of African Americans has significantly shifted. (pg. 589, pg. 1128) After 150 years of fighting for racial equality and de-segregation, African Americans experienced a great victory with the first black president in the White House, Barack Obama.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the world that we live in today and how diverse it is, I think that it is essential to know your background, especially if you’re an African American. So every week when we’re assigned to watch a film(s) and type the opinion essay. I think it brings me just a little bit closer ever week. And these 3 videos that were assigned this week, I think that it is so astounding to show what they have came up with.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Building Freedom: The Freedmen and Their Quest for Egalitarianism The foundation of the United States of America was constructed upon the corpses of Native Americans. Cemented by institutionalized white superiority and racism, African American slaves were the bricks by which were used to erect this great nation.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The lives’ of African Americans were altered considerably after the Civil War ended in 1865. Before the Civil War began in 1861, slavery and the limitations placed on both free and enslaved black people was part of life, but when slavery was abolished in 1865 by the passing of the 13th amendment; a new era was arriving. The Era of Reconstruction after the Civil War presented impacted the lives of African Americans positively in many ways, but it must be recognized that there were negative consequences as well. In this essay, both the positive and negative impacts of the changes brought about after the Civil War will be examined. When the Civil War concluded, and Slavery abolished in 1865, the African American people, who lived in the South, were ushered into an era where they had the opportunity to choose their destiny.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    African Americans and their influential leaders fought in many ways against racism, segregation, and discrimination following the Civil War until present time. African Americans’ struggle to achieve racial equality and full citizenship in the United States forced them to find ways to enhance their quality of life and establish strong political foundations capable of achieving meaningful social, cultural and economic changes. Their fight for equality led them to create durable movements that ultimately helped attain African Americans’ position in today’s society. The Reconstruction era, 1865-1877, was the time following the Civil War.…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays