African Americans A Concise History, Combined Volume, 5E Darlene Clark Hine Solution Manual

Type:

Solution Manual

Resource:

African Americans A Concise History, Combined Volume

Edition:

5th Edition

Author(s):

Darlene Clarke Hine William C. Hine Stanley C. Harrold

CHAPTER 1: AFRICA

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Africa was the birthplace of humanity and African-American history and culture over one million years ago. The geography of Africa divides the continent into North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahara desert, both barrier and pathway, helped to shape a broader African experience from the foundations of civilization in ancient Egypt to the tribal and Muslim kingdoms of West Africa before the arrival of Europeans. Africans adopted a wide range of religious practices while herding livestock and growing grain crops. African civilizations competed against one another for regional supremacy, lands, and resources, including access to a slave trade controlled by Muslim states.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1-1 What are the geographical characteristics of Africa?

1-2 Where and how did humans originate?

1-3 Why are ancient African civilizations important?

1-4 Why is West Africa significant for African-American history?

1-5 What did Kongo and Angola have in common with West Africa?

1-6 How did the legacies of West African society and culture influence the way African Americans lived?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f.

II.

A Huge and Diverse Land Climatic zones shaped African history. (See Lecture Starter 1 and MyLab Activity 1.)

The Sahara Desert limited contact between sub-Saharan Africa and the outside world.

A huge savanna stretches from Ethiopia to the Atlantic Ocean.

The rain forest extends east from the Atlantic coast over most of central Africa.

Another region of savanna borders the rain forest to the south, followed by the Kalahari Desert.

A coastal strip lies at the continent’s southern extremity. (See Short Assignment 1.)

The Birthplace of Humanity a. Humans, gorillas and chimpanzees descended from a common ancestor in Africa five to ten million years ago. b. The origins of humanity lie in the savanna regions of Africa. c. The earliest known hominids were the Ardipithecines, who emerged about 4.5 million years ago. d. 3.4 million years ago, descendents of Ardipithecines, known as Australopithecus, used primitive stone tools. e. 2.4 million years ago, Homo habilis had developed a larger brain than Ardipitecus or Australopithecus .

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f. Homo habilis lived in small bands. g. Homo habilis may have spread to southeastern Europe. h. Homo erectus emerged in Africa about 1.6 million years ago and spread from Africa to eastern Asia and Indonesia. i. Homo sapiens, modern humans, evolved from Homo erectus. j. Paleoanthropologists agree that modern humans, Homo sapiens, evolved from Homo erectus, but they disagree on how: according to the multiregional model, modern humans evolved throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe from ancestral regional populations of Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens; according to the out-of-Africa model, modern humans emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago and began migrating to the rest of the world about 100,000 years ago, eventually replacing all other existing hominid populations. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

III.

IV.

Ancient Civilizations and Old Arguments a. Egypt emerged in the Nile River valley in the fourth millennium bce. b. Village life in Egypt became hierarchical and specialized. c. The race of the ancient Egyptians is controversial. (See Classroom Activity 2.) d. Egyptians did not use modern racial terminology. e. The Nile provided resources and protection from outsiders. f. Egypt became a unified kingdom around 3150 bce. g. Egypt became an empire around 1550–1100 bce. (See Classroom Activity 1.) h. After 1100 bce, Egyptian culture declined because of outside attack. i. The Roman Empire conquered Egypt in 30 bce. j. Egyptian culture influenced Nubia. k. Nubians established Kush as an independent kingdom. l. Kush fell to the neighboring Noba people. m. Noba fell to Axum, the first Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa.

West Africa Most African Americans descend from West Africa.

West African agriculture began around 1000 bce.

Ghana, in western Sudan, was founded by the Soninke. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

Ghana declined during the twelfth century.

Mali was similar to Ghana.

Mali reached its peak during the reign of Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337).

Songhai took over Mali.

Peoples of the forest region, like the Nok, were both slave traders and victims.

Senegambians shared a history and language but were not politically united.

The Akan states emerged during the sixteenth century.

The people of the Yoruba culture lived to the east of the Akan states (in modern Benin and western Nigeria); they gained ascendancy in the area as early as 1000 ce. l. During the seventeenth century, the Oyo conquered the Yoruba and entered the Atlantic slave trade. m. The Fon people formed the kingdom of Dahomey. n. Benin controlled southern Nigeria and joined in the Atlantic slave trade. . a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

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o. Igboland lay along the Niger River. (See Long Assignment 2.)

V. a. b. c. d. e. f.

VI. a. b. c.

d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

Kongo and Angola A large minority of African Americans descend from Central Africa.

Central Africans lived in villages and divided labor by gender.

The Kongo kingdom controlled the Congo River system.

Kongo wealth derived from trade with the interior.

Kongo kings tried to convert people to Christianity with little success.

Competition with the Portuguese over trade produced a breakup of the Kongo kingdom.

West African Society and Culture By the early sixteenth century, most West Africans were farmers. (See MyLab Activity 3.)

West Africans lived in villages of extended families or clans called lineages.

Extended families and lineages were either patrilineal or matrilineal: in patrilineal societies, social rank and property passed in the male line (from fathers to sons); in matrilineal societies, rank and property passed in the female line.

Nuclear families acted as economic units.

West Africans generally worked land communally and divided tasks by gender.

Most West Africans lived in hierarchically organized states led by monarchs.

Slavery has existed since ancient times.

West African war captives were enslaved.

Two religious forms dominated West Africa: Islamic and indigenous. (See Long Assignment 1 and Discussion Question 1.)

West African culture has influenced African-American culture. (See Short Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Bring in a video clip or a copy of a journal article dealing with a modern sociopolitical issue in Africa. Hold a brief discussion with student about the particular issue, such as the existence of slavery, the development of precious minerals, or regional political competition. Then use this opening to deliver a lecture on a related topic in African history. (See Chapter Outline I.a.)

2.

Use the Internet in class and pull up an important website related to the origin of human beings in Africa. In your lecture, draw upon various visual imagery in the website to supplement notetaking by students. (See Chapter Outline II.j.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Divide the class into small groups and assign each group a particular aspect of Egyptian cultural history to discuss, compare notes, and present to the class as a whole during the following class session. (See Chapter Outline III.g.)

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2.

Hold a debate. Divide the class into two sections, and assign each half to create competing arguments regarding Afrocentrism and the impact of Egyptian culture on Greek and Roman culture. Each group should assign several students, if not the entire group, to participate in the actual debate. (See Chapter Outline III.c.)

Discussion Question 1.

Regarding the issue of the influence of Islam on Africa, ask students the following questions: Why did Islam spread throughout Africa? How did Islam influence African cultural, political, and economic history? How have modern events shaped our understanding of the role of Islam in African history?

Points to consider: The discussion should touch upon the spread of Islam through trade and warfare, the heavy influence of Islamic art and technology on African societies, and the role of the global war on terrorism in shaping American perceptions of Muslim people and their history. (See Chapter Outline VI.j.)

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Interactive Map: Africa Climate Regions and Early Sites http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/hss_hine_aaodyssey_4/intermaps/ch01/map 1-1.html Bring blank maps of the African continent into class. After demonstrating the interactive map and holding a general discussion with students about the geography of Africa, ask the students to fill in specific pieces of information on the blank maps. Hold a full-class discussion about specific geographical features before the students turn in the assignment. (See Chapter Outline I.a.)

2.

Document: Ghana and Its People in the Mid-Eleventh Century http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Ghana_People_in_Mid11th_Cent.html&width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After allowing the students to read the primary document selection at their desks, reconvene the class for a short discussion about the author of the document, the time period, and the region. Then ask the students to underline in the document the key points of the description. Also ask the students how the cultural biases of the writer shape the information he conveys about Ghana. The students can turn in their written answers for a letter grade, or the material can be incorporated into an exam or quiz. (Chapter Outline IV.c.)

3.

Video: West African States .4

http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/WORLD/videos/westafricanstateslarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the five-minute video in class, divide students into small groups to establish the conditions for a class debate. Ask the students in their small groups to discuss the main questions and arguments advanced in the video. The subject of the debate will be the varying interpretations of the rise of African states, and the evidence used to substantiate those theories. Be sure to remind the students to use specific African empires and states as examples. (See Chapter Outline VI.a.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Provide each student with a blank map of Africa. Ask them to name the most important geographical features and identify the main regions of the continent. To make it more challenging, also require them to memorize and convey the locations of modern Africa nations. (See Chapter Outline I.f.)

2.

Divide the class into several groups, and assign each group a section of the textbook chapter to outline and present the main points orally in class the following week. Each group should designate a notetaker, a presenter, and several analysts for the project. The group will turn in a written summary of the chapter section when the oral presentation is done. (See Chapter VI.l.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask students to watch several films on African history (see annotated list, below) and write a six-page paper comparing how the films convey historical information to the audience. (See Chapter VI.k.)

2.

Assign a ten-page research paper on the historical development of an African nation to the present day, drawing upon primary and secondary resources found on the Internet, film, and in print at local libraries. (See Chapter IV.o.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Shaka Zulu (1986, South African Broadcasting Corporation, 8 hours).

This popular television miniseries focuses on the story of Shaka, king of the Zulu nation during the early 1800s. The series follows Shaka’s rise and fall during the colonial transition in southern Africa. 10 episodes, 50 minutes each.

2.

Wonders of the African World, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (1991, PBS, 6 hours). .

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Hosted by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this multi-part documentary overturns myths on African history. It focuses on Africa as the birthplace of humanity and covers the high points of the sophisticated civilizations that existed throughout African history. A companion website is located at http://www.pbs.org/wonders/.

3.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The first two episodes focus on the journey of Kunta Kinte from Africa to seasoning as a slave in British Virginia in the late 1700s.

4.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation.

5.

Black Athena (Bandung File, 1991, 52 minutes).

This documentary examines Cornell Professor Martin Bernal's controversial 1987 thesis regarding African origins of Greek civilization. It tracks the impact of Bernal’s work on the public, universities, and the intellectual movement of Afrocentrism.

6.

The Silver Pharaoh (PBS, Series of the Dead, 2011, 1 hour).

This documentary follows modern forensic scientists as they dissect an Egypian pharaoh over seventy years after its initial discovery by French archaeologist Pierre Montet in 1939. It is both analytical and entertaining.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (London: Longman, 2006).

This written account—part history and part legend—is based on an oral story passed down for generations by African poets in Mali dating back to the thirteenth century.

2.

Ivan Van Sertima, They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America (New York: Random House, 1976).

Sertima makes the claim, with supporting archaeological and maritime-based evidence, that ancient Africans traveled to the Americas before European arrival in 1492.

3.

John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 14001689 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2nd ed).

The influence of West African culture on slave societies of the Atlantic world sheds light on the essential elements of West African people at the time of European contact. .6

4.

Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie, African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity (New York: Henry Holt, 1997).

Stringer and McKie examine the “out of Africa” theory of human origin and dispersal over time to other continents.

5.

Nicholas C. Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993).

Grimal provides a thorough and in-depth analysis of the economic, social, and political aspects of ancient Egyptian culture and society.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Africa: South of the Sahara http://www.sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/history.html This Stanford University website provides links to dozens of other sites that contain a wide range of information on the African diaspora, religion, military history and slavery. This site also includes links to dissertations on African history and syllabi for instructors.

2.

African Voices http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/ This Smithsonian Institute site contains information on African history and culture and its impact on modern African sociopolitical conditions. The site provides links to other relevant sites.

3.

The Story of Africa http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index This BBC site yields a chronological narrative of the main subjects of African history as written by Africa’s top historians. It includes a link to 24 BBC radio programs that focus on key debates in African history.

4.

African Studies Center http://www.africa.upenn.edu/About_African/ww_hist.html The University of Pennsylvania’s African Studies Center homepage provides links to journals and other sites on African history and culture, including links to primary source documents in archives around the world.

5.

Internet African History Sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/africa/africasbook.asp This in-depth site provides hundreds of links to reference materials on all aspects of African history and culture. Links to other sites provide professors’ syllabi, primary documents, secondary sources, journals, music, and art.

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CHAPTER 2: THE MIDDLE PASSAGE ca1450-1809

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Beginning in the early 1400s and lasting over three hundred years, the Atlantic slave trade brought Europeans and Africans together into a global system of capitalism that transported through the “Middle Passage” over eleven million Africans as slaves to the New World. The Atlantic slave trade reached a peak in the 1700s when more Africans than Europeans journeyed to the Americas. Suffering the horrific challenges of the Middle Passage, several million Africans died at sea. The survivors then toiled on sugar plantations or “agricultural factories,” primarily in Brazil and the Caribbean. Over 500,000 slaves were thus “seasoned” in the Caribbean or they were shipped directly to British North America to work on southern plantations; a lesser number were taken to the northern colonies to work as urban slaves. Africans resisted enslavement before, during, and after the Middle Passage and preserved their culture as much as possible within the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade declined in the late 1700s for moral as well as economic reasons when the British government began to industrialize and turn away from African slavery. Great Britain finally banned the slave trade in 1807; the U.S. did so in 1808. Spain and Brazil continued the practice for decades.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 2-1 How did the arrival of the Europeans affect Africa?

2-2 How did the slave trade in Africa differ from the Atlantic slave trade?

2-3 What was the “Middle Passage”?

2-4 How did technology affect the Middle Passage?

2-5 What happened to Africans after they crossed the Atlantic?

2-6 What was “seasoning?”

2-7 How did Africans adapt to conditions in the Americas?

2-8 How were slaves treated in the Americas?

2-9 Why did the Atlantic slave trade end?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f.

II.

The European Age of Exploration and Colonization The Atlantic slave trade stemmed from European trade expansion during the fifteenth century. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

Portugal reached Asia by 1487.

The Spanish monarchy financed Columbus’s westward voyages in 1492.

Europeans quickly enslaved indigenous Americans in fields and mines.

Many indigenous peoples died of European diseases and overwork or escaped.

European colonizers needed laborers and so created the Atlantic slave trade.

The Slave Trade in Africa a. Slavery had existed in all cultures for thousands of years. b. In West Africa, slave labor was common and less oppressive than in the Americas.0 .

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c. Arabs nurtured antiblack prejudice but race was not the major factor in the Islamic slave trade. d. Most African slaves were women and children destined for lives as concubines and servants in Africa and Asia. e. The demand for slaves in Muslim countries remained high from the tenth through the fifteenth centuries. f. The trans-Sahara slave trade rivaled the gold trade across the Sahara. g. The Atlantic slave trade surpassed in size the trans-Sahara slave trade after 1600.

(See Discussion Question 1.)

III.

IV.

The Origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade a. The Portuguese traded for gold, ivory, pepper and slaves. b. European dealers purchased slaves from African traders in 1472. c. The Portuguese utilized a West African system to distribute trade goods and procure African slaves. (See Discussion Question 2.) d. Interethnic rivalries in West Africa led to the warfare that produced these slaves. e. Until early 1500s, the Portuguese conducted the Atlantic slave trade on a tiny scale. f. Columbus’s voyages to the Americas drastically changed the slave trade. g. During the 1500s, gold mines in Spanish America and sugar plantations in Portuguese Brazil produced demand for labor. h. Europeans relied on the Atlantic slave trade to replace dead Indian workers. i. As early as 1502, African slaves lived on the island of Hispaniola. j. The Atlantic slave trade grew to huge proportions by 1600. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade European demand for sugar made slave labor very profitable.

Sugar plantations using slaves spread from Brazil to the Caribbean islands.

By 1510 Spain had joined Portugal in the Atlantic slave trade.

A new, harsher form of slavery appeared in the Americas.

Slavery in the Americas was based on race.

Only Africans and American Indians were enslaved.

Most of the slaves were men or boys who served as agricultural laborers.

Slaves were chattel—personal property—of their masters.

Portugal and Spain dominated the slave trade during the sixteenth century.

The profits of the slave trade were so great that by 1550 other European nations became involved. k. During the early 1600s, the Dutch became the top slave-trading nation. l. The Dutch shifted the center of sugar production to the West Indies. m. After 1713, English ships dominated the slave trade. n. Profits were invested in England and helped fund the Industrial Revolution. o. Africa became a market for cheap English manufactured goods. (See Long Assignment 1.) a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

V.

The African-American Ordeal from Capture to Destination .

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a. West African intertribal warfare made captives available for enslavement. (See Lecture Starter 2.) b. African armies enslaved conquered towns and villages and kidnapped individuals. c. Captives were marched to the coast. d. Captives destined for the Atlantic trade went to forts called factories. e. The Middle Passage normally lasted between two and three months. f. Most captains were “tight packers” who squeezed slaves together in the holds of their ships. g. Mortality rates were high because unsanitary conditions encouraged epidemics. h. One-third of slaves died between their capture and embarkation on a slave ship. i. Another third died during the Middle Passage or during “seasoning.” j. Most slave rebellions took place while a ship prepared to set sail. k. African women were worth half the price of African men as slaves. (See MyLab Activity 1.) a. Crew members sexually abused African slave women. (See Long Assignment 2.)

VI. a. b. c. d. e.

Landing and Sale in the West Indies The process of landing and sale was often protracted.

The captain might take a week or more to sell his cargo.

Slaves were required to oil their bodies to conceal blemishes.

Slaves suffered humiliation from dysentery and close physical inspection.

Slave auctions took place either on deck or in sale yards on shore. (See Short Assignment 1.)

VII. a. b. c.

Seasoning Seasoning followed sale and lasted two years.

Seasoning included acculturating slaves to new work regimes.

Planters divided slaves into three categories: Creoles, old Africans, and new Africans. d. Seasoning began the process of making new Africans more like Creoles. e. Planters preferred “seasoned” slaves to “unbroken” ones who came from Africa. f. After 1720 most slave imports into the American South came from Africa. g. Many slaves still came to North America from the Caribbean. h. Seasoning was a disciplinary process intended to modify the behavior and attitude of slaves and make them effective laborers. i. The slaves’ new masters gave them new names. j. Masters broke slaves into plantation work by assigning them to work gangs. k. New Africans served apprenticeships with old Africans or with Creoles. l. Old Africans and Creoles taught Africans how to adapt to a new place. m. Drivers directed the work gangs and were almost always black.

VIII. a. b. c.

The End of the Journey: Masters and Slaves in the Americas Many Africans did not survive seasoning.

One-third died during their first three years in the West Indies.

African men died at a greater rate than African women. .

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d. Seasoning was successful if survival, eating new foods, and speaking a new language resulted. e. Most Africans who entered plantation society kept an African cultural identity. f. Africans created bonds with shipmates that became the basis of new families.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

IX.

The Ending of the Atlantic Slave Trade a. English abolitionists began a religious crusade against slavery and the slave trade in the late 1700s. (See Classroom Activity 2.) b. England’s growing antipathy became crucial to the trade’s destruction. c. England’s industrializing economy was not dependent on the slave trade. d. England needed raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods. e. The British ruling class realized that more profits lay in industry than in the Atlantic slave trade. (See Short Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Bring in a copy of a newspaper article dealing with a modern aspect of slavery.

After the students finish reading the article, generate a discussion of the ways in which modern people are subject to enslavement. Use this opening to deliver a lecture on the historical the origins of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1400s. (See Chapter Outline I.a.)

2.

Use the Internet in class and pull up an important website related to the Atlantic slave trade (see the list of websites below). Use the visual resources on the website in class to get your students interested in one or more aspects of the Middle Passage. (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

Classroom Activities 1.

After you have completed lecturing on the workings of the Atlantic slave trade, ask students to draw a large triangle in their notes while you do the same on the board. Then ask the students to form small groups and collectively place information within the triangle that pertains to the “triangular” Atlantic slave trade. (See Chapter Outline VIII.f.)

2.

Divide the class into two sections. Assign one half to create arguments against the Atlantic slave trade and the other half to provide arguments to continue it. After allowing the students a half hour to collect and organize their thoughts, form them into Parliament in the late 1700s and allow them to debate the merits of both sides. (See Chapter Outline IX.a.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why has the Islamic slave trade received less attention than the Atlantic trade even though it was numerically just as important? What perspectives are

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important to understanding the issue? How have modern events shaped our understanding of comparative slavery? (See Chapter Outline II.g.)

2.

Why did African leaders participate, along with Europeans, in the enslavement of other Africans in the Atlantic slave trade? What factors played a role in African decisions to participate? Do you think African leaders later reconsidered this economic relationship with Europeans? (See Chapter Outline III.c.)

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: A Slave Tells of His Capture in Africa in 1798 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/A_Slave_Tells_of_His_Capture_in_Africa_in_1798.html Assign the lengthy document and its questions as a take-home assignment for students to be turned in for a letter grade. After announcing the assignment, hold a read-out-loud exercise with students taking turns reading portions of the document. The questions listed at the bottom of the document should be answered in full sentences by the students. (See Chapter Outline V.k)

2.

Video: African Enslavement: The Terrible Transformation--Overview http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US /visual_tool/AfricanEnslavement_1.html Show the four-minute film clip in class to students which depicts the origin of slavery in European and Latin American history as explained by a prominent historian on the subject. After showing the interview, hold a discussion about the origins of slavery in the Americas. Then issue a quiz that asks the central question: Why and how did slavery arrive in the Americas? (See Chapter Outline III.j.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask the students to imagine themselves as newly enslaved Africans who have just arrived in the Americas. Have each student write a one-page letter to people back home explaining how he or she was acquired and what has happened to his or her life since his or her capture by Europeans. (See Chapter Outline VI.e.)

2.

Divide the class into several groups, and assign each group a section of the textbook to outline and present the main points orally in class the following week.

Each group should designate a notetaker, presenters, and several analysts for the project. The group will turn in a written summary of the chapter section when the oral presentation is done. (See Chapter Outline IX.e.)

Long Assignments . 12

1.

Assign students to examine eight websites on the Atlantic slave trade and then to write a six-page paper comparing how the websites convey historical information to the user. A set of criteria by which to compare the sites should be developed by the instructor or students. (See Chapter Outline IV.o.)

2.

Assign students to write a ten-page research paper on a specific aspect of the Atlantic slave trade (African resistance, slave diet aboard ship, the lives of European crewmen, etc.), drawing upon primary and secondary resources found on the Internet, film, and/or in print at local libraries. (See Chapter Outline V.l.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Amistad (1997, DreamWorks, 152 minutes).

This film portrays the Middle Passage and the real-life struggles of a group of African slaves fighting for their freedom across the Atlantic and within the U.S during the early 1800s.

2.

Secrets of the Dead: Slave Ship Mutiny (2010, PBS, 60 minutes).

This documentary tells the compelling tale of a slave revolt at sea on the Meermin, a Dutch slave ship, in 1766. The story provides one example of the ways in which Africans resisted the Atlantic Slave Trade.

3.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. Part One, “The Terrible Transformation, 1450-1750,” provides factual information and convincing visual recreations of the Atlantic slave trade and the arrival of African as slaves in the Americas. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

4.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The first two episodes focus on the journey of Kunta Kinte from Africa to seasoning as a slave in British Virginia in the late 1700s.

5.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (London, 1788), in America through the Eyes of Its People: Primary Sources in American History, 2nd ed. (New York: Longman, 1997).

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A medical doctor aboard a British slave ship, Falconbridge writes a detailed and engrossing firsthand account of the horrific conditions experienced by Africans during the Middle Passage to the Americas.

2.

Olaudah Equiano, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (New York: Dover, 1999).

Although its authenticity has been questioned, the Equiano narrative provides crucial insight into an African perspective on the Atlantic slave trade from capture through the Middle Passage to sale and to freedom.

3.

Sylviane A. Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas (New York: New York University Press, 1998).

Diouf provides a fascinating analysis of African Muslims’ experiences as slaves during the Atlantic slave trade and throughout the Americas during the 1700s and 1800s.

4.

Adam Jochschild, Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

A historical account of the political debate within the British Empire that eventually led to the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade by Parliament in 1807, the book focuses on the major political actors who conspired to end the institution.

5.

Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship: A Human History (New York: Penguin, 2008).

Rediker provides a lengthy and in-depth probe of the many facets of the slave ship and the Middle Passage experience for slave and enslaver alike. The book also reveals the maritime origins of African-American culture.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie http://www.melfisher.org/exhibitions/henriettamarie/overview.htm A museum in Key West, Florida, relates the story of a sunken English slave ship from 1700, recovered recently by archaeologists. The site provides visuals of the artifacts found aboard the ship, as well as an overview of the Atlantic slave trade.

2.

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello http://www.monticello.org The home of Thomas Jefferson is showcased in great detail, including various aspects of African-American slavery and the extensive plantation system that Jefferson operated in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

3.

Museum of the African Diaspora http://www.moadsf.org

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This San Francisco museum reveals the history, art and cultural richness that resulted from the dispersal of Africans throughout the world. The site provides information on the Atlantic slave trade.

4.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The companion website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of the Atlantic slave trade and African-American culture prior to emancipation.

5.

Search for Trouvadore http://slaveshiptrouvadore.org/documentary/ This website provides contextual information and resources to accompany the documentary Search for Trouvadore (2008) about the 1841 sinking and modern rediscovery of a Spanish slave ship. The site provides educational resources on the origins, development, and end of the Atlantic slave trade.

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CHAPTER 3: BLACK PEOPLE IN COLONIAL NORTH AMERICA 1526-1763

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter describes African-American life in colonial North America from the early sixteenth century to the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. It concentrates on the British colonies that stretched along the eastern coast of the continent but also briefly covers the black experience in Spanish Florida, in New Spain’s Southwestern borderlands, and in French Louisiana. During the seventeenth century, the plantation system that became a central part of black life in America for nearly two centuries took shape in the Chesapeake tobacco country and in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia. Unfree labor, which in the Chesapeake had originally involved both white and black people, solidified into a system of slavery based on race. Although the plantation system did not develop in Britain’s northern colonies, race-based slavery existed in them as well. African Americans responded to these conditions by interacting with Native Americans and other groups, preserving parts of their African culture, seeking strength through religion, and resisting and rebelling against enslavement.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 3-1 Who were the peoples of colonial North America?

3-2 How did black servitude develop in the Chesapeake?

3-3 What were the characteristics of plantation slavery from 1700 to 1750?

3-4 What factors affected the way slaves lived in early America?

3-5 What role did miscegenation and creolization have in early AfricanAmerican history?

3-6 How did African-American culture originate?

3-7 How did slavery in the northern colonies differ from slavery in the southern colonies?

3-8 How did the experience of African Americans under French and Spanish rule in North America compare to that in the British colonies?

3-9 What was African-American life like in New Spain’s northern borderlands?

3-10 How did slavery affect black women in colonial America?

3-11 How did African Americans resist slavery?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

The Peoples of North America a. African immigrants and their children preserved African cultural heritage. b. The original inhabitants of North America are known as American Indians. (See Lecture Starter 1.) c. Natives were culturally diverse and spoke many different languages. d. Natives descended from Asians who migrated at least 15,000 years ago. e. Europeans called them Indians from Columbus’s voyage of 1492. f. European nations sent relatively few settlers to North America. g. European nations traded with American Indians and expropriated their labor.

(See Discussion Question 1.) .

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h. Spain’s colonial economy depended increasingly on enslaved Africans. i. African slaves arrived in the Spanish colonies as early as 1526. j. The Dutch at New Netherlands utilized African slave labor. k. The French in their colonies in New France relied on trade with natives. l. The English created the colony of Virginia with a capital at Jamestown in 1607. m. English tobacco planters in North America did not initially use African slaves. n. Until 1700, white labor produced most of the tobacco in the Chesapeake colonies. o. By early 1619, there were 32 people of African descent living at Jamestown. p. Twenty more Africans arrived that summer and were sold by a Dutch slave ship.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

II. a. a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

h. i. j. k.

III.

Black Servitude in the Chesapeake Black people represented a small part of a labor force in the Chesapeake. (See Discussion Question 2.)

Indentured servitude came to include adults who sold their freedom for two to seven years in return for the cost of their voyage to North America.

Before the 1670s the English in the Chesapeake did not draw a strict line between white freedom and black slavery.

By 1700 the British tobacco-producing colonies transitioned from white indentured servitude to black chattel slavery.

Britain’s Caribbean sugar colonies set a precedent for enslaving Africans.

Masters made distinctions between black and white indentured servants.

By the 1640s, blacks could not bear arms and could not become Christians.

Courts in Virginia and Maryland began to assume that it was permissible for persons of African descent to serve their masters for life rather than a set term.

(See MyLab Activity 3.)

By the mid-1660s statutes in the Chesapeake colonies assumed servitude to be the natural condition of black people. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion of white and black indentured servants.

Bacon’s uprising convinced elites that reliance on white laborers was dangerous.

White Americans realized that their prosperity rested on denying blacks freedom.

Plantation Slavery, 1700-1750 a. The reliance of Chesapeake planters on slavery to meet their labor needs resulted from racial prejudice. b. The demand for tobacco in Europe increased sharply and the slave labor system expanded rapidly. c. Between 1700 and 1770, some 80,000 Africans arrived in the tobacco colonies. d. By 1750, 144,872 slaves lived in Virginia and Maryland, accounting for 61 percent of all the slaves in British North America. (See Classroom Activity 2.) e. Another 40,000 slaves lived in the rice-producing regions of South Carolina and Georgia, accounting for 17 percent. f. After 1750 some black men began to hold skilled occupations on plantations. g. Black women did weaving but otherwise had less access to skilled occupations. h. In the Carolinas and Georgia, the West Indian plantation system and rice became entrenched. . 17

i. Rice cultivation required large plantations similar to those on the sugar islands of the West Indies. (See Short Assignment 2.) j. As the region’s black population grew, white people became fearful of revolt; by 1698 Carolina had the strictest slave code in North America. k. Black people in Carolina faced the quandary of being both feared and needed by white people.

IV. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

V. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

VI.

Slave Life in Early America Eighteenth-century housing for slaves was minimal and often temporary.

In the Chesapeake, small log cabins predominated.

African styles of architecture were more common in coastal South Carolina and Georgia.

During summer, men wore breechcloths; women wore skirts, leaving their upper bodies bare; and children went naked until puberty.

Later men wore shirts, trousers, and hats while working in the fields.

Women wore simple dresses and covered their heads with handkerchiefs.

Food consisted of corn, yams, salt pork, and occasionally salt beef and salt fish.

Slaves caught fish and raised chickens and rabbits.

In the South Carolina low country, rice became a vital part of slave diets.

Slaves supplemented this limited diet with vegetables they raised in their gardens.

(See Lecture Starter 2.)

Miscegenation and Creolization African immigrants upon arrival interacted with white servants and Indians.

Interracial sexual contacts—miscegenation—produced people of mixed race.

Cultural exchanges became an essential part of the process of creolization that led African parents to produce African-American children.

The dominant British minority defined persons of mixed race as black.

Those of mixed African-European ancestry did not receive enhanced legal status.

Miscegenation was less extensive and accepted in British North America than in sugar colonies in the Caribbean, Latin America, or French Canada.

Colonial assemblies banned interracial marriages mainly to keep white women from bearing mulatto children.

Whites feared that a free mixed-race class would weaken white supremacy.

The assemblies allowed white male masters to sexually exploit black female slaves because the children would be slaves.

The Origins of African-American Culture a. Creolization and miscegenation transformed Africans into African Americans. b. The second generation of African Americans maintained a West African heritage. c. The preservation of the West African extended family was the basis of AfricanAmerican culture. d. After the 1750s sex ratios became more balanced and black family life flourished. e. By 1750 extended black families based on biological relationships dominated. f. West African incest taboos encouraged slaves to pick mates who lived on neighboring plantations. . 18

g. African religions—both indigenous and Islamic—persisted in parts of America well into the nineteenth century. h. Black Americans continued to perform an African circle dance known as the “ring shout.” i. The major turning point in African-American religion came in conjunction with the religious revival known as the Great Awakening. j. African languages contributed to the creolized languages that became Black English by the nineteenth century. k. West African music and folk literature survived in North America. l. Black people influenced white notions about cooking, spirits, and folk remedies. m. Africans imposed the “gang system” on most American plantations.

VII. Slavery in the Northern Colonies a. Slaves in the North, unlike those in the South, typically lived in their masters’ houses. b. Northern slaves worked with their master, his family, and one or two other slaves on a small farm. c. In northern cities, enslaved Africans worked as artisans, shopkeepers, domestic servants, and laborers. d. Slavery was least oppressive in the North because of Puritan religion. e. Northern slave codes were milder and were rarely enforced. f. New England slaves could legally own, transfer, and inherit property. g. Puritans converted African Americans to Christianity. h. In the middle colonies of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, black populations were larger i. Slave codes were stricter and penalties harsher in the middle colonies. j. Northern blacks rapidly assimilated because of small numbers and close association with masters. k. An increase in African customs among black northerners occurred between 1740 and 1770. l. Before 1740, most northern slaves had been born or “seasoned” in the South or the West Indies. m. By 1750, direct imports of African slaves into the North temporarily increased.

VIII. Slavery in Spanish Florida and French Louisiana a. In 1565 Africans helped construct the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine in Florida. b. The number of slaves remained small in Florida. c. Black men served more frequently as soldiers than as fieldworkers. d. Black militiamen under Spain gained power that eluded British slaves. e. As members of the Catholic Church, they acquired social status. f. British takeover in 1763 pushed back Floridians to Cuba. g. Plantation slavery began to grow in Florida under the British. h. By 1720 few black people (either slave or free) lived in French Louisiana. i. During the following decade, Louisiana imported about 6,000 slaves. j. By 1731 black people outnumbered white people in Louisiana. .

19

k. Some Africans worked on plantations growing tobacco and indigo. l. Most blacks lived in New Orleans. m. In New Orleans, blacks became skilled artisans, lived away from masters, became Roman Catholics, and gained freedom. n. White men in New Orleans exploited black women sexually; this custom created a sizable mixed-race population with social gradations based on degree of white ancestry and the lightness of skin.

IX. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

i. j. k. l.

X.

African Americans in New Spain’s Northern Borderlands New Spain reached into Texas, California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona.

The first Africans who entered this region were members of Spanish expeditions.

During the 1600s, the Spanish conquest of Pueblo Indians included black soldiers.

During the colonial era, New Spain’s borderlands had far fewer Europeans and black people than did the British colonies.

Black men in the borderlands gained employment as sailors, soldiers, tradesmen, cattle herders, and day laborers.

Some blacks in the borderlands were slaves; others had limited freedom.

In New Spain’s borderlands most slaves were Indians.

In theory, throughout the Spanish empire in the Americas, “racial purity” determined social status, with Spaniards of “pure blood” at the top and Africans and Indians at the bottom.

Most Spaniards in the borderlands were of mixed race.

People of African and Indian descent could more easily acquire status than they could in the British colonies.

In the borderlands black men held responsible positions at Roman Catholic missions.

A few acquired large landholdings called ranchos.

Black Women in Colonial America a. The lives of black women in early North America varied according to the colony in which they lived. b. The differences between Britain’s New England colonies and its southern colonies are particularly clear. c. In New England religion and demographics made the boundary between slavery and freedom permeable. d. There black women distinguished themselves in a variety of ways. e. Some black women succeeded as bakers and weavers. f. In the South they had few opportunities for work beyond agriculture and the homes of their masters. g. By 1680, approximately 90 percent of southern black women worked in the fields. h. Black women mothered their masters’ children and cooked for their masters’ families. i. By 1800, more black women became house servants. j. Masters and overseers used their power to molest and rape female slaves. k. The results were large mixed-race populations in the colonies. (See Long Assignment 1.) . 20

XI.

Black Resistance and Rebellion a. Slavery in America was always a system that relied on physical force to deny freedom to African Americans. (See Long Assignment 2.) b. Blacks responded to slavery by resisting their masters. c. Resistance ranged from shirking assigned work to sabotage, escape, and rebellion. d. Africans arriving in North America openly defied their masters. e. Africans tended to escape in groups of culturally-related individuals. f. They sometimes headed west and joined Indian tribes. g. Escaped slaves or maroons established settlements in inaccessible regions in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. h. As slaves became acculturated, forms of slave resistance changed. i. African Americans replaced open defiance with more subtle day-to-day obstructionism. j. They malingered, broke tools, mistreated domestic animals, destroyed crops, poisoned their masters, and stole. k. More and larger rebellions broke out during the early eighteenth century among the larger slave populations in Jamaica and Brazil. l. Several waves of rebellion in British North America took place from 1710 to 1722 and 1730 to 1741. m. The largest colonial slave rebellion took place in Charleston in September 1739.

(See MyLab Activity 1.) n. Resistance by blacks to enslavement pushed whites into a siege mentality. (See Short Assignment 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Obtain a primary source document dealing with a subject involved in the early arrival of African people to North America. An account based on a NativeAmerican historical subject that interacts in some fashion with African-American history would help students more fully understand the theme of red-black unity covered in the chapter. Allow students to read the document to themselves for five minutes as you write your lecture on the board. Then convene the class as a group either to ask questions of the document or to read the document out loud. (See Chapter Outline I.b.)

2.

Start class by playing a musical selection from Bob Marley, the great reggae musician, who used slavery-based historical subjects as lyrics in many of his songs. Play a song as you write your lecture on the board. Ask the students to jot down their thoughts in terms of any connections between what he is singing and the subject of slavery in the Americas. Put the students’ ideas on the board when you reconvene the class and generate a discussion to connect their ideas to your subject matter on slavery in North America. (See Chapter Outline IV.j).

Classroom Activities . 21

1.

Divide the class into three groups: American Indians, Europeans, and Africans.

Ask each group to meet in a section of the classroom to discuss the perspectives and main points that frame the life experiences of each group in North America in the 1500s and 1600s. Be sure to have the group assign a notetaker to capture the conversations. Reconvene the class and hold a debate regarding each group’s answer to an important thematic question. Choose from among the following questions: What impact did European immigration have on North America? Why did slavery arise in North America? Why did Indians join Africans against Europeans? (See Chapter Outline I.p.)

2.

Show an episode from the documentary Roots, either the second or third episode; in these episodes, Kunta Kinte adjusts to tobacco plantation life in Virginia. Next, show part of the documentary series Slavery and the Making of America. Ask the students to take brief notes for a class discussion comparing what the historians are arguing in the documentary and what the images convey in the docudrama Roots. (See Chapter Outline III.d.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did Europeans journey to the Americas? What impact did their arrival exert on Native American civilizations? How did Native Americans respond to European and African arrival? (See Chapter Outline I.g.)

Points to consider: Europeans sailed to find China and Indian in the late 1400s to tap into a lucrative spice trade, only to accidentally discover the Americas and their resources. Europeans devastated native communities with new diseases and violence and subjugation into slavery. Natives fought back but accommodated the demands of their oppressors.

2.

Why did slavery arise in the Chesapeake for African Americans in the 1600s?

How did this experience of enslavement differ compared to that of the Carolinas and the northern colonies? How did slavery differ in the Spanish Borderlands compared to French Louisiana? (See Chapter Outline II.a.)

Points to consider: Slavery developed for blacks slowly over time in the Chesapeake in the 1600s as white tobacco planters purposefully wrote new laws to enslave blacks and empower whites for economic reasons.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: The Slaves Revolt in South Carolina in 1739 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Slaves_Revolt_South_Carolina_1739.html& width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes

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As an exercise in discerning why and how the Stono slave revolt took place in South Carolina in 1739, ask students to read the letter at home and answer the questions listed at the bottom of the document and turn those in for a letter grade.

In another way, the document can also be used as part of the primary source evidence for an essay of varying lengths on the revolt. Peter Wood’s Black Majority is a useful secondary source on the subject to get students started on a larger research project. (See Chapter Outline XI.m.)

2.

Document: The Colony of Virginia Defines Slavery, 1661–1705 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Laws_of_Virginia_1661_62_91.html Assign the document on the laws of Virginia regarding blacks as the basis for a three-page essay on why and how African Americans became enslaved in British North America during the 1600s. Students should specifically address the laws passed by Virginia as key moments in the transformation of labor relations in the South. After assigning the paper, discuss the document in class and ask the students which laws were the most important in marking a turning point in the slide towards slavery for blacks in American history. (See Chapter Outline II. i.)

3.

Video: The Descent into Race Slavery http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/AfricanEnslavement_2.html After showing to students the five-minute film interview with a prominent historian on the subject, hold a class discussion about why Africans became the primary peoples enslaved in New World colonies of Europeans in the Americas.

Show the film clip a second time. Then hold a quiz based on the central question: Why did Africans by the 1500s and 1600s become the slaves of the Americas?

(See Chapter Outline II.h.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask the students to compile a list of ten websites that they discover on their own outside of class on the issue of slavery in North America, 1536-1783. Have them also look up each site and annotate the list. The data will be turned in as part of their grade for the assignment or as part of a multi-step research paper due at the end of the semester. (See Chapter Outline XI.n.)

2.

Ask the students to imagine themselves to be African-American slaves on a South Carolina rice plantation. Direct each student to write a letter in the persona of the enslaved individual explaining to British colonial authorities how slaves are treated in the Carolinas. (See Chapter Outline III.i.)

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Long Assignments 1.

Ask the students to read four primary source documents that you provide on some aspect of the enslavement of black women in North America. Then have them write a three-page essay explaining the struggles and survival strategies black women crafted over time to withstand the institution. (See Chapter Outline X.k.)

2.

As the students to write a ten-page research paper on some aspect of black resistance to slavery in North America that they find interesting or mysterious.

Consider designing a paper that requires multiple steps or stages for the students to complete. The first step is to select a specific topic and the resources needed to complete the topic. (See Chapter Outline XI.a.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 2 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. Part One, “The Terrible Transformation, 1450-1750,” provides factual information and convincing visual recreations of the Atlantic slave trade and the arrival of African as slaves in the Americas. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

2.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The first two episodes focus on the journey of Kunta Kinte from Africa to seasoning as a slave in British Virginia in the late 1700s.

3.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 2 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation.

4.

From Florida to Coahuila: The Story of the Black Seminoles (Rafael Corona, 2009, Create Space, 50 minutes).

This unique film traces the history of escaped African slaves who ran from the southern British North American colonies to Florida. They intermarried with natives and were later removed to Texas, where some crossed the border into Mexico. Called Muscogos in Mexico but Seminoles in the U.S., the survival of this unique bi-national community remains fascinating for students.

5.

Jefferson’s Blood (1998, PBS, Frontline, 75 minutes).

This film explores in depth Jefferson’s life and thinking regarding slavery, including his relationship with Sally Hemings. The documentary traces the Jefferson-Hemings relationship through successive generations to the present day and examines how families continue to struggle over the issue of racial identify two hundred years later. .

24

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Herbert Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts (New York: International Publishers Co., 1943).

The starting point for any discussion on slave revolts in North American history with an emphasis on the British colonial experience, this text provides a traditional narrative and exhaustive coverage of slave revolts.

2.

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992).

This fascinating book analyzes the history of slavery in colonial Louisiana, particularly New Orleans. The book provides an overview of black and white interactions regarding work and gender relationships.

3.

Allan Kulikoff, Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).

Kulikoff provides a lengthy and detailed compendium of the interconnections of tobacco and African-American slavery across the entire Chesapeake region. This book should be read in tandem with Morgan’s American Slavery.

4.

Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (New York: Norton, 1975).

Still the best traditional overview of the growth of slavery in colonial Virginia, Morgan’s book includes an insightful analysis of Bacon’s Rebellion. This text should be the first book anyone reads as an introduction to slavery in Virginia.

5.

Gary B. Nash, Red, White, and Black: The Peoples of Early America. 3rd ed.

(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992).

This text is very readable for students. It offers the first overview of the colonial period that brings together Native Americans, African Americans, and Europeans into a shared narrative about the development of colonial culture in North America.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Jefferson’s Blood http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/ A companion to the PBS documentary Jefferson’s Blood, this website provides a wealth of information related to Jefferson and slavery in Virginia. Included are a chronology, a family tree, and related primary documents.

2.

Colonial Jamestown http://www.virtualjamestown.org

.

25

This site provides a wealth of primary and secondary sources, including a collection of slave advertisements and other information related to AfricanAmerican slavery. The site showcases the ongoing archaeological excavation of Jamestown and the thousands of objects discovered that also reveal the history of the region and slavery.

3.

Library of Virginia Archives http://www.lva.virginia.gov This collection of historical documents deals with all aspects of Virginia history, including its founding and slavery era. Of particular assistance are the primary documents that provide a range of information on slavery subjects.

4.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The companion website for the 2005 PBS series Slavery and the Making of America provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of the Atlantic slave trade and African-American culture prior to emancipation.

5.

Slavery in the North http://www.slavenorth.com/ This website provides a strong overview of the entire history of African-American slavery in the northern states. The information includes a focus on each of the colonies/states in the North that practiced African-American slavery.

.

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CHAPTER 4: RISING EXPECTATIONS: AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 1763-1783

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter explores the African-American quest for liberty during the 20 years between 1763, when the French and Indian War ended, and 1783, when Britain recognized the independence of the United States. During this period, African Americans exercised an intellectual and political leadership that had far-ranging implications. A few black writers and scientists emerged, black soldiers fought in battle, black artisans proliferated, and— particularly in the North—black activists publicly argued against enslavement. Most important, many African Americans used the War for Independence to gain their freedom. Some were Patriots fighting for American independence. Others were Loyalists fighting for the British. Still others simply used the dislocations war caused to escape their masters.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 4-1 What was the crisis in the British Empire?

4-2 What did the Declaration of Independence mean to African Americans?

4-3 How did African Americans contribute to the Enlightenment?

4-4 What roles did African Americans play in the War for Independence?

4-5 How did the American Revolution weaken slavery?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

The Crisis of the British Empire a. The French and Indian War of 1754-1763 arose from British and French trade conflicts. b. Britain won and her officials taxed Americans to pay their share of war costs. c. In the 1760s Parliament passed laws that many Americans considered oppressive. d. The Sugar Act of 1764 levied import duties to raise revenue for Britain. e. In 1765 the Stamp Act heavily taxed printed materials. f. Americans at the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 banned British imports. g. The congress forced Parliament in 1766 to repeal the Stamp Act. h. In 1767 Parliament forced the New York assembly to house British troops. i. In 1770 British soldiers committed the Boston Massacre which killed several Americans including a black sailor named Crispus Attucks. j. A period of calm lasted until May 1773, when Parliament passed the Tea Act. k. Boston’s radical Sons of Liberty in 1773 dumped a shipload of tea into the harbor. l. Patriot leaders organized the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. (See Classroom Activity 1.) m. In April 1775 Patriots clashed with British troops at Lexington and Concord. n. Congress made George Washington commander in chief of the Continental Army. o. Congress in July 1776 declared the colonies to be independent states. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

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II.

The Declaration of Independence and African Americans a. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. b. Its principal author was Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia slaveholder who regarded African Americans as an inferior people. c. When Jefferson wrote “that all men are created equal," he did not mean to support black claims for freedom. d. African Americans began to assert that such principles logically applied to them. e. At the center of revolutionary ideology was the European Enlightenment. f. Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica of 1687 shaped a new way of perceiving human beings and their universe. g. Newton used mathematics to portray an orderly, balanced universe that ran according to natural and predictable laws. h. Newton's ideas became more relevant when John Locke applied them to politics. i. Locke maintained that with education all people could learn and advance. j. Most Americans became acquainted with Locke’s ideas through pamphlets. k. Pamphlets portrayed the British government as depriving subjects of their rights. l. After the French and Indian War, black and white Americans saw British policies from this perspective. (See MyLab Activity 2.) m. In New England, blacks sued for freedom and gradual emancipation on the basis of universal liberty. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

III.

The Black Enlightenment The Enlightenment shaped the careers of America’s first black intellectuals.

Some African Americans also became scientists and authors.

Most African Americans who gained intellectual distinction owed more to the Great Awakening than to the Enlightenment.

The best known of these is Jupiter Hammon, a Long Island slave who published religious poetry in the 1760s.

Phillis Wheatley and Benjamin Banneker became the most famous black intellectuals of their time. (See Short Assignment 2.)

Wheatley’s first book of poems—the first book ever by an African-American woman and the second by any American woman—was published under the title Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

White leaders of the Revolution debated whether black people were inherently inferior by birth or inferior through enslavement.

Benjamin Banneker is more representative of the Enlightenment than Wheatley.

Banneker gained international fame as a mathematician and astronomer.

Banneker became a member of the survey commission for Washington, D.C. and the first black civilian employee of the U.S. government.

Between 1791 and 1796, Banneker used his astronomical observations and mathematical calculations to publish an almanac.

Like Wheatley, Banneker thoroughly assimilated to white culture. (See Discussion Question 2.)

a. b. c. d. e. f.

g. h. i. j. k. l.

IV.

African Americans in the War for Independence . 28

a. Blacks fought for both sides as free men and as slaves under promises of freedom.

(See Classroom Activity 2.) b. Washington initially forbade the use of black troops in the Continental Army.

(See Long Assignment 1.) c. By mid-1775 the British had taken the initiative in recruiting African Americans. d. The British used black men who escaped to their lines as laborers and foragers. e. Black Loyalists were most numerous in South Carolina and Georgia. f. In 1775, Lord Dunmore of Virginia issued a proclamation to free slaves who joined the British army. g. More African Americans became Loyalists than Patriots during the war. h. When the war ended, many black Loyalists left the U.S. for Nova Scotia, Sierra Leone, and the British West Indies. i. Troop shortages by late 1775 led Washington, Congress and state governments to recruit 5,000 black soldiers and place them in integrated units. j. The southern states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina reluctantly began enlisting free black men. k. Only Maryland allowed slaves to serve in return for freedom. l. Like white women, black women, sometimes accompanied their husbands into army camps and battle. (See Short Assignment 1.)

V. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

The Revolution and Emancipation The War for Independence dealt a slow death blow to slavery in the U.S. (See Discussion Question 1.)

Most northern legislatures were debating abolition by the late 1770s. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

Petitions and lawsuits initiated by black people encouraged such consideration.

Economic and religious change convinced many whites that slavery should be abolished.

Enlightenment rationalism was a powerful antislavery force.

In the North, emancipation made steady progress.

In the Chesapeake, emancipationist sentiment grew; many masters manumitted their slaves.

Under Quaker leadership, antislavery societies organized in the North and the Chesapeake.

The societies joined African Americans in petitioning northern legislatures.

By 1784 all the northern states except New Jersey and New York had undertaken either immediate or gradual abolition of slavery.

While northern states prepared to abolish involuntary servitude, an estimated 100,000 slaves escaped from their masters in the South.

In the Chesapeake, as well as in the North, slaves gained freedom in return for war service or because their masters embraced Enlightenment principles.

In South Carolina and Georgia, whites were committed to slavery and the free black class remained tiny.

In the North and the Chesapeake, free African Americans frequently moved to cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Richmond.

(See Long Assignment 2.) . 29

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Come into class in the persona of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, or some other famous figure in the American Independence movement. Stay entirely in character as you read quotes or speak on a specific subject. Some instructors dress up as a famous character and teach the lecture entirely from a historical figure’s point of view. Some instructors ask students to comment on the themes or values being expressed by the person in character. (See Chapter Outline II.l.)

2.

Start class by showing a series of period cartoons on specific aspects of the American Revolution, particularly the lead-up to revolution on issues such as the Stamp Act or other policies and taxes passed by Parliament. Ask students to take notes on what they feel to be the themes conveyed in each image. (See Chapter Outline I.o.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Divide the class into two groups: American colonists vs. the British Parliament.

Ask each group to meet in a section of the classroom to discuss the main points that frame the perspective of each group. Be sure to have each group assign a notetaker to capture the conversations. Reconvene the class and hold a debate regarding each group’s answer to an important thematic question. Choose among one of the following questions: Should the colonists pay the taxes levied by the British government? What role should the colonies play in the larger British Empire? (See Chapter Outline I.l.)

2.

Show a portion of the film The Patriot, and then ask students to comment on the accuracies and inaccuracies of the film from a military and social history perspective based on what they have learned so far about the American Revolution. Preferably this would take place following a lecture on the causes of the American Revolution. (See Chapter Outline IV.a.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did the American Revolution take place? How did the War for Independence impact the institution of slavery? (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

Points to consider: The American colonists were culturally distant from Great Britain enough to act on feelings of economic alienation from new taxes passed in the 1760s. The War for Independence challenged the practice of slavery in the early U.S. as slaves escaped and blacks were allowed to fight in the Continental Army.

2.

How did the Enlightenment shape African American lives? What .

30

role did African Americans play in the War for Independence? (See Chapter Outline III.l.)

Points to consider: Although the mass of free and enslaved blacks were essentially poor and illiterate, elite blacks were influenced by and also contributed to the Enlightenment, such as Phillis Wheatley and Benjamin Banneker. Blacks fought in all battles on both sides during the war, and some slaves ran away to join the British.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: Slaves Petition the Governor of Massachusetts to End Slavery, 1774 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Slaves_Petition_Governor_of_Massachusetts_1774.html Assign the short document and questions to students to answer in full sentences and return for a letter grade. But first introduce the document in class and generate a discussion to provide historical context and answer any questions the students may have about the parameters of the primary document. (See Chapter Outline V.b.)

2.

Video: Declaring Independence http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/TheAmericanRevolution_3.html Show the short video overview of the origins of the Declaration of Independence and the causes of the American Revolution. Use the video as the launching pad for a class debate on whether or not the Americans should break from Britain.

Steer students towards the imperial relationship between Great Britain and the British North American colonies. Divide the class into two groups and have them meet to plot out talking points for the debate. Students should designate a notetaker, spokespersons, and other roles for the debate. (See Chapter Outline Point II. l.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask students to write a four-page paper based on their reading of a significant section of Joseph Plumb Martin’s Undaunted Courage, one of the more interesting and detailed primary source accounts of fighting in the War for Independence. (See Chapter Outline IV.l.)

2.

Ask students to write a three-page paper based on their reading of some poetry by Phillis Wheatley that you provide for them in class. Inform the students that Wheatley’s poetry reflects the themes of the American Revolution (See Chapter Outline III.e.) . 31

Long Assignments 1.

Ask students to write a ten-page research paper on a subject of their choosing regarding African Americans and the American Revolution. Provide them with a topic list of two dozen subjects from which to select. (See Chapter Outline IV.b.)

2.

Ask the students to put together an oral presentation on a particular subject regarding African Americans and the American Revolution. The presentation should include visual aids and last approximately 15 minutes. (See Chapter Outline V.n.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. Part One, “The Terrible Transformation, 1450-1750,” provides factual information and convincing visual recreations of the Atlantic slave trade and the arrival of Africans as slaves in the Americas. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

2.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The second and third episodes cover Virginia in the late 1700s during the American Revolutionary era.

3.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation and includes a section on the impact of the American Revolution on blacks.

4.

John Adams (2008, HBO, 8 hours).

HBO’s miniseries is by far the best docudrama, or documentary, on the issue of the American Revolution and John Adams. The film is sensitive to issues of race and gender and provides an excellent overview of the Revolutionary years.

5.

The Patriot (2000, Columbia Pictures, 165 minutes).

This flawed film is nevertheless useful for its departure from actual history. It is one of the few Hollywood films that touches upon the subject of the American Revolution.

6.

Liberty: The American Revolution (1997, PBS, 6 hours).

Produced by the Public Broadcasting System, this lengthy docudrama covers the major points of the Revolution and provides some coverage on African-American issues.

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SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Quarles, Benjamin, The Negro in the American Revolution (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996).

An excellent and traditional historical overview, and one of the first, on the subject of black participation during the American Revolution, this text is the starting point for any discussion on its subject.

2.

Davis, David Brion, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823 (Ithaca: NY: Cornell University Press, 1975).

This thought-provoking text covers the classic problem of the revolutionary era: How far should the revolution extend to women and minorities? Davis is one of the nation’s leading authors on the subject of slavery and the Revolution.

3.

Ira Berlin and Ronald Hoffman, eds., Slavery and Freedom in the Age of the American Revolution (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1983).

A classic text in the field of emancipation and revolution studies, the book contains a collection of articles on the meaning of slavery during the era of Revolution.

4.

Paul Finkelman, Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson (London: M.E. Sharpe, 1996).

The subject of Founding Father sentiment regarding slavery continues to fascinate students, particularly regarding Thomas Jefferson. See also Jefferson’s papers at the Library of Congress’s American Memory site. (See Suggested Websites, below.)

5.

Ellen Gibson Wilson. The Loyal Blacks (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1976).

This interesting book on the issue of blacks who remained loyal to the British government provides personal stories that put a human face on the narrative of the revolution.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of the Atlantic slave trade and African-American culture prior to emancipation.

2.

Slavery in the North http://www.slavenorth.com/ This website provides a strong overview of the entire history of African American slavery in the northern states, including the era of Revolution.

3.

The American Revolution: Lighting Freedom’s Flame .

33

http://www.nps.gov/revwar This National Park Service website provides a treasure trove of information on important places where the Revolution was built, such as Independence Hall, Philadelphia. The site also includes information on ethnic minorities and women during the Revolution.

4.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about the Revolution and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African-American history in general.

5.

Thomas Jefferson Papers http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/ The Library of Congress’s American Memory site contains the Thomas Jefferson papers. This primary source, and related primary sources on the site, provide a window into Founding Father sentiment regarding blacks and the Revolution.

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CHAPTER 5: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEW NATION 1783-1820

CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter explores how African Americans from a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives helped shape the lives of black people during America’s early years as an independent republic. The end of the War for Independence created great expectations among African Americans. But by 1820, when the Missouri Compromise confirmed the power of slaveholders in national affairs, black people in the North and the South had long known that the struggle for freedom was far from over. That struggle took place at the state and local as well as the regional and national levels. The forces involved in it were often impersonal. They included the emergence of a market economy in the North, based on wage, and an economy in the South based on the production of cotton by slave labor. In addition, a revolutionary ideology encouraged African Americans to seek freedom, by force if necessary.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 5-1 What forces worked for black freedom after the Revolution?

5-2 Why did slavery survive in the new United States?

5-3 What were the characteristics of early free black communities?

5-4 Who were the early black leaders in America and what were their varying ideas, tactics, and solutions for the problems faced by blacks?

5-5 How did the War of 1812 affect African Americans?

5-6 What impact did the Missouri Compromise have on African Americans?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Forces for Freedom a. After the War for Independence, a strong trend in the North and the Chesapeake favored emancipation. b. The Great Awakening and the expansion of a market economy made it difficult for northern slaveholders to defend black slavery. c. Slavery collapsed in the New England states because blacks refused to remain in servitude and because most white New Englanders acquiesced. d. The struggle against slavery in the Mid-Atlantic states was longer because more whites had a vested interest in slavery. e. Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire abolished slavery during the 1770s and 1780s. f. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, the state legislatures, rather than individual African Americans, took the initiative against slavery. g. In New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, the investment in slaves was much greater than in New England. h. The Pennsylvania legislature in 1780 voted that the children of enslaved mothers would be free at age 28. i. In 1799 the New York legislature finally agreed that male slaves born after July 4 of that year were to be free at age 28 and females at age 25.

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j. In 1804 New Jersey adopted a similar law that freed male slaves born after July 4 of that year at age 25 and females at age 21. k. In 1787 Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance which banned slavery from the Northwest Territory. l. The ordinance left the region south of the Ohio River open to slavery expansion. m. By preventing slaveholders from taking slaves legally into areas north of the Ohio River, the ordinance set a precedent for excluding slavery from U.S. territories. n. The antislavery societies of the Upper South tended to be small and short lived. o. Most southern states liberalized their manumission laws and hundreds of slaveholders in the Upper South freed their slaves. p. By 1820 the Upper South had a free black population of 114,070, compared with a northern free black population of 99,281. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

II.

Forces for Slavery a. Opposition to the Atlantic slave trade increased during the revolutionary era. b. The U.S. Constitutional convention in 1787 could not create a powerful central government without making concessions to southern slaveholders. c. South Carolina and Georgia delegates would not tolerate a central government that could prevent citizens from importing slaves. d. The convention compromised by including a provision in the Constitution that prohibited Congress from abolishing the slave trade until 1808. (See MyLab Activity 1.) e. The Constitution gave Congress power to stop “insurrections” and “domestic violence.” f. It also provided the basis for the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. g. The Three-Fifths Clause held that a slave be counted as three-fifths of a free person in deciding a state’s representation in the House and the electoral college. h. The increase of cotton cultivation, the Louisiana Purchase, and declining revolutionary fervor helped spread slavery in the new republic. (See Short Assignment 1.) i. British textile manufacturing created demand for raw cotton. j. The United States led in filling that demand as a result of Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793. k. Cotton reinvigorated the slave-labor system, which spread across Georgia and into Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas. l. The westward expansion of cotton production encouraged a domestic slave trade. m. During the 1790s Congress was determined to exclude blacks from the benefits of citizenship. (See Discussion Question 1.) n. A 1790 law limited the granting of naturalized citizenship to “any alien, being a white person.” o. In 1792 Congress limited enrollment in state militias to “each and every free, able-bodied white male citizen.” (See Lecture Starter 2.)

III.

The Emergence of Free Black Communities a. A black culture existed since the early colonial period and was centered in cities.

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36

b. The increase of free black populations in the North and Upper South after 1790 allowed blacks to establish autonomous communities. c. The earliest black community institutions were mutual aid societies. d. By the early 1800s, such societies also organized resistance to kidnappers who sought to recapture fugitive slaves or enslave free African Americans. e. The black Freemasons united black men from several northern cities. f. Black churches emerged later but quickly became the core of black communities. g. During the late 1700s, separate but not independent black churches appeared in the South. h. African Americans formed separate black congregations usually headed by black ministers but subordinate to white church hierarchies. i. The first congregations appeared in the 1770s in South Carolina and Georgia. j. A truly independent black church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), emerged in Philadelphia in the late 1700s. k. Schools for African-American children, slave and free, date to the early 1700s and were run by white clergy in the North and South. l. The first schools created by blacks to instruct black children arose after the Revolution and were sustained by black churches and mutual aid societies. m. Some black parents were too poor to send their kids to school or believed education was pointless since blacks could not get skilled jobs. n. Violence against black schools and attempts to close the schools were common.

(See Classroom Activity 2.)

IV.

Black Leaders and Choices a. Prominent among black leaders were clergymen such as Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. b. Allen opened a school in Philadelphia for black children and organized his own church. c. Allen wrote against slavery, opened the first national black convention, and housed fugitive slaves. d. In 1797 Allen became the first African American to petition Congress to end slavery. (See MyLab Activity 3.) e. Prince Hall owned leather dressing and catering businesses in Boston. f. Peter Williams, founder of New York’s AME Zion Church, was a tobacco merchant. g. James Forten, a Patriot during the War for Independence, owned his own business in 1798 and advocated equal rights and abolition. h. In 1787 Prince Hall petitioned the Massachusetts legislature to establish a colony in Africa. i. In 1816, influential white Americans organized the American Colonization Society. j. In 1820 the first party of African Americans arrived at the new African colony of Liberia. k. Paul Cuffe, a prominent sea captain, was the major black advocate of migration to Africa. (See Discussion Question 2.)

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l. Gabriel’s rebellion in Virginia (1800) and Deslonde’s in New Orleans (1811) failed. m. The frightened South reacted harshly to slave revolts by curtailing free black rights and slave mobility. (See Short Assignment 2.)

V.

The War of 1812 a. The War of 1812 was a part of a military struggle between Britain and France for control of the Atlantic world. b. Many Americans regarded the War of 1812 as a second war for independence. c. The United States failed to conquer Canada, suffered the burning of Washington, D.C., and allowed the war to end in a draw. d. By 1812 prejudice had obliterated positive white memories of black service. e. Southern states refused to enlist black men for fear they would use their guns to aid slave revolts. f. A lack of enthusiasm for the war and the absence of a British threat in the North kept northern states from mobilizing black troops. g. British generals offered slaves freedom in Canada or the British West Indies in return for help. h. African Americans joined the British army that burned Washington, D.C., in 1814 and attacked Baltimore. i. The threat this British army posed to Philadelphia and New York led to the first active black involvement in the war on the American side. j. The New York state legislature authorized two black regiments, offered freedom to slaves who enlisted, and promised compensation to their masters. k. In Philadelphia, James Forten, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones patriotically raised a “Black Brigade.” l. One-quarter of Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry’s 400 sailors were black at the naval engagement of Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie in 1813. (See Long Assignment 1.) m. At the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 African Americans fought bravely.

VI. a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

h.

The Missouri Compromise After 1815, sectional issues between the North and South revived.

The nation’s first political parties failed to confront slavery as a national issue.

The northern wing of the Federalist Party had abolitionist tendencies.

The Federalists did not raise the slavery issue when they controlled the government during the 1790s.

After 1800 the Republican Party controlled several proslavery presidential administrations in Washington.

Sectional differences over slavery arose in 1819 when Missouri Territory applied for admission to the Union as a slave state.

Henry Clay’s Missouri Compromise permitted Missouri to become a slave state and maintained a sectional political balance by admitting Maine as a free state.

(See MyLab Activity 2.)

The Missouri Compromise also banned slavery north of the 36° 30 line of latitude in the old Louisiana Territory. (See Long Assignment 2.)

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n. A new black and white antislavery militancy soon confronted the white South.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Come into class and immediately pull up a website on a subject related to the era after the American Revolution. Spend ten minutes taking the students through a particular site (see Suggested Website list below) to get them interested in the subject matter. (See Chapter Outline I.p.)

2.

Start class by bringing in a primary source document or short newspaper article on a subject that relates to the issue you are lecturing about. Ask the students either before or after you start the lecture to make connections from the reading to the class discussion/lecture. (See Chapter Outline II. o.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Divide the class into two groups of Congress members debating the merits of the admission of Missouri as a new slave state in 1819. Have the two sides convene before the debate to craft ten position statements for presentation. (See Chapter Outline VI.n.)

2.

Show a portion of the documentary Africans in America that relates to the time period 1783-1820, and ask the students to comment on the film based on your lecture during the previous class session. Ask them to take notes and return them to the instructor for points added to their grade. (See Chapter Outline III.n.)

Discussion Questions 1.

What were the forces working towards freedom after the American Revolution?

What were the forces that worked towards enslavement of African-American people? (See Chapter Outline II.m.)

Points to consider: Blacks were escaping slavery, northern whites were becoming more impatient against slavery after the Second Great Awakening, and southern white slave masters were inflicting greater control and punishment of slaves. The Democratic Party helped to keep blacks enslaved, as did the overwhelming majority of white men, some of whom rioted against abolitionists and free black communities in the 1830s and 1840s.

2.

What characteristics define free black communities after the American Revolution? What choices and decisions did black leaders make? (See Chapter Outline IV.k.)

Points to consider: Free black communities grew in population and complexity both in the northern and southern states as increasing numbers of blacks were freed over time through manumission, escape from slavery, and miscegenation. . 39

Free black leaders worked through black institutions to compel greater amounts of services from local government and less violence from urban whites.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Video: Slavery and the Constitution http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos/slaverylarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the six-minute video interview in class, ask students to provide a written summary of the historian’s main points and supporting evidence. Use this assignment as part of a quiz, or hold a general discussion about the issues when the students have finished compiling their answers. A debate can also be created based on competing historical views of the Constitution and slavery: Did the Founding Fathers intend for slavery to be protected by the Constitution forever? (See Chapter Outline II.d.)

2.

Interactive Map: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Interactive Map&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/his tory/MHL/US/interactiveMaps/I_Map_Missouri_Compromise_of_18201821.html&width=800&height=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After replaying the interactive map several times for students as a group, divide up students into small groups for a map-building exercise. Pass out to each student a blank map of the U.S. as it appeared after passage of the Missouri Compromise in 1821. Ask the students to shade in areas on the blank map that correspond to their memory of the features on the interactive map. After reconvening the students, replay the map a few times and generate a discussion about why the Missouri Compromise was passed and how it geographically impacted the nation. (See Chapter Outline VI.g.)

3.

Document: Richard Allen, "Address to the Free People of Colour of these United States," 1830 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Allen_Free_People_of_Colour_1830.html Assign a five-page research paper based on the impact of Richard Allen on the free black community during the antebellum era. Ask students to use Allen’s 1830 address as one of five primary sources required of the project. Pass out the document in class to students, do a read-out-loud exercise, and generate a discussion about the challenges that free blacks experienced and the solutions they created to withstand the rigors of racism during the era. (See Chapter Outline IV.d.)

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40

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask students to write a two-page paper based on the impact of the Louisiana Purchase on the issue of slavery. (See Chapter Outline II.h.)

2.

Ask students to write a three-page paper based on their analysis of six visual images about slavery that you provide for them. These images should be clustered around a particular theme related to the chapter. (See Chapter Outline IV.m.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask students to write a ten-page research paper on the role of blacks in the War of 1812. (See Chapter Outline V.l.)

2.

As students to put together an oral presentation on a particular subject regarding African Americans in the era after the American Revolution. The presentation should include visual aids and last approximately 15 minutes. (See Chapter Outline VI.h.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history, including subjects like the Missouri Compromise. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

2.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The third and fourth episodes cover Virginia from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s after the American Revolutionary era.

3.

Amistad (1997, DreamWorks, 152 minutes).

The film portrays a group of African slaves fighting for their freedom in the U.S during the early 1800s. It provides insights to the perceptions and experiences of free blacks, and whites, in the northern states prior to the Civil War.

4.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people and the United States. It provides comprehensive coverage of the range of African-American historical subjects.

5.

John Adams (2008, HBO, 8 hours).

The film chronicles American history through the experiences of John Adams during and after the American Revolution. Adams was involved in major . 41

congressional issues that shaped the history of slavery and the experiences of free blacks during the era.

6.

The Civil War (1990, PBS, 12 hours).

Produced by the Public Broadcasting System, this lengthy Ken Burns documentary covers some black historical issues, particularly the long-term causes of the war that relate to black life.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Gerald W. Mullin, Flight and Rebellion: Slave Resistance in Eighteenth Century Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972).

Mullin compares slave revolts of the era in a very complicated and fascinating manner. He also provides an overview of the dialing resistance undertaken by African Americans.

2.

Carol V.R. George, Segregated Sabbaths: Richard Allen and the Emergence of Independent Black Churches, 1760-1840 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973).

The formation of all-black churches, in particularly the African Methodist Episcopal Church founded by Richard Allen, is covered through a long-range analysis from the era before the American Revolution to the middle of the antebellum era.

3.

Douglas R. Egerton, Gabriel’s Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1993).

Gabriel’s rebellion is one of the more popular and important subjects of black history during the era, and Egerton’s text is an important contribution to the historiography on Gabriel and revolts in Virginia during the early 1800s.

4.

Gary B. Nash, Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia’s Black Community, 1720-1840 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988).

In this case study on Philadelphia’s free black population during the 1700s and first half of the 1800s, Nash provides a focus on America’s most important city for black people.

5.

Shane White, Somewhat More Independent: The End of Slavery in New York City, 1770-1810 (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1991).

White provides a case study outlining the emancipation in New York City, a development that began before the American Revolution. He also provides a discussion of what emancipation meant to African-American people in the city.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Slavery and the Making of America . 42

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of African-American history prior to emancipation.

2.

Slavery in the North http://www.slavenorth.com/ This website provides a strong overview of the entire history of African-American slavery in the northern states, including the era after the Revolution.

3.

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/natturner/slave_rebellions.html This site accompanies a PBS documentary on the issue of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion and provides information on slave rebellions in U.S. history prior to 1831, including Gabriel’s and Vesey’s. An interactive timeline and links to further documents are also provided.

4.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about the era after the Revolution that deal with African-American history. It also covers a wide range of subjects in AfricanAmerican history in general.

5.

Missouri Compromise http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html Part of the Library of Congress’s Primary Documents in American History website, this page provides congressional documents surrounding the debate to ratify the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The site is useful for providing Congressional perspective on the issue.

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CHAPTER 6: LIFE IN THE COTTON KINGDOM 1793-1861

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the lives of black people in the South from the rise of the Cotton Kingdom during the 1790s to the eve of the Civil War in 1860. During this time of rapid economic and geographical expansion of the nation, slavery in the South peaked as a productive system and means of white control over black southerners. The plantation system of the Upper South expanded to the Deep South based on the invention of the cotton gin and cotton cultivation. One million African Americans were transferred to a new and more lucrative system of slavery. Harsh punishments, the lack of nutritious food, and a burdensome work regime did not deter African-American men, women, and children from building a meaningful identity and existence based on family, religion, and resistance to slavery.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 6-1 Why was cotton cultivation central to the expansion of slavery?

6-2 How did the cultivation of various crops shape the experience of slavery?

6-3 How did the duties of house slaves and skilled slaves differ from those of urban and agricultural slavery?

6-4 What was the role of punishment in slavery?

6-5 What were the characteristics of the domestic slave trade between 1820 and 1860?

6-6 What were the conditions that shaped family life and the health and welfare of slaves?

6-7 How did African Americans adapt to life under slavery, and what role did religion play?

6-8 How have historians evaluated slavery and slaves?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

The Expansion of Slavery a. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793 made cotton cultivation profitable and led to expansion of slavery from the Atlantic coast to Texas. b. The expansion of the cotton culture led to the removal of the American Indians. c. During the 1830s and 1840s, the U.S. Army forced the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and most Seminole to relocate to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. d. Many Indians died during this forced migration, and the Cherokee remember it as “The Trail of Tears.” e. The Cherokees created in Oklahoma an economy dependent on black slave labor. f. By 1860 there were 7,000 slaves there, 14 percent of the population. g. Far fewer slaves lived in the other western territories. h. The number of blacks in bondage increased from the Atlantic coast to Texas. i. Slaves were not equally distributed across the region. j. In 1830, 1,314,272 white southerners (36 percent of a total white southern population of 3,650,758) owned slaves.

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k. In 1860 only 383,673 white southerners (4.7 percent of a total white southern population of 8,097,463) owned slaves. l. Almost half of the South’s slaveholders owned fewer than five slaves, only 12 percent owned more than 20 slaves, and 1 percent owned more than 50 slaves. m. More than half of slaves belonged to masters who had 20 or more slaves. n. A few black people continued to be slaveholders. o. Many became slaveholders to protect their families from sale and disruption. (See Discussion Question 1.)

II. a. b. c. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

III.

Slave Labor in Agriculture Agricultural laborers constituted 75 percent of the South’s slave population. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

About 55 percent of the slaves cultivated cotton, 10 percent grew tobacco, and 10 percent produced sugar, rice, or hemp.

About 15 percent were servants; 10 percent worked in trades and industries.

Tobacco was vital in Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri.

Rice production was confined to the South Carolina and Georgia low country.

Rice cultivation required intensive labor.

Sugar was grown by slaves on plantations on the Mississippi River. (See Short Assignment 1.)

By 1860 cotton exports were over 50 percent of the value of annual exports.

Cotton drove the economy particularly in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.

The price of slaves increased as a result of cotton expansion.

Technology in the South was primitive compared to that in the Old Northwest.

The transition to wheat led many planters to replace free labor for slave labor.

Hemp was cultivated by slaves in Kentucky.

House Servants and Skilled Slaves a. About 75 percent of the slave workforce in the 1800s consisted of field hands. b. Slaves who did domestic work, drove carriages, or learned a craft felt privileged. c. House slaves worked as cooks, maids, butlers, nurses, and gardeners. d. Their work was less physically demanding than fieldwork; they often received better food and clothing. e. Skilled slaves were considered more elite than house servants. f. Black men had a decided advantage over black women in becoming skilled workers. g. Slave carpenters, blacksmiths, and millwrights built and maintained plantation houses, slave quarters, and machinery. h. Skilled slaves gained a cosmopolitan outlook because of urban experience. i. Slaves or their masters negotiated labor contracts with employers. j. Slave populations in cities were large despite a decline between 1800 and 1860. k. Urban slaves served as domestics, artisans, stevedores, drayers, and laborers. l. Urban masters often let slaves buy freedom over a term years to keep them from leaving. m. By 1860 about 5 percent of southern slaves worked in industry.

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n. Industrial slaves enjoyed more autonomy and incentives than plantation slaves.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

IV. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

Punishment Whites believed that blacks would not work unless threatened with beatings.

Fear drove slaves to work and cooperate for mutual protection.

Older slaves taught slave children to avoid punishment and resist masters.

Slaves worked slowly and feigned illness to maintain their strength.

They broke tools and injured livestock to protest their condition.

Covert resistance and physical punishment caused anxiety for masters and slaves.

Resistance often forced masters to improve conditions.

Few slaves escaped being whipped at least once during their lives. (See Long Assignment 2.)

V.

The Domestic Slave Trade a. Cotton expansion and the decline of slavery in the Chesapeake stimulated the domestic slave trade. b. Masters cut excess slaves from their workforces and sold them to slave traders.

(See MyLab Activity 3.) c. The traders shipped slaves to markets in New Orleans and other cities for resale. d. Masters also sold slaves as punishment. e. Fear of being “sold down river” led many slaves in the Chesapeake to escape. f. Starting in the 1820s, about 150,000 slaves per decade moved toward the southwest either with their masters or traders. g. Between 1820 and 1860, roughly 50 percent of slaves in the Upper South moved to the Southwest. h. Traders operated compounds called slave prisons or slave pens in cities. i. Most slaves moved on foot in groups called coffles, chained or roped together. j. A coastal trade developed in slaves from Chesapeake ports to New Orleans. k. By the 1840s some traders transported their human cargoes in railroad cars. l. The domestic slave trade proved the falseness of claims that slavery was benign.

(See MyLab Activity 2.)

VI.

Slave Families Slave families had existed in North America since the 1600s but slave families had no legal standing. (See Discussion Question 2.)

Most enslaved men and women could choose their mates.

Masters often arranged pairings among female and male slaves because they assumed that husbands would be less rebellious than single men.

Masters knew that they would benefit if their human chattel reproduced.

Families were the core of the African-American community in slavery.

Slave weddings ranged from living together to elaborate religious ceremonies.

Enslaved black women usually performed field labor until they delivered a child.

More than 50 percent of slave children died before the age of five.

Long-term relationships between masters and enslaved women were common.

(See Lecture Starter 2.)

a. a. b. c. a. b. c. d. e.

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f. g. h. i. j.

VII. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

Black female cooks developed a cuisine based on African culinary traditions.

Slaves went barefoot during the warm months and wore cheap shoes in the winter.

Clothing was made of homespun cotton or wool and was dispersed twice a year.

Unsanitary living conditions produced diseases that often proved fatal.

Black southerners were the only New World slave population that grew by natural reproduction. (See Long Assignment 1.)

The Socialization of Slaves Blacks acquired the skills needed to protect others from the slave system.

Folktales from Africa or American Indians helped pass skills to children.

Children learned quickly from parents how to avoid angering white people.

Masters often missed the subtlety of the divided consciousness of slaves.

Some masters denied slaves access to Christianity, and some slaves ignored the religion.

By 1850, most slaves practiced a Protestantism similar to that of most white southerners.

Biracial Baptist and Methodist congregations persisted in the South longer than they did in northern cities.

Many masters sponsored plantation churches for slaves, and white missionary organizations also supported such churches.

In the plantation churches, white ministers told their black congregations that Christian slaves must obey their earthly masters as they did God. Slaves preferred a semisecret black church they conducted themselves or under the leadership of underground black preachers.

Slave services emphasized Moses and deliverance from bondage rather than a consistent theology or Christian meekness. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

VIII. The Character of Slavery and Slaves a. For over a century, historians have debated the character of the Old South’s slave system and the people it held in bondage. b. During the 1910s southern historian Ulrich B. Phillips portrayed slavery as a benign, paternalistic institution in which Christian slaveholders cared for largely content slaves. c. Historian Eugene D. Genovese has also placed paternalism at the heart of southern plantation slavery. d. Other historians since the 1950s deny paternalism had much to do with a system that rested on force. e. Since the 1950s they have contended that slaveholders exploited their bond people in a selfish quest for profits. f. Scholars have also compared slavery in the American South with its counterpart in Latin America. g. Slaves in Latin America influenced by Catholicism enjoyed more protection from masters than did slaves in the United States. h. More interracial marriage existed and less racism than in the United States. i. Another debate has centered on the character of enslaved African Americans.

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j. Historians such as Phillips argued that African Americans were genetically predisposed to being slaves and were content. k. In 1959 Stanley Elkins changed the debate by arguing that slaves were not inherently submissive but harsh conditions made them dependent on whites. l. A scholarly reaction to Elkins’s study led to current understandings of the character of African Americans in slavery. m. Historians since the 1960s have argued that slavery led blacks to create institutions that allowed them some control over their lives. (See Classroom Activity 2.) n. Historians today argue that black resistance forced masters to accept African work patterns and some degree of black autonomy. (See Short Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Bring into class music performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock or play slave spirituals from a website while you write your lecture on the board. Ask the students to think about the themes presented in the lyrics to the songs and about the tone of the music. (See Chapter Outline VII.k.)

2.

In class, access via the Internet Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home (at www.monticello.org) and take a virtual tour through the buildings and slave quarters with students before starting your lecture. (See Chapter Outline VI.e.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Divide the class into two groups: household slaves vs. agricultural slaves. Ask each group to meet in a section of the classroom to discuss the perspectives and main points that frame each group. Be sure to have each group assign a notetaker to capture the conversations. Reconvene the class and hold a debate regarding each group’s answer to an important thematic question. Choose one of the following questions: What were the differences between domestic and agricultural slavery? Was working in the household of whites easier than working in the fields? (See Chapter Outline III.n.)

2.

Show portions of the film Gone with the Wind and the docudrama Roots. Ask students to comment on the accuracies and inaccuracies of both films based on what they have learned so far about slavery on plantations and the AfricanAmerican response. Be sure to insist they take notes on their observations as you show the film clips. (See Chapter Outline VIII.m.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did slavery expand over time? How did the expansion of cotton impact African-American slaves? (See Chapter Outline I.o.)

Points to consider: Slavery expanded because of the expansion of cotton cultivation made possible by the acquisition of Indian land and lands claimed by . 48

Mexico and France by purchase in the American South. Over one million African Americans were transported as slaves from the Upper to the Lower South through the domestic slave trade, breaking up families and marriages.

2.

What was the impact of plantation slavery on African American slave families?

(See Chapter Outline VI.a.)

Points to consider: Plantation slavery produced a difficult work regime and slave families worked in gangs often together as a family unit. Diseases and high mortality rates abounded, particularly in the Lower South rice and sugar plantations. The presence of large numbers of black slaves provided a deep experience of African-American culture for slaves.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Interactive Map: Agriculture, Industry, and Slavery in the Old South, 1850 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&type=Intera ctiveMap&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/ MHL/US/interactiveMaps/Agriculture_Industry_and_Slavery_Old_South_1850.html&widt h=800&height=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Replay the interactive map several times for the students as a group. Then pass out to each student a series of colored pencils and a blank map of the U.S. Ask students to fill in the appropriate information as listed in the legend or key to the map. Also ask the students to fill-in the correct information regarding the pie chart of the distribution of slave labor in each economic zone of production. The central question to ask the students is: What is the correlation between African American residency patterns and the spread of agricultural products in the first half of the 1800s? (See Chapter Outline II.a.)

2.

Closer Look: Slave Auction in Richmond, Virginia http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/ssa_shared_media_1/history/mhl/us/closer_l ooks/ushistory_1011/web/ushistory_1011.html Access the site and show the image of a slave auction to students as a group. Ask the question: What is happening in this scene from slavery? Generate a discussion of their impressions and write the collective information on the board. Then play the audio component of the narrative. How did the reporter shape the nature of the image of the domestic slave trade? At the end of the segment, ask the question: How did the reporter shape the nature of the image of the domestic slave trade?

Ask students to answer the question in a paragraph. This assignment can be used as a quiz or a portion of an exam. (See Chapter Outline V. l.)

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3.

Document: Slave Tells of His Sale at Auction, 1848 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Slave_Tells_of_Sale_Auctio_1848.html&wi dth=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Design a series of questions based on the document. Provide students a copy of the document and the questions. Assign the questions as a take-home project for the students to answer at length. When the students turn in the exercise in class, hold a group discussion about the document and the sentiment of the author. How did the age of the author at the time of the slave sale shape his later account of the experience? (See Chapter Outline V.b.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask students to research six different websites that showcase historical plantations that exist today as museums. The paper should be three to six pages and based on a comparison of the salient aspects of the plantations. (See Chapter Outline II.f.)

2.

Ask the students to write a three-page paper based on their reading of several selections of the historiography of slavery from the work of John Blassingame, Stanley Elkins, and Eugene Genovese. Ask the students to compare the authors’ interpretations regarding the questions of how slavery functioned and how African Americans dealt with the institution. (See Chapter Outline VIII.n.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask students to write a ten-page research paper on a subject of their choosing regarding the impact of plantation slavery on African-American slave families.

Provide them with a topic list of two dozen subjects from which to select and a reading list to access in local libraries. (See Chapter Outline VI.n.)

2.

Present the students with 12 primary source documents on slavery and ask them to thread the documents together in a narrative that analyzes a particular aspect of the institution, such as punishment . The paper should be 8-12 pages. (See Chapter Outline IV.h.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. Part One, “The Terrible Transformation, 1450-1750,” provides factual information via visual recreations of the Atlantic slave trade and the arrival of African as slaves in the Americas. See also the accompanying website at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/. . 50

2.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The second and third episodes cover Virginia in the late 1700s during the American Revolutionary era.

3.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation and includes a section on the impact of the American Revolution on blacks.

4.

Gone with the Wind (1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 4 hours).

The classic film provides a view of slavery and the plantation system from the perspective of the white master class. The depictions of black characters in the film also provide insight into the challenging terrain of Hollywood for blacks during the Great Depression.

5.

This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys (PBS, 2003, 4 hours).

This PBS documentary covers the diaspora of African religion as it arrived in North America. African slaves transformed African religions into a modern form of African-American spiritual worship today.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Ronald L. Lewis, Coal, Iron, and Slaves: Industrial Slavery in Maryland and Virginia, 1715-1865 (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1979).

Lewis focuses on the history of industrial slavery in the Upper South during the colonial and antebellum era.

2.

Richard C. Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South 1820-1860 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967).

The urban experiences of African-American slaves and how the system functioned within urban southern cities is the focus of the book, an early text in the field.

3.

John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).

A classic work from a major author in the field, Blassingame’s text is the starting point for plantation studies.

4.

Charles Joyner, Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Community (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1984).

The book is a case study of one slave community in South Carolina and how whites and blacks existed in an oppressive slave system.

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5.

Lawrence Levine, Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977).

A text dense with cultural information about the slave community, Levine provides a wealth of information about every aspect of slave life and culture.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of southern slavery and African-American culture.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African-American history in general.

3.

National Archives: Eli Whitney’s Patent for the Cotton Gin http://blogs.archives.gov/todaysdocument/2011/03/14/march-14-eli-whitneyspatent-for-the-cotton-gin/ This federal website provides the schematic of Whitney’s new invention that revolutionized cotton production in the South to detrimental effects on African American people after 1793.

4.

This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/timeline/p_1.html The companion website to a PBS documentary of the same title, the website provides information on African-American religion since the days of slavery.

5.

Hampton Plantation State Historic Site http://southcarolinaparks.com/hampton/introduction.aspx Located in the rice growing delta region of South Carolina, the Hampton Plantation was prominent and worked African American slaves in the rice industry. The website provides an in-depth examination of the buildings, objects, and letters of the master class that shed light on plantation slavery.

6.

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/natturner/slave_rebellions.html This site that accompanies a PBS documentary on the issue of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion also provides information on slave rebellions in U.S. history prior to 1831, including Gabriel’s and Vesey’s. An interactive timeline and links to further documents are also provided.

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CHAPTER 7: FREE BLACK PEOPLE IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA 1820-1861

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter picks up the story of free black communities that began in Chapter 5. It provides a portrait of free African Americans between 1820 and the start of the Civil War. While southern legislatures considered expelling free black people from their states, northern legislatures—particularly in the Old Northwest—restricted black people’s ability to move into their states. White workers, North and South, sponsored legislation that limited most free African Americans to menial employment. White people also required most black people to live in segregated areas of cities. Yet such ghettoized African-American communities cultivated a dynamic cultural legacy and built enduring institutions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 7-1 What were the demographics of black freedom?

7-2 How did the policies of the Jacksonian Democrats impact African Americans?

7-3 What limits were placed on free blacks throughout the North?

7-4 What were the characteristics of northern black communities?

7-5 What institutions did African Americans rely on most?

7-6 How did free African Americans live in the South and the West?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

II. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

The Demographics of Freedom In 1820 free blacks totaled eight percent of the 1.75 million blacks in the U.S. Most free blacks lived in the northern states and in the Upper South.

A minority of free blacks inhabited the Deep South.

Most free blacks lived in cities.

By 1860 the free black population had reached 500,000 people divided evenly between North and South.

By 1860, the number of slaves had increased to four million.

Most free blacks lived in large cities.

Free blacks interacted with slaves to create communities embracing both groups.

The largest black urban population in the North was in Philadelphia. (See Classroom Activity 2.)

The Jacksonian Era From 1800 to 1860, a market revolution industrialized the North.

A large urban working class arose.

Foreign immigrants provided cheap labor in large factory-based cities.

By 1810 states moved toward universal white manhood suffrage.

By appealing to slaveholders, the Democrats elected Andrew Jackson in 1828.

Jackson followed a pro-southern agenda.

He promoted states’ rights, economic localism, and the expansion of slavery.

The Whig Party favored a nationalist approach to economic policy. .

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i. Whigs opposed territorial expansion and endorsed the moral values of Protestantism. j. Whigs often adopted a more conciliatory tone on race. k. The Whig Party usually nominated slaveholders for the presidency. l. Few Whig politicians defended black rights.

III.

Limited Freedom in the North a. The racial egalitarianism of the revolutionary era waned by the 1790s. (See Long Assignment 2.) b. Most white northerners wanted nothing to do with African Americans. c. Disfranchisement of black voters occurred throughout the North—except in most of New England—during the antebellum decades. d. Northeastern states with the larger black populations were most determined to deny black men the right to vote. e. Northern hotels and bars turned blacks away unless they were servants of guests. f. Public lecture halls, art exhibits, and religious revivals banned blacks or allowed them to attend only at certain times. g. Free blacks sat in segregated sections of any white business that allowed them in. h. Ohio excluded blacks from state-supported poorhouses and insane asylums. i. African Americans faced special difficulty trying to use public transportation. j. In Massachusetts in 1841, a railroad first used the term Jim Crow, which derived from a blackface minstrel act, to describe separate cars for blacks. k. Later the term “Jim Crow” came to define other forms of racial segregation. l. Free blacks in cities also faced residential segregation, disease, and poor housing. m. A few wealthy black people lived in white urban neighborhoods. n. Southern visitors to northern cities argued that blacks were better off in slavery.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

IV.

Black Communities in the Urban North a. Northern blacks lived in rural and urban areas during the antebellum decades. b. By the 1820s, the average black family in northern cities had two parents and between two and four children. c. Immigration from Europe hurt northern African Americans economically. d. White workers refused to work with blacks and used violence to prevent employers from hiring black workers. e. Most northern black men performed menial day labor. f. By the 1850s the Irish were pushing black men from unskilled work in cities. (See Lecture Starter 2.) g. By 1850 about 50 percent of the crew on American sailing vessels were black. h. The tiny black elite led in the development of black institutions and culture. (See MyLab Activity 3.) i. A few black individuals became rich. j. Segregated neighborhoods gave rise to a black professional class of physicians, lawyers, ministers, and undertakers who served an exclusively black clientele. k. Black merchants gained wealth by selling to black communities. l. White people often preferred to hire people of mixed race. .

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m. Black artists and musicians were also part of the northern free black elite. n. The antebellum era was a golden age of African-American literature. o. The best known slavery narrative is Frederick Douglass’s classic Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, published in 1845. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

V.

African-American Institutions a. Black institutions grew in strength, numbers, and variety during the 1800s. (See Discussion Question 1.) b. Black institutions included schools, mutual aid organizations, benevolent and fraternal societies, self-improvement and temperance associations, literary groups, newspapers and journals, and theaters. c. The most important black community institution remained the church. d. Black churches served as community centers and often housed schools. e. Antislavery societies met in churches, and the churches harbored fugitive slaves. f. The independent African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church was the largest black church in the U.S. and Canada. g. Northern white churches required black members to sit in special sectionsnand provided separate Sunday schools for black children. h. Education was racially segregated in the North between 1820 and 1860. i. Low public funding resulted in poor education for most black children. j. The few black schools were dilapidated and overcrowded. k. Some colleges served blacks exclusively while non-black colleges admitted black applicants occasionally. l. Mutual aid societies became especially attractive to black women. m. The Prince Hall Masons created new lodges in Northeastern cities. n. Black temperance societies spread more widely than other organizations. o. Black temperance advocates were middle-class activists who sought to stop the black working class from abusing alcoholic beverages. (See Short Assignment 1.)

VI.

Free African Americans in the Upper South a. The South’s agricultural economy and slavery set free people of color in the Upper South apart from northern counterparts. (See Discussion Question 2.) b. Only one-third of free blacks in the Upper South lived in cities which hampered the development of black communities. c. Unlike black northerners, free black people in the Upper South lived near slaves.

(See MyLab Activity 1.) d. Free black southerners were also more subject to enslavement than black northerners. (See MyLab Activity 2.) e. Free black people also had difficulty traveling, owning firearms, congregating in groups, and being out after dark. f. Residential segregation was less pronounced in southern cities than in the North, g. Free blacks of the Upper South faced a more thorough exclusion from hotels, taverns, trains, parks, theaters, and hospitals than black northerners. h. Free persons of color in rural areas generally worked as tenant farmers. .

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i. In urban areas, most free black men worked as unskilled day laborers while free black women worked as laundresses and domestic servants. j. The most successful free blacks were barbers, butchers, tailors, and merchants. k. Black voluntary associations, particularly in urban areas of the Upper South, fared better than black schools. l. Free blacks in the Deep South were less numerous than in the Upper South or the North. m. Some free blacks owned other blacks as slaves. (See Long Assignment 1.) n. Black communities west of the Mississippi River emerged in the 1840s. o. Discriminatory “black laws” banned free blacks or restricted their activities. p. During the 1840s some black families joined white Americans in settling Oregon. q. The California gold rush by 1852 had attracted about 2,000 free black men.

(See Short Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Access the Internet or bring into class a series of cartoons and images from the New York Times and the National Art Museum on the Internet depicting free blacks and communities in the U.S. Ask the students about the perspective of the image-makers and the realities of free black life before the Civil War. (See Chapter Outline IV.o.)

2.

Show a quick segment of the film Gangs of New York, which includes several scenes of free blacks in northern cities. Ask the students to point out accuracies and inaccuracies in the film as compared to the reading. (See Chapter Outline IV.f.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Create a debate in class by dividing the students into two groups: whites in northern cities who opposed free black people and free blacks who defied northern racism. Ask students to convene before the debate to isolate key points, take brief notes, and prepare to explain their perspective. (See Chapter Outline III.n.)

2.

Pass out to students several graphs and charts regarding the population distribution of free blacks in the U.S., and ask them to work alone or in small groups to make sense of the data and draw conclusions, particularly about the “Demographics of Freedom.” Then reconvene the class for a larger discussion.

(See Chapter Outline I.i.)

Discussion Questions 1.

What limits were placed on free blacks throughout the North? What were the characteristics of northern black communities? What institutions did African Americans rely on most? (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

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Points to consider: The federal and state governments, as well as local governments, severely restricted black economic and social mobility through racist laws and customary racism. Northern black communities were poor and segregated and primarily urban. Blacks relied upon churches, schools, and selfhelp societies to survive.

2.

What were the differences between free black life in the South compared to the North? How was the Upper South different from the Deep South? (See Chapter Outline VI.a.)

Points to consider: Free blacks in the North were less skilled than free blacks in the South, but they possessed greater avenues of cultural and religious expression because free blacks in the South were surrounded by slavery. Free blacks in the Upper South lived near the free states, providing them greater economic and social opportunities than free blacks in the cotton-based Deep South. All free blacks lived in cities in greater proportions compared to enslaved blacks and whites.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: North Carolina Codes, 1855 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US/documen ts/North_Carolina_Codes_1855.html Assign this lengthy primary source document as a group project for students.

During preliminary class discussion about the project, provide some general context about slave codes and free blacks over time in the South. Divide the class into groups and assign each group a portion of the slave code regarding free black interaction with slaves. The job of each group is to dissect the meaning, potential impact on free and enslaved black people, and the potential free black response or adjustment to the slave code section. Each group should turn in a three-page summary of their section of the slave code to the instructor for a letter grade. Hold a general discussion about the group-findings with students after the assignment is over. (See Chapter Outline VI. c.)

2.

Document: Frances E. W. Harper’s “The Slave Auction,” 1854 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Poem_The_Slave_Auction_by_1854.html Ask a student to read the poem aloud to the rest of the class. Be sure each student has a copy of the poem. Then ask students to analyze the poem and write a paragraph summarizing the main points expressed by the author. This part of the exercise can also be used to assist students in writing a thesis statement for an essay. As part of the assignment, ask students to write their own short poems on the impact of slavery on African-American people during the days of slavery and

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today. The assignment should be turned in for a letter grade. (See Chapter Outline VI.d.)

3.

Document: An African-American Novel Critiques Racism in the North (1859) http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_myhistorylibrary_1/155/39787/10185516.cw/index.html Use the short selection from Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig, the first novel written by an African American woman in U.S. history, in class as a way to introduce students to reading the book for a graded class assignment. Allow students to take turns reading each paragraph of the selection out loud in class. Generate a discussion about how the reading selection reflects the literary goals of Wilson in writing the book. Assign a five-page essay based on student analysis of the literary aspects of the entire novel and how it intersects with a larger critique of slavery. (See Chapter Outline IV.h.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask students to write a letter to a government official in the persona of a free black person justifying why blacks formed their own institutions in northern and southern cities during the antebellum years. (See Chapter Outline V.o.)

2.

Provide students with three primary source documents dealing with free black life in the west, and ask them to write a four-page analysis of the historical experiences of free blacks in the Western states and territories. (See Chapter Outline VI.q.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask the students to research the complex issue of free blacks owning other African Americans as slaves and write an eight-page paper on the subject. (See Chapter Outline VI.m.)

2.

Provide the students with twelve primary source documents on the free black experience in the northern states and ask them to base a paper on an analysis of the documents. Ask the students to devise questions based on the documents to answer within the paper as themes and thesis statements. (See Chapter Outline III.a.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. It also covers the world of free blacks. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

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2.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation and includes a section on free blacks.

3.

Gangs of New York (1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 166 mins).

Steven Spielberg’s interesting examination of whites and blacks in New York City during the 1830s and 1840s focuses on the complex identities formed by Irish immigrants, native-born Protestants, and African Americans. City scenes in the film illuminate the historical past for students.

4.

This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys (PBS, 2003, 4 hours).

This PBS documentary covers the diaspora of African religion as it arrived in North America. African slaves transformed African religions into a modern form of African American spiritual worship that infused free black urban religion as well.

5.

Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994, PBS, 90 minutes).

This PBS documentary on Douglass is the best documentary to date on the titanic historical figure. The film serves as a deep biography of Douglass and the antislavery movement.

6.

Glory (1989, TriStar, 122 minutes).

This blockbuster film focuses on the black Civil War experience. It provides numerous scenes and characters of northern free black life useful for class discussion and papers.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Leon F. Litwack, North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961).

Providing a starting point for an understanding of the free black experience in the northern states, Litwack offers an overview of the subject across many cities and issues.

2.

Ira Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South (New York: New Press, 1971).

In this interesting book on a surprising corner of slavery, Berlin discusses free blacks who lived surrounded by slavery in the South. Berlin covers the issue with a focus on a range of subjects surrounding southern free blacks.

3.

Gary B. Nash, Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia’s Black Community, 1720-1840 (Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press, 1988).

Nash provides a city-based study of the black community of Philadelphia, a place considered to be the cultural center of free black life. .

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4.

John Hope Franklin, The Free Negro in North Carolina, 1790-1860 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1943).

Franklin provides a state-based study of free blacks living in North Carolina and covers a wide range of issues.

5.

David Roediger, The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class (New York: Verso Press, 1991).

Roediger’s book provides insight into the white working class of northern cities and explores why it utilized a race-based viewpoint to define a labor identity.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The companion website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of African-American history prior to emancipation, including the free black experience.

2.

Slavery in the North http://www.slavenorth.com/ This website provides a strong overview of the entire history of African-American slavery in the northern states, including the formation of free black communities in the urban north.

3.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about African-American history, including slavery and freedom issues.

4.

Library of Congress, American Memory Series: The African American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ohshtml/aaeohome.html Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site presents numerous visual and written documents on the enslaved and free black past of the state of Ohio, crossroads between slavery and freedom for blacks.

5.

Africans in America: America’s Long Journey Through Slavery http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html The companion site for the excellent series on African-American history before the Civil War, the episode “Brotherly Love” covers the first three decades of the 1800s.

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CHAPTER 8: OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY 1730-1833

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter explores the emergence, during the eighteenth century, of abolitionism in America, its transformation during the early nineteenth century, and the beginning of a more radical antislavery movement by the late 1820s. Two principal antislavery movements developed in the United States before 1833. One movement existed in the South among slaves. The other centered in the North and the Chesapeake among free African-American and white abolitionists. The two movements shared roots in the age of revolution, and each gained vitality from evangelical Christianity. The Second Great Awakening and the reforming spirit of the Benevolent Empire shaped the northern antislavery effort. The black church, the Bible, and elements of African religion helped inspire slave revolutionaries. The antislavery movement that existed in the North and portions of the Upper South was always biracial and emphasized peaceful means to end slavery. Unlike northern abolitionists, slaves like Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner had to rely on violence to fight slavery. Free blacks like David Walker contributed to the debate to end slavery immediately. During the subsequent decades, free black people, and the efforts of slaves to escape servitude in the South, influenced radical black and white abolitionists in the North to end slavery.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 8-1 Why and how did abolitionism begin in America?

8-2 What forces and events fueled the antislavery movement?

8-3 What were the goals of the American Colonization Society?

8-4 What role did black women play in the abolition movement?

8-5 Why was Walker’s Appeal important?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Antislavery Begins in America a. The Age of Revolution forged two overlapping antislavery movements in the U.S. (See Discussion Question 2.) b. The first movement arose in the South among slaves with the help of free blacks and a few sympathetic white people. c. The second movement consisted of black and white abolitionists in the North. d. More whites engaged in the northern movement than in the one southern slaves conducted. e. In the North, white people controlled the larger antislavery organizations. f. In the Upper South, blacks cooperated covertly with white abolitionists. g. The American Revolution, the French Revolution and the Haitian struggle for independence revitalized antislavery movements. h. In 1775 Philadelphia Quakers organized the first antislavery society in the world. i. Black and white abolitionists had similar goals but worked in separate groups. j. Northern abolitionists primarily supported gradual emancipation. k. White abolitionists did not advocate equal rights for black people. .

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l. Antislavery efforts by black southerners led to a more wide-ranging movement. m. Gabriel’s abortive slave revolt conspiracy of 1800 arose from revolutionary ideology and not the northern antislavery movement. n. The arrival of Haitian refugees in Virginia led to slave unrest during the 1790s. o. Virginia authorities suppressed another slave conspiracy in 1802. p. The Denmark Vesey slave revolt conspiracy of 1822 in South Carolina frightened southern whites and led to a crackdown on free black interactions with slaves.

(See MyLab Activity 2.)

II. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

The Path toward a More Radical Antislavery Movement Democratic politicians favored a state rights doctrine that protected slavery from interference by the national government.

Democrats were the strongest supporters of expanding slavery into new regions.

Political opponents accused Democrats of supporting a “slave power” conspiracy.

Black churches became an essential part of the antislavery movement. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

Evangelical reform movements arose from the Second Great Awakening and emphasized “practical Christianity.”

The Benevolent Empire included church-related organizations focused on reform.

A broad social movement flourished throughout the 1850s in the Northeast.

Voluntary associations organized to reform public education, alcohol consumption, prisons, and aid to the intellectually and physically challenged.

The most important cause of reform was the abolishment of slavery in the U.S. (See Classroom Activity 2.)

III.

Colonization a. The American Colonization Society (ACS) was founded by white elites and was the most prominent organization that ostensibly opposed slavery. b. The ACS had a twofold program to abolish slavery gradually in the United States by paying slaveholders for giving up their human property. c. The ACS also proposed to send former slaves and free blacks to Africa. d. In 1822 the ACS established the colony of Liberia on the West African coast. e. The U.S. government financially supported ACS activities. f. Free black leaders like James Forten wavered in his support of the ACS. g. Most black abolitionists quickly concluded that the ACS was a proslavery effort to drive free blacks from the country. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

IV.

Black Abolitionist Women a. Black women joined black men in opposing slavery. b. Law and custom proscribed women from engaging in politics, the professions, and most businesses. c. Church and benevolent activities were the only options for female public action. d. Custom relegated women to work in auxiliaries to men’s reform organizations. e. In 1833 black and white women founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. f. Most black women lacked wealth and education and worked outside their homes. .

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g. Black women in southern border cities risked everything to harbor fugitive slaves. h. Many black women saved their earnings to purchase freedom for loved ones. i. William Lloyd Garrison published his radical abolitionist newspaper The Liberator in 1831 and called for immediate emancipation. j. Garrison learned from his close association with free blacks in Baltimore that immediate emancipation must be combined with a commitment to racial justice. k. Garrison and other abolitionists formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

V.

David Walker and Nat Turner a. Two other black abolitionists, David Walker and Nat Turner, helped shape Garrison’s brand of abolitionism. b. Walker and Turner were from the South, and both were deeply religious. c. They advocated employing violent means against slavery and had an impact on both the white South and northern abolitionists. David Walker published the Appeal . . . to the Colored Citizens of the World, in 1829 in which he attacked slavery and white racism, and advocated violence. (See Short Assignment 2.) d. Walker’s writing style shaped Garrison and other advocates of immediate abolition while increasing black hopes and the militancy of black abolitionists. e. Walker enhanced white fears of subversion which helped bring on the Civil War. f. The Nat Turner rebellion of 1831 inspired intense fear among white southerners.

(See MyLab Activity 3.) g. As a young man, Turner spent much of his time studying the Bible. h. Turner became a lay preacher and a leader among local slaves. i. Turner’s visions convinced him God intended him to lead his people to freedom. j. Turner’s band of 70 black men killed 57 white men, women, and children before militia put down the revolt the following morning. k. White southerners accused Garrison and other abolitionists of inspiring the revolt. l. Black abolitionists compared Turner to Toussaint Louverture and Gabriel. (See Long Assignments 1 and Long Assignment 2.) (See Discussion Question 1.) m. Tension over peaceful vs. violent means to end slavery framed the antislavery movement for the next 30 years. (See Short Assignment 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by accessing the Internet and playing an NPR radio segment that relates to the history of the opposition against slavery in the U.S. Ideas can be found at the PBS-affiliated website The African American World (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/history/index.html). Relevant segments were aired on Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered. (See Chapter Outline III.g.)

2.

Read a short selection from David Walker’s Appeal, and ask students to provide back to you the major points that Walker emphasizes in his 1829 pamphlet. (H.)

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Classroom Activities 1.

Ask students why separate black churches developed during this time period.

Introduce the historical concepts of segregation vs. integration. Have the students organize a debate based on the historical strategies of segregation and integration that blacks have used over time from the antebellum through the civil rights eras.

(See Chapter Outline II.d.)

2.

Use the Internet to access primary documents from the state of Virginia’s website on the abolition movement (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/DeathLiberty/natturner/). Focus on one document in class and ask students to meet in small groups to discuss the main points and meaning of the document. (See Chapter Outline II.i.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did David Walker write his Appeal? Why did Nat Turner lead a revolt against slavery? How does Denmark Vesey’s revolt compare to Turner’s? (See Chapter Outline V.l.)

Points to consider: Walker was frustrated by racial discrimination towards free blacks and the enslavement of African Americans, and he was inspired by the previous Vesey and Haitian slave revolts. Turner was motivated by religion and anger towards white people for enslaving blacks; he was influenced by his mother. Vesey’s revolt was much more muted and less successful and was in reality a conspiracy, whereas Turner’s crew killed several dozen whites.

2.

Why did the antislavery movement start in the U.S? How did the antislavery movement become more radical over time? (See Chapter Outline I.a.)

Points to consider: The movement started because the southern states practiced slavery, a Christian revival movement called the Second Great Awakening took place in the 1820s, and blacks who escaped from slavery fought against the system as free people. The movement became more radical as violence escalated by whites in response to antislavery advocates who increasingly called for the immediate abolition of slavery in the U.S. Free blacks also lectured against the system, angering whites and popularizing the cause.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: The American Antislavery Society Declares Its Sentiments, 1833 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US/documen ts/The_American_AntiSlavery_Society_Declares_Its_Sentiments_1833.html Pass out the short document and questions to students for both an in-class and a take-home project. For the first part of the exercise, ask students to take turns reading the document out loud. Then ask them a series of questions to decipher the meaning and main points of the document as a group exercise. When you have .

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exhausted the discussion, ask the students to answer the two questions as a takehome assignment. (See Chapter Outline IV. k.)

2.

Document: A Charleston Newspaper Reports on Denmark Vesey’s Attempted Uprising, 1822 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign this short primary document as both an in-class exercise and part of the primary evidence required for a five-page essay on the impact of Denmark Vesey on African-American history. Read the document aloud in class for the students, then divided the class into groups and have each group utilize the document to compile a profile of the enigmatic free black insurrectionist. Generate a class discussion about the biases and perspective apparent in the authorship and interpretation of Vesey in the document. (See Chapter Outline I. p.)

3.

Video: Nat Turner http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US/visual_to ol/TheAntebellumSouth_3.html After showing the four-minute mini-lecture with a noted historian on the history of slavery in the United States, hold a general discussion with students about how African Americans resisted slavery. Steer the discussion towards the subject of the Turner revolt and how it impacted the South and the United States. This inclass exercise can transition students into starting an essay on why the Turner revolt took place in 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia. Questions to consider for discussion and papers include: How did African Americans resist slavery?

Why were large slave revolts relatively uncommon in British North American and U.S. history? What were the parameters of the Turner revolt? How did the Turner revolt impact U.S. history? (See Chapter Outline V.g.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Provide students with a blank map of the United States and ask them to provide the locations of slave rebellions that occurred in the early nineteenth century. (See Chapter Outline Point V.n.)

2.

Have students research and write a short paper on a section from David Walker’s Appeal and ask them to think about what strategies he advocated, and why. (See Chapter Outline Point V.d.)

Long Assignments

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1.

The textbook discusses Gabriel’s rebellion. Ask the students to use the Internet to research another slave uprising from the early 1800s. Assign a five-page paper that examines the motives, goals, and outcome of the rebellion, and compare it to Gabriel’s rebellion. (See Chapter Outline V.m.)

2.

Have students research and write a four-page paper on the history of Toussaint Louverture. Be sure to have them include visual images and primary sources in their research. (See Chapter Outline V.m.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2004, PBS, 1 hour).

This PBS program is one of the only documentaries in the form of a docudrama of the man and his impact upon black history and slavery.

2.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours).

Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. Part One, “The Terrible Transformation, 1450-1750,” provides factual information and convincing visual recreations of the Atlantic slave trade and the arrival of African as slaves in the Americas. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

3.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The second and third episodes cover Virginia in the late 1700s during the American Revolutionary era.

4.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation and includes a section on the impact of the American Revolution on blacks. See also the accompanying website, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html.

5.

This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys (PBS, 2003, 4 hours).

This PBS documentary covers the diaspora of African religion as it arrived in North America. African slaves transformed African religions into a modern form of African-American spiritual worship today.

6.

Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994, PBS, 90 minutes).

This PBS documentary on Douglass is the best documentary to date on the titanic historical figure. The film serves as a deep biography of Douglass and the antislavery movement.

7.

The Abolitionists (2013, PBS, 3 hours). .

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This PBS documentary covers a wide range of issues regarding the most important abolitionists during the first half of the 1800s.

SUGGESTED BOOK/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Shirley J. Yee, Black Women Abolitionists: A Study in Activism, 1828-1860 (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1992).

This book concentrates on the time period after 1833, but it is the best place to begin reading about the impact of black abolitionist women on the antislavery movement and black institutions.

2.

Sean Wilentz, ed., David Walker’s Appeal (New York: Hill and Wang, 1995).

A reprint of Walker’s Appeal as it existed in 1829. The document remains one of the most important for understanding slavery and black resistance during the era.

3.

Douglas Egerton, He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey (Madison, WI: Madison House, 1999).

In one of the latest attempts to understand the mysterious Vesey, whose rebellion continues to fascinate historians, Egerton tells the story and summarizes the historical debate.

4.

Stephen B. Oates, The Fires of the Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion (New York: Harper and Row, 1975).

A classic text in the field, Oates’s account was one of the first to analyze the Turner revolt as part of the antislavery movement.

5.

Alfred N. Hunt, Haiti’s Influence on Antebellum America: Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1988).

The role of the Haitian slave revolt in U.S. history remains a fascinating question that Hunt answers by pointing out that slave rebellions in North America after 1800 may owe some of their inspiration to Haiti.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/natturner/slave_rebellions.html This site accompanies a PBS documentary on the issue of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion and provides information on slave rebellions in U.S. history prior to 1831, including Gabriel’s and Vesey’s rebellions. An interactive timeline and links to further documents are also provided.

2.

Africans in America: Brotherly Love http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html The accompanying website for this PBS production provides a range of primary source documents on several themes related to the chapter, including resistance and colonization, .

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3.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of southern slavery and African-American culture.

4.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African-American history in general.

5.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide to the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

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CHAPTER 9: LET YOUR MOTTO BE RESISTANCE 1833-1850

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter focuses on the radical movement for the immediate abolition of slavery. The movement flourished in the United States from 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison began publishing the Liberator, through the Civil War. Garrison hoped slavery could be abolished peacefully. But during the 1840s abolitionists adjusted their antislavery tactics to deal with increasing racism and antiblack violence, both of which were related to the existence of slavery. Slave resistance spread by fugitives like Frederick Douglass also inspired a more confrontational brand of abolitionism. Many black abolitionists and their white colleagues concluded that the tactic of moral suasion, typical of abolitionism during the 1830s, could not by itself achieve their goals. Most black abolitionists came to believe they needed a combination of moral suasion, political involvement, and direct action to end slavery and improve the lives of African Americans in the United States. By the late 1840s, a minority of black abolitionists contended they had to establish an independent nation beyond the borders of the United States to promote African-American rights, interests, and identity.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 9-1 How did the racism and violence of the 1830s and 1840s affect the antislavery movement?

9-2 What roles did black institutions and moral suasion play in the antislavery movement?

9-3 What was the role of black churches and black newspapers in the abolitionist movement?

9-4 How did abolitionism become more aggressive during the 1840s and 1850s?

9-5 What were the reasons for the break up of the American Anti-Slavery Society and what organizations emerged to replace it?

9-6 How did the views of Frederick Douglass differ from those of Henry Highland Garnet?

CHAPTER OUTLINE POINT I.

A Rising Tide of Racism and Violence a. Abolitionist militancy increased from 1830 to the end of the Civil War in 1865. b. White embrace of an exuberant nationalism called Manifest Destiny contributed to this trend. c. “Scientific racism” held that white people were a superior race. d. A wave of racially motivated violence committed by the federal and state governments and vigilantes accelerated the abolitionist movement. e. Antiblack riots in cities, often led by the Irish, increased as abolitionism expanded. f. Texas entered the Union as a slave state in 1844, alarming northern whites. g. In 1846 the U.S. attacked Mexico and occupied the nation by 1848. .

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h. Slaveholders feared that northerners would seek to exclude slavery from the western lands taken from Mexico. i. The resulting Compromise of 1850 attempted to satisfy both northerners and southerners. j. The Compromise subjected blacks to additional violence because part of the legislation met slaveholders’ demands for a stronger fugitive slave law. (See Discussion Question 1.)

II.

The Antislavery Movement a. The increase in racial violence caused difficulties for the antislavery movement. b. White abolitionists thought they should set policy and black colleagues became resentful. c. Abolitionist opposition to achieving abolition through the use of force weakened. d. In 1833 abolitionists formed the American Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia. e. Black participation on a leadership level within the AASS was paltry. (See MyLab Activity 3.) f. The AASS rarely allowed black people to hold positions of authority. (See Lecture Starter 1.) g. During the 1830s the AASS adopted a reform strategy based on moral persuasion. h. Slaveholding was a sin and a crime that deprived African Americans of the freedom of conscience they needed to save their souls. i. Abolitionists criticized northern industrialists for supporting slavery. j. The AASS in 1835 launched the Great Postal Campaign to send antislavery literature to southern post offices. k. The AASS organized a petitioning campaign aimed to agitate the slavery issue in Congress; antislavery women led in circulating and signing the petitions. l. In the North, AASS agents lectured against slavery and distributed literature. m. In 1836 southern representatives and northern allies passed the Gag Rule in Congress, forbidding slavery petitions from being introduced in the House. n. Congressman John Quincy Adams succeeded in having the Gag Rule repealed in 1844. o. In 1837 a mob killed white abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy in Illinois. (See Short Assignment 1.)

III.

Black Community Support a. A maturing African-American community undergirded the antislavery movement. b. The free black population grew from 60,000 in 1790 to 435,000 in 1850. c. New York, Philadelphia, and Boston had enough African Americans to support independent churches, schools, benevolent organizations, and printing presses. d. These communities became bedrocks of abolitionism. e. Dozens of black conventions in the North inspired a larger black community. f. The first Black National Convention was held in 1830 in Philadelphia. g. Conventions called for ending slavery and improving life for northern blacks. h. The national convention movement faltered by the mid-1840s as black abolitionists placed their hopes in the AASS. i. Black churches were more vital than conventions in the antislavery movement. .

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j. Most of the leading black abolitionists were ministers. k. Black ministers used their pulpits to attack slavery, racial discrimination, proslavery white churches, and the American Colonization Society (ACS). l. Black antislavery newspapers had an important role in the antislavery movement. m. Black antislavery newspapers such as Freedom’s Journal faced difficulties finding readers because most blacks were poor and illiterate. (See Discussion Question 2.)

IV.

The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society and the Liberty Party a. In 1840 the AASS splintered and most members left to establish the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS) and the Liberty Party. b. The split resulted from disagreements about the role of women in abolitionism and Garrison’s broadening radicalism. c. Garrison and his followers retained control of the AASS. d. By 1842 the AASS ignored moral suasion and called for disunion to end slavery. e. Garrison declared the U.S. Constitution to be a proslavery document that had to be replaced before blacks could gain freedom. f. Abolitionist critics of the AASS believed churches could be converted to abolitionism and that the Constitution could be used on behalf of abolitionism. g. Lewis Tappan, a wealthy white businessman, formed the church-oriented AFASS. h. Other critics created the Liberty Party and nominated James Birney as their candidate in the 1840 presidential election. i. Most black abolitionist ministers joined the AFASS. j. After 1840 blacks were more prominent as leaders in the AFASS than in the AASS. k. Only in New England did most black abolitionists remain loyal to the AASS. l. The Liberty Party attracted black support, but few black men could vote. m. The platform of the New York wing of the party appealed to black abolitionists. n. The New York party led by Gerrit Smith advocated aggressive action against slavery in the South and helped slaves escape.

V.

A More Aggressive Abolitionism The New York Liberty Party maintained that the U.S. Constitution outlawed slavery throughout the country.

The New Yorkers held it could act against slavery in the states.

The Amistad and Creole slave ship revolts in 1839 and 1841 inspired whites and blacks to risk their lives and freedom to help slaves escape. (See Long Assignment 1.)

The New York Liberty Party declared that slave revolts were divinely ordained and legal.

Slaves since the 1600s had escaped from their masters, and free black people and some white people had assisted them. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

Harriet Tubman, a fugitive slave, became the most active worker on the eastern branch of the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

The destination for many blacks on the Underground Railroad was Canada. (See MyLab Activity 1 and See Classroom Activity 2.)

a. b. c.

d. e. f. g.

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h. By the 1850s black people faced the same sort of segregation and discrimination in Canada that existed in the northern United States. (See Long Assignment 2.)

VI.

Black Militancy a. During the 1840s growing numbers of northern black abolitionists advocated forceful action against slavery. b. The black convention movement revived during the 1840s. c. More black-owned and -edited abolitionist newspapers appeared. d. Many black abolitionists believed that most white abolitionists enjoyed antislavery debate and theory more than action. e. The black abolitionist desire to go beyond rhetoric found its best outlet in local vigilance organizations led by blacks in the 1840s. f. The career of Frederick Douglass illustrates the impact of the failure of some white abolitionists to live up to their egalitarian ideals. g. Douglass was an ardent integrationist who opposed separate black churches and predicted that blacks would merge into a greater American identity. (See MyLab Activity 2.) h. An influential minority of black leaders disagreed with this point of view. i. Martin Delany favored migration as the best means to realize black aspirations.

(See Short Assignment 2.) j. Douglass and most black abolitionists rejected colonization. k. Emigration plans developed during the 1850s became a significant part of African-American reform culture. l. Black and white abolitionists awoke many northerners to the brutalities of slavery. m. Abolitionist aid to escaping slaves and their defense of fugitive slaves pushed southern leaders to adopt policies that led to secession and the Civil War.

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Bring in a copy of a slave narrative for students to read during the first five minutes of class. When they have completed the reading, ask them a few questions about the meaning of the document and what surprised them in the primary source. (See Chapter Outline II.f.)

2.

Play a short segment of an NPR radio broadcast on “Harriet Tubman,” “The Horrors of Slavery,” or a related subject selected from the PBS-affiliated African American World website at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/history/index.html.

(See Chapter Outline V.f.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Provide students a blank map of the U.S. that includes cities and states. Then pull up the interactive Underground Railroad map from the PBS website at http://www.pbs.org/wned/underground-railroad/locations/. Ask students to plot .

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out the locations as you help them understand the Internet map and how routes changed after 1850. (See Chapter Outline V.e.)

2.

Pull up the National Geographic website on the Underground Railroad at www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/. Ask students to compare the site to the PBS site on the Underground Railroad at http://www.pbs.org/wned/undergroundrailroad/locations/. The class should develop criteria by which to compare the two electronic presentations of historical analysis. (See Chapter Outline V.g.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did racism and violence increase in the mid-1800s? How did this racism and violence impact the antislavery movement? (See Chapter Outline I.j.)

Points to consider: The immigration of Irish to northern cities, the increase of free blacks in northern cities, the increase of poverty and uncertainty, and the addition of new western lands that raised the issue of the expansion of slavery all led to increases in racism and violence. The antislavery movement responded by becoming more militant and organized.

2.

How did the black community organize itself during the era? What role did Frederick Douglass play in the movement for freedom? (See Chapter Outline III.m.)

Points to consider: In response to exclusion and segregation, blacks formed their own community organizations in northern cities to fight against discrimination and slavery in the form of newspapers, conventions, and churches. Douglass was a major antislavery lecturer and writer as well as newspaper editor of The North Star.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Video: Underground Railroad http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos2/und_raillarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the four-minute video segment on the historiography of the Underground Railroad, assign a series of written questions to students based on the content of the video. How has the historiography of the Underground Railroad evolved over time? What is the current historical interpretation of the Underground Railroad? What routes were involved and how did whites and blacks outside of the South respond to the desire of slaves to escape? Students will turn in their written answers as part of a quiz or a graded assignment. (See Chapter Outline V.g.)

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2.

Document: Excerpt from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 1845 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Frederick_Douglass_Excerpt_Narrative_of_the_Life_1845.html Assign the short account as primary evidence for students to use in writing a twopage essay on slave living conditions. This account can also be used as part of a body of primary evidence supplied to students to write a longer paper on the subject. Discuss the document in class so that students understand the perspective of Douglass and his goals in writing his Narrative. (See Chapter Outline VI.g.)

3.

Document: Two Escaped Slaves Tell Their Stories (1855) http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Create an assignment that asks students to compare the two slave narratives for any issues that are repeated as patterns in the evidence. Ask them to write a threepage essay that compares both accounts and how they converge and diverge on certain points. The students will need to devise areas of comparison. Some questions to consider are: What concerns and challenges did both enslaved people express and encounter? What strategies did they devise to withstand the problems of slavery? What limitations do the documents provide for understanding slavery?

(See Chapter Outline II.e.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Have students research the town of Nashoba, Tennessee, during the 1820s and write a two-page history of the experiment in racial integration by white reformers. (See Chapter Outline II.o.)

2.

Assign a two-page paper centered on an important black abolitionist during the era, such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, or Martin Delany. (See Chapter Outline VI.i.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask students to write an eight-page paper comparing the Amistad and Creole slave mutinies according to a set list of criteria that you provide them in a handout: causes, development, outcome, and historical impact. (See Chapter Outline V.c.)

2.

Assign an oral presentation project based on a student-selected aspect of the Underground Railroad to convey in class in a ten-minute presentation that includes visual aids. (See Chapter Outline V.h.) . 74

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story (2012, PBS, 90 minutes).

This PBS production focuses on the story of William Still as a way to illuminate the functioning of the Underground Railroad. PBS maintains an excellent website that lists images and places associated with the subject: go to http://www.pbs.org/wned/underground-railroad/locations/.

2.

Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994, PBS, 90 minutes).

This PBS documentary on Douglass is the best documentary to date on the titanic historical figure. The film serves as a deep biography of Douglass and the antislavery movement.

3.

The Abolitionists (2013, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary covers a wide range of issues regarding the most important abolitionists during the first half of the 1800s.

4.

Amistad (1997, HBO, 154 minutes) This well-done film portrays the Amistad revolt, emphasizing the relationship between the captives and their attorneys within the context of the abolitionist movement. It covers the entire story from revolt to freedom.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Martin A. Dan, The Black Press, 1827-1890 (New York: Capricorn, 1971).

This book provides an overview of the history of the black press from its abolitionist roots to its industrial growth in cities like Chicago.

2.

William Still, The Underground Railroad (Chicago: Johnson Publishing, 1970).

This text is a reprint edition of Still’s 1871 book on the subject of the Underground Railroad.

3.

William S. McFeelly, Frederick Douglass (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1991).

This biography covers the entirety of Douglass’s life from slavery to freedom.

4.

James Brewer Stewart, Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery (New York: Hill and Wang, 1997).

Stewart provides a biographical overview of the major players in the early abolitionist movement.

5.

Benjamin Quarles, Black Abolitionists (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969).

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This classic text in the field covers the major black abolitionists and emphasizes their cooperative relationships with white abolitionists.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

David Walker and Maria Stewart House http://www.nps.gov/boaf/historyculture/walkstew.htm The National Park Service has designated a historical heritage area called Black Boston: The North Slope of Beacon Hill to commemorate the neighborhood where a large number of important black and white abolitionists like David Walker and Maria Stewart resided during the first half of the 1800s.

2.

The Underground Railroad http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/ This National Park Service site provides locations, documents, and stories surrounding the operations of the Underground Railroad during the first half of the 1800s.

3.

Africans in America: Brotherly Love http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html The accompanying website for the PBS production provides a range of primary source documents on several themes related to the chapter, including resistance and colonization.

4.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of southern slavery and African-American culture.

5.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African American history in general.

6.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

7.

The Abolitionists http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interactivemap/abolitionists-map/

.

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In conjunction with the PBS production The Abolitionists, several museums provided data to create an interactive map on the PBS website of abolitionist places and people plotted by location throughout the U.S. for the first half of the 1850s.

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Chapter 10: “And Black People Were at the Heart of It” 1846-1861

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the major events that produced the Civil War. Virtually every event and episode of consequence in the United States between 1846 and 1861 involved black people and the expansion of slavery. From the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850 to the Dred Scott decision and John Brown’s raid, white Americans were increasingly perplexed about how the nation could remain half slave and half free. They were unable to resolve the problem of slavery’s expansion. Without the presence of black people in America, neither secession nor civil war would have occurred. Yet the Civil War began because white Americans had developed contradictory visions of the future.

White southerners contemplated a future that inextricably linked their security and prosperity to slavery. The South, they believed, could neither advance nor endure without slavery. Northern white people believed their future rested on the opportunities for white men and their families to flourish as independent, self-sufficient farmers, shopkeepers, and skilled artisans. For their future to prevail, they insisted the new lands in the American West should exclude the slave system that white southerners considered so vital. Neither northern nor southern white people—except for some abolitionists—ever believed people of color should fully participate as free people in American society or in the future of the American nation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 10-1 Why was the expansion of slavery such a divisive issue?

10-2 How did African Americans react to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850?

10-3 Why did many Americans oppose the immigration of Europeans by the 1850s?

10-4 What was the Dred Scott case and what was the reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case?

10-5 What were the positions of Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln on racial equality?

10-6 What was the impact of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry?

10-7 How did African Americans and white southerners react to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

The Lure of the West a. During the early 1800s, African Americans headed west for economic prosperity. b. Westward expansion revived the issue of slavery’s future in the territories. c. Most northern whites opposed southern slaveholders taking slaves into the former Mexican territories. d. Northern black and white people had embraced the system of free labor by 1840. e. In 1846, Democratic congressman David Wilmot introduced the Wilmot Proviso to prohibit slavery in any lands acquired from Mexico. f. The Wilmot Proviso failed to become law. . 78

g. White southerners saw the proviso as an attempt to prevent them from enjoying the prosperity that an expanding slave-labor system would create. h. The Free-Soil Party was formed in 1848 and was against the expansion of slavery. i. Ten Free-Soil congressmen were elected and the party provided a forum to oppose slavery’s advance. j. The Compromise of 1850 included California entering the Union as a free state and a stronger fugitive slave law enacted by the federal government. k. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 created resentment among black and white abolitionists and required U.S. marshals and white citizens to seize runaways. l. The law made it nearly impossible for black people to prove they were free. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

II.

Fugitive Slaves a. Abolitionists organized vigilance committees to resist the fugitive slave law. (See MyLab Activity 2.) b. Abolitionists used force with mixed results against the U.S. government and slave owners. c. Several high-profile fugitive slave cases dramatized the plight of slaves: those of Anthony Burns, Shadrach Minkins, and Ellen and the Crafts. (See Long Assignment 1.) d. In 1851 a battle erupted in Christiana, Pennsylvania, between blacks and whites attempting to recover two runaway slaves. e. The Rochester Convention of 1853 called for greater unity among black people and asserted claims to rights of citizenship and equal protection under the law.

III.

Nativism and the Know-Nothings a. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans arrived in the 1840s and 1850s. b. Native-born, Protestant, white Americans considered the Catholic Irish crude, ignorant drunks. c. Irish immigrants also competed with Americans for low-paying unskilled jobs. d. Mobs attacked Catholic churches and convents. e. Anti-immigrant sentiment helped foster in 1854 the rise of a nativist third political party, the American Party, better known as the “Know-Nothing Party.” f. The party soon split into northern and southern wings over the issue of slavery and then collapsed. g. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life among the Lowly made slavery more emotional to readers and infuriated white southerners. (See MyLab Activity 1.) h. After the Compromise of 1850, the disagreement over slavery’s expansion intensified and became violent. i. In 1854 Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill in Congress to organize the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. j. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed settlers in Kansas to vote on slavery under the notion of “popular sovereignty.” k. Its enactment destroyed an already divided Whig Party and drove a wedge between the North and South. .

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l. Violence soon erupted in Kansas between proslavery and antislavery forces. m. Abolitionist John Brown killed several slave owners in Kansas and then fled. n. Violence in Kansas spread to Congress when antislavery Senator Charles Sumner was attacked by slave owner Preston Brooks. o. In the 1856 presidential election, the Democrats nominated James Buchanan. p. Republicans supported John C. Fremont under the slogan “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men, and Fremont.” q. The Republicans were a one-region party with only northern support. r. Buchanan won the presidency, but the Republicans did well in many races.

IV.

The Dred Scott Decision a. Dred Scott belonged to John Emerson, an army doctor in Missouri during the 1830s. b. Emerson took Scott to military posts in Illinois and to Fort Snelling in what is now Minnesota where slavery was illegal. c. In 1846, after Emerson’s death and with the support of white friends, Scott and his wife filed separate suits for their freedom. d. Scott and his lawyers contended that because Scott had been taken to territory where slavery was illegal, he had become a free man. e. The final appeal in Dred Scott v. Sanford was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court. f. The Court ruled that Scott could not sue in a federal court because blacks were not citizens and had no rights. g. A majority of the Court also ruled that Scott was not a free man. h. The Court further ruled that Congress could not pass measures that might prevent slave owners from taking their property into any territory. i. A new owner subsequently freed Dred and Harriet Scott. j. White southerners were delighted with Justice Taney’s decision in the Dred Scott case. k. Republicans were horrified; the case inflamed the controversy over slavery. l. New western territories outlawed the migration of free blacks and new Midwestern states banned black men from voting. m. Most northern states had restricted or denied black rights in the early 1800s. n. The laws and antiblack riots reflected racism among many white northerners. (See MyLab Activity 3.)

V.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates In 1858 Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois, a Democrat, ran for reelection to the Senate against Republican Abraham Lincoln.

The main issues in the campaign were slavery and race.

The candidates debated slavery’s expansion and its future in the Union. (See Short Assignment 1.)

Douglas insisted that slave owners could take their slaves where they pleased.

Douglas contended that if a territory failed to enact slave codes to protect slave property, slave owners were not likely to settle there with their slaves.

Lincoln did not believe in racial equality, and he made that plain during the debates with Douglas. (See Short Assignment 2.)

a. b. c. d. e. f.

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g. Lincoln explained that merely because he opposed slavery did not mean he believed in equality between blacks and whites. h. Lincoln may have won the debate in the minds of many, but Douglas won the election. i. Douglas had offended many southerners by suggesting that slave owners would not risk taking their human property to a territory that lacked a slave code. j. Douglas antagonized southerners when he opposed the proslavery Kansas Lecompton constitution. k. In two years, disagreements over slavery would help split the Democratic Party.

(See Lecture Starter 2.)

VI. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

John Brown and the Raid on Harpers Ferry John Brown planned to overthrow slavery by invading the South and forming a slave army.

Brown garnered financial support from prosperous white abolitionists.

Brown’s invasion began with a raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

Brown hoped to secure weapons and advance south, but the alarm went out and opposition gathered.

There was no massive slave uprising, though 150 slaves joined Brown.

Virginia tried Brown for treason and hanged him.

Brown succeeded in intensifying the emotions of both anti- and proslavery people.

The dignity that Brown displayed before execution impressed northerners.

Southerners were outraged that northerners made Brown a hero and a martyr.

The intense reaction to Brown’s raid further divided a nation already split over slavery and helped bring on the Civil War. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

VII. The Election of Abraham Lincoln a. Four candidates ran for president in the election of 1860. b. The Democrats split into a northern faction, which nominated Stephen Douglas, and a southern faction, which nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. c. The Constitutional Union Party nominated John Bell of Tennessee. d. The breakup of the Democratic Party assured victory for the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln. (See Discussion Question 1.) e. Black northerners and white abolitionists were not eager to see Lincoln elected. f. Abolitionist leaders believed Lincoln tolerated slaveholding interests. g. When South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860, it began a procession of southern states out of the Union. h. By February 1861 seven states had seceded and formed the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama. i. In his inaugural address, Lincoln calmed the fears of white southerners but stated he would not tolerate their withdrawal from the Union. j. Lincoln repeated his assurance that he would not touch slavery in slave states. k. Confederate leaders demanded that the U.S. surrender Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. (See Discussion Question 2.)

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l. On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery fired on the fort. (See Classroom Activity 2.) m. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas joined the Confederacy. n. The Civil War had begun. (See Long Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by pulling up an interesting website on a subject that interests students, such as John Brown, events in Kansas, or the various cases of fugitive slaves. Ask students how the website conveys historical information. (See Chapter Outline I.l.)

2.

Begin class by reading a selection from a primary document that illustrates the lofty rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln on the major issues under discussion: slavery, race, African-American people, and the South. (See Chapter Outline V.k.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Ask students to form two groups for a classroom debate on John Brown. Divide the class into John Brown supporters and John Brown critics based on the context of sectional crisis. Allow the student groups time to form talking points about the infamous John Brown and his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. You might also form two smaller groups to enter the debate: free blacks and the federal government. (See Chapter Outline VI.j.)

2.

Screen a film in class regarding the events leading to the Civil War (See the list of Suggested Films/TV Shows below). Ask students to compare the film’s interpretation of historical issues to the analysis provided by the textbook and by the instructor. (See Chapter Outline VII.l.)

Discussion Questions 1.

How did Abraham Lincoln achieve election to the presidency in 1860? What role did the issue of the spread of slavery to the western territories play in this outcome? (See Chapter Outline VII.d.)

Points to consider: Lincoln, a Republican, was a long-shot candidate to win in 1860, but the Democrats became thoroughly divided over the issue of the spread of slavery to the western territories. Moreover, a third party, the Constitutional Union Party, also took votes away from the Democratic Party. Finally, Lincoln won the northern states, the most densely populated portion of the country which therefore provided the most popular and electoral college votes of any region of the nation.

2.

Why did the nation erupt into Civil War in 1861? What factors played a role in the development of disunion? (See Chapter Outline XII.a.)

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Points to consider: The main issue that divided the Union into sections in opposition was the issue of the spread of slavery to new western territories and states. Northern whites, due to climate reasons, could not produce plantation crops with slavery, so they pursued instead an economy based on manufacturing of cotton into clothing utilizing immigrant labor. Congress tried to heal these differences over the spread of slavery with compromises, but these attempts failed under the weight of various events like John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry that further polarized the nation along ideological and sectional lines.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Video: Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Making of Uncle Tom's Cabin http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos/hbslarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the five- minute video segment “Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Making of Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” hold a general discussion with students about how the filmmaker used different techniques to present the material, including music, imagery, and a voiceover by a noted historian in the field of Civil War history. Then assign a series of questions that students answer in class or at home.

Questions to consider include: Why did Stowe write the book? What impact did the book exert on American society? Why was the book so popular with American audiences? How was the book received in the South and outside of the South? Students will turn in their answers as part of a longer graded assignment or quiz. (See Chapter Outline III.g.)

2.

Document: The Fugitive Slave Act, 1850 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/The_Fugitive_Slave_Act_1850.html Assign the document as a take-home exercise for students to read and answer the questions listed at the end of the page. Students should also use the textbook to read about the context of the passage of the act, particularly the Compromise of 1850. The day the students turn in the assignment, divide the class into ten small groups. Assign one provision of the act to each group to present in terms of what the act is stating and how it impacted African-American people and the institution of slavery. (See Chapter Outline II.a.)

3.

Document: The Supreme Court Rules in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher

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Assign the primary document written by Chief Justice Taney of the Supreme Court as part of the evidence for students to use in a five-page essay about the Dred Scott case. Ask them to address the central question of why Scott lost his case. Also, use the document in class as an exercise in deciphering the meaning of primary accounts. After students have read the document, ask them the following questions: What aspects of American society is Taney championing? What status is Taney arguing that blacks hold in the country? What limitations does the document provide for understanding why Scott was not freed by the Court? This document can also serves as the basis for a class debate over whether or not Scott should have been freed by the Court. Designate one half of the class as the South, and the other half as abolitionists from the northern states. (See Chapter Outline IV.n.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask students to conduct research and write a five-page essay on the views of Lincoln and Douglas on slavery, race, and blacks as conveyed in the LincolnDouglas debates. (See Chapter Outline V.c.)

2.

Ask students to write a three page essay comparing the white northern view of slavery vs. the white southern view of slavery. Did these views change over time, and if so, how and why? (See Chapter Outline V.f.)

Long Assignments 1.

Design an eight-page research paper assignment based on the Works Progress Administration slave narratives. What do these narratives reveal about the slave experience during the 1850s? What limitations do the documents present for understanding the past? Such narratives are located at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html. (See Chapter Outline II.c.)

2.

Design a twelve-page research paper based on the causes of the Civil War and the events that produced it. Provide a list of secondary sources to the students to analyze and encourage the use of primary sources found on the Internet. (See Chapter Outline Point VII.n.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story (2012, PBS, 90 minutes).

This PBS production focuses on the story of William Still as a way to illuminate the functioning of the Underground Railroad. PBS also maintains an excellent website that lists images and places associated with the subject at http://www.pbs.org/wned/underground-railroad/locations/. .

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2.

Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994, PBS, 90 minutes).

This PBS documentary on Douglass is the best documentary to date on the titanic historical figure. The film serves as a deep biography of Douglass and the antislavery movement.

3.

The Abolitionists (2013, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary covers a wide range of issues regarding the most important abolitionists during the first half of the 1800s.

4.

Amistad (1997, HBO, 154 minutes).

This well-done portrayal of the revolt emphasizes the relationship between the captives and their attorneys within the context of the abolitionist movement and covers the entire story from revolt to freedom.

5.

John Brown’s Holy War (1999, PBS, 90 minutes).

This American Experience production by PBS examines the infamous John Brown. A helpful website accompanies the documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/.

6.

Django Unchained (2013, Columbia Pictures, 2 hours ).

This film by director Quentin Tarantino offers a fascinating and controversial portrayal of slavery, slave resistance, and free black life in the South. The use of violence in the film provides a realistic portrayal of black life in the antebellum era.

7.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. Part Six covers Virginia in the mid1800s prior to the Civil War.

8.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation and includes a section on the impact of the American Revolution on blacks. See also the accompanying website at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html.

9.

Gangs of New York (2002, Martin Scorsese, 166 minutes).

In this excellent docudrama depicting antebellum New York, Scorsese focuses on the intersection between anti-Irish sentiment, slavery, and the Civil War. Free black life is depicted.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES

.

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1.

Erick Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor and Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970).

This text offers an in-depth analysis of the rise of the Republican Party and its connection to the Civil War.

2.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life among the Lowly (New York: Modern Library, 1985).

A primary source account and a long read, Stowe’s novel was one of the most important events that produced the Civil War.

3.

James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).

A classic text in the field, this book chronicles the primary political events leading to the Civil War and the war itself.

4.

Stephen Oates, To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown (New York: Harper and Row, 1970).

This superb and riveting biography of Brown covers his entire life and provides a psychological explanation for his actions against slavery.

5.

Stephen Oates, With Malice toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln (New York: Harper and Row, 1977).

One of many biographies of Lincoln, this book provides a penetrating analysis of Lincoln’s life, his character and the role he played in the events of his times.

6.

David Potter, The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861 (New York: Harper and Row, 1976).

This is a classic text in the field that covers the major antebellum events leading to the Civil War.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

WPA Slave Narratives http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html This site maintained by the University of Virginia contains a selection of WPA interviews with ex-slaves in the 1930s, a wealth of information dealing with the underground railroad, the Civil War, and life as slaves.

2.

Supreme Court documents on Dred Scott Case http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage This media site examines issues and documents associated with the U.S. Supreme Court. It provides links to primary documents dealing with the Dred Scott case.

3.

The Underground Railroad http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/ .

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This National Park Service site provides locations, documents, and stories surrounding the operations of the Underground Railroad during the first half of the 1800s.

4.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of southern slavery and African-American culture.

5.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African-American history in general.

6.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

7.

The Abolitionists http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interactivemap/abolitionists-map/ In conjunction with the PBS production The Abolitionists, several museums provided data to create an interactive map on the PBS website of abolitionist places and people plotted by location throughout the U.S. for the first half of the 1850s.

8.

Harpers Ferry National Historic Park http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm The National Park Service maintains a website that covers the Harpers Ferry historical site. The site provides links to assignments, local events, and images dealing with the causes and events of the Civil War.

9.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/ This interesting site covers the activities of the Stowe Center, which is both a historical site that includes Stowe’s house and an outreach center that seeks to improve race relations in America. The site also contains links to presentations on Stowe and the causes of the Civil War.

.

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CHAPTER 11: LIBERATION: AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1865

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the major event in U.S. history known as “the Civil War” and the role of African Americans in the conflict. Slavery caused the Civil War. Yet when the war began in 1861, neither the Union nor the Confederacy entered the conflict with any intention or desire to change the status of black Americans. White southerners waged war to make the Confederacy a separate nation free to promote slavery. White northerners took up arms to maintain the Union but not to free a single slave. Both North and South expected a quick victory. No one anticipated that 48 months of brutal war would rip the nation apart. When the war began, Lincoln insisted it was a white man’s conflict to suppress rebellious white southerners. Black people, Lincoln remained convinced, would be better off outside the United States. But the war went on, and thousands of white men died. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and welcomed the enlistment of black troops. When the Civil War ended in April 1865, approximately 750,000 Americans were dead—including nearly 50,000 black men. The Union was preserved.

Four million people had been freed. Had it not been for the contributions of 185,000 black soldiers and sailors, the Union would not have won.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 11-1 When the Civil War began, what was Abraham Lincoln’s primary objective?

11-2 How did African Americans respond to the outbreak of the Civil War? 11-3 How did Lincoln’s policies on slavery change as the Civil War continued?

11-4 Why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation and what was its effect and the reaction to it?

11-5 What was the role of black men in the Northern military and what difficulties did they face?

11-6 How did Confederate forces deal with black troops during the Civil War? 11-7 What was the nature of the opposition of northern whites to blacks?

11-8 Besides being soldiers, what other roles did African Americans play in the Union war effort?

11-9 What was the role of slaves and blacks for the Confederates?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Lincoln’s Aims a. Lincoln’s objective was to preserve the Union; policies that helped blacks were subordinate to that goal. b. Four slave states joined the Confederacy after the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. (See Class Activity 2.) c. Lincoln was determined to do nothing that would drive the four remaining slave states into the Confederacy. d. Lincoln called for 75,000 men to enlist in the military and far more than 75,000, responded. . 88

e. White men were accepted but black men were rejected. f. Spurned by government authorities, black men were determined to aid the cause.

(See Lecture Starter 2.)

II.

Black Men Volunteer and Are Rejected a. Black people recognized that the fate of the Union was tied to slavery and the future of slavery was tied to the war. b. Slaves started to liberate themselves as soon as the war began. c. Union commanders showed concern for Confederate slave owners but not slaves. d. General Halleck ordered slaves in the Ohio valley returned to their owners. e. General Scott asked that Confederate slave owners be permitted to recover slaves. f. General Butler declared slaves enemy property and put them to work for the Union. g. Congress clarified the status runaway slaves with the First Confiscation Act in 1861. h. Federal forces could seize property of Confederates and any slaves their masters used to benefit the Confederacy would be freed. i. General Fremont exceeded the strict limits of the act by freeing all the slaves belonging to Confederates in Missouri. j. President Lincoln countermanded the order and told Fremont that only slaves actively used to aid the Confederate war effort were to be freed. k. Black leaders were displeased with Lincoln and policies that prohibited the enlistment of black troops and ignored the enslaved. l. Abolitionists urged Lincoln to reconsider his position, but Lincoln was unmoved. m. General Hunter ordered slavery abolished in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida in 1862. Lincoln revoked Hunter’s order and reprimanded him. n. Thousands of slaves along the South Carolina coast welcomed Union troops as plantation owners fled.

III.

Lincoln’s Initial Position Lincoln remained reluctant to strike against slavery for over a year.

He viewed the solution to slavery as compensated emancipation and colonization.

With Lincoln’s support, Republicans voted funds in 1862 for “any state which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery.”

Lincoln wanted to eliminate slavery from the border states with the approval of slave owners to prevent those states from joining the Confederacy.

Leaders in the border states rejected the proposal.

Lincoln concluded by mid-1862 that the future of the Union was tied to slavery.

Lincoln discussed abolishing slavery in cabinet meetings in late 1862.

Secretary of State Seward supported abolition but advised Lincoln not to issue a proclamation until the Union Army won a major victory.

Lincoln’s emancipation policy shifted, but he was committed to colonization.

Congress enacted a bill in 1863 to pay District of Columbia slave owners for each slave they freed and to provide money for colonization.

Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862, five days after the Union won the battle of Antietam.

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

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l. This first proclamation freed no people and stipulated that slaves in states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, would be “forever free.” m. Lincoln gave the Confederate states one hundred days to return to the Union; if any states rejoined, they could keep their slaves. n. Many white northerners resented emancipation and rioted in major cities. o. Democrats capitalized on dissatisfaction with the war and Republican policies and gained seats in the House in the fall election. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

IV. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

V.

The Emancipation Proclamation On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. (See MyLab Activity 3.)

Black communities and many white northerners celebrated.

The Proclamation did not free slaves in the four border states but freed only slaves in states still in rebellion.

Over 50,000 slaves liberated themselves in the weeks after the Proclamation.

The Proclamation made the war a conflict to free black people and preserve the Union.

The Proclamation dissuaded Britain or France from extending diplomatic recognition to the Confederate government.

The Proclamation undermined slavery in the South and contributed to the Confederacy’s defeat.

Black people were now less likely to labor for owners or for the Confederacy.

Slavery collapsed after January 1, 1863, as slave resistance increased. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

Black Men Fight for the Union a. The Emancipation Proclamation authorized the enlistment of black troops. (See MyLab Activity 1.) b. Some Union officers recruited black men before emancipation was proclaimed and before most white northerners were prepared to accept it. (See Long Assignment 1.) c. General Hunter in 1862 began recruiting ex-slaves along the South Carolina coast and organized the First South Carolina Volunteers. (See Classroom Activity 1.) d. Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act and the Militia Act of 1862, which authorized Lincoln to enlist black men. e. Free black men in the North enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. f. Prominent black leaders were convinced that by serving in the military, black men would prove they deserved to be treated as equals and citizens. g. Black troops served in all-black units and had white officers in almost all cases. h. In 1863 the War Department created the Bureau of Colored Troops, and the Union Army remained segregated throughout the war. i. The 54th Massachusetts Regiment refused to accept lower pay and Congress enacted an unfair compromise at the end of the war. j. Black men fought in almost every battle during the rest of the Civil War. k. Black units suffered more casualties than white units during the war. .

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(See Short Assignment 2.)

VI. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

VII. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l.

The Confederate Reaction to Black Soldiers In 1863, at Milliken’s Bend, Confederates executed black troops and sold others into slavery.

Confederate leaders and troops refused to recognize black men as legitimate soldiers; captured black soldiers were abused and sometimes murdered.

Northerners protested after Confederate authorities treated captured men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment as rebellious slaves.

Lincoln responded by issuing General Order 11, threatening to execute southern troops or confine them to hard labor.

The war’s worst atrocity against black troops occurred at Fort Pillow in Tennessee on April 12, 1864.

Lincoln’s cabinet decided to punish only those responsible for the killings.

No one was ever punished but Union officers and black troops exacted revenge.

Captured black men were enslaved and forced to work at Richmond and Charleston on Confederate fortifications.

Union officers put Confederate prisoners to work on installations under fire.

Black troops fought desperately; they knew that most likely they would not be treated as prisoners of war.

Black Men in the Union Navy Black men had served in the U.S. Navy almost continuously since the 1790s.

So many blacks served in the 1800s that whites tried to ban them from the navy.

Naval crews were integrated.

Approximately 20 percent of Union sailors during the war were black.

Black sailors were paid less than white sailors and received the hardest tasks.

Many were stewards who waited on white officers.

White officers and sailors often treated black sailors with contempt.

Blacks aided the Union cause as liberators, spies, guides, and messengers. (See Discussion Question 1.)

In 1862 a slave named Robert Smalls and others stole a Confederate war ship.

In 1863 Harriet Tubman organized a spy ring in South Carolina and led an expedition that destroyed plantations and freed nearly 800 slaves.

In Richmond in 1864, slaves helped over one hundred Union prisoners escape.

Some slaves of Confederate leaders were spies; others drew maps of Confederate fortifications and warned Union forces about troop movements. (See Long Assignment 2.)

VIII. Violent Opposition to Black People a. Many white northerners remained bitter and often violently hostile to black people despite black sacrifices for victory. b. Irish Americans committed the New York City draft riots in July 1863. c. The rioting lasted four days and resulted in hundreds of blacks killed; it was finally put down by the Union army. (See Short Assignment 1.) d. White Union troops often brutalized southern freedmen. .

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e. f. g. h.

IX.

Some Union soldiers wanted to fight for the liberation of black people.

Blacks liberated themselves as the Union army approached and became refugees.

Many thousands followed Union armies because they lacked food and housing.

Union troops often tried to discourage refugees from associating with the army.

Black People and the Confederacy Slave labor helped sustain the Confederate war effort.

The Confederacy forced white owners to provide slave laborers to the war effort.

The Confederacy in 1861 required free blacks to enroll for military labor.

Virginia authorized the impressment of slaves with compensation to the owners.

White owners often refused to provide their quota of slaves for war service.

Slaves were even forced into combat.

Confederate President Davis issued a proclamation in 1863 declaring that free black people would be enslaved if captured during the war. h. White southern leaders ignored free black support unless it was for menial labor. i. Approximately 150,000 black men from the South fought with the Union Army. j. Most had been slaves. k. A desperate South moved toward employing black troops as the war worsened. l. The Confederate Congress voted in 1865 to enlist 300,000 black men and provide them with the same pay as white soldiers. m. Slaves would not be freed unless their owners consented and the state agreed. n. The Confederacy rarely used black troops before the war ended.

(See Discussion Question 2.) a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Bring in a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and read it to the students. Ask them what the meaning of the document is to them and what it was to Americans in 1863. Then provide a brief overview of the historical meaning and impact of Lincoln’s creation. (See Chapter Outline IV.i.)

2.

Screen the opening scene of the film Lincoln that provides a dialogue between Lincoln and two black soldiers. Ask the students what aspects appear accurate and inaccurate about Lincoln’s viewpoints on blacks and slavery, then give your opinion of the scene and the film. (See Chapter Outline I.f.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Organize a debate and divide the class into the Union, the Confederacy, and African Americans. Ask students to meet in their small group to establish talking points and speakers for the group debate. Write on the board the question “Should black men join the U.S. army?” Ask each group to express its viewpoint on the issue. Another question that works well for all groups is “Why are you fighting the Civil War?” (See Chapter Outline V.c.)

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2.

Bring in a copy of the South Carolina secession statement and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Break students into small groups of four or five and ask them to compare the two documents and write down their findings for a class discussion about the two edicts. (See Chapter Outline I.b.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did black men fight for the Union? What roles did black people play for the Union during the Civil War? (See Chapter Outline VII.h.)

Points to consider: Black men who fought for the Union came from two backgrounds: free men in the North, and escaped slaves from the South living in the North. Southern escapees fought to free their families, end slavery, and to punish southern whites. Northern free blacks who were not escaped slaves fought more to end slavery, uphold federal law, and prove their fitness for citizenship and equality. Black men fought in the U.S. army and served in the U.S. Navy, while also working as teamsters in the army. Black women worked as spies, nurses, seamstresses, and cooks.

2.

How did the Confederacy deal with black people? What roles did black people play in the Confederacy during the Civil War? (See Chapter Outline XII.x.)

Points to consider: The Confederacy when the war began counted 4 million potential enemies behind their lines---their own slaves. Although the use of enslaved men in the army was forbidden, they served as support staff, digging ditches, growing food, and transporting goods for the Confederacy. Some served as bodyguards for their masters. Confederate units who captured black troops sometimes executed them or returned them to slavery; they would not recognize them as prisoners of war, as the Fort Pillow massacre demonstrates. It was common for Confederates to enslave free blacks when captured. At the end of the war, experiments were undertaken to arm slaves in exchange for freedom, but they failed for lack of interest among whites and blacks.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Closer Look: Black Union Soldiers http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/closer_looks/ushistory_16e/web/ushistory_16e.html Show the four-minute still-image video segment to students in class twice. During the first viewing, mandate that students not take notes. Ask them to take notes during the second viewing. Use the question listed at the end of the presentation and supplement this question with the following: What roles did blacks play in the war effort? What challenges did they experience? What accomplishments did they achieve? The students will turn in their answers as a graded test or quiz assignment. (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

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2.

Document: Abraham Lincoln Defines His Position on Slavery and the War, 1862 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Use the document in class as an exercise in helping students understand Lincoln’s complicated position regarding slavery, the Civil War, and blacks. Pass out copies of his letter to students in class. As you read the document to them, ask that they underline what they feel to be are the most important words that define the meaning of Lincoln’s views on these subjects. Break the class into small groups to further discuss the document, and answer a series of questions: What were Lincoln’s views on the rebellion and the southern states? What are the limitations of the document to understanding Lincoln’s aims and goals? What clues to his perspective can be found in the document?

(See Chapter Outline III.p.)

3.

Video: The Emancipation Proclamation http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/TheCivilWar_2.html After showing this three-minute mini-lecture by a noted historian, hold a class discussion about the role of blacks during the Civil War. Ask students the question: What policies did the Congress and President Lincoln create to deal with escaped slaves? What role did the Emancipation Proclamation play in shaping the Union war effort? How did African Americans secure permanent freedom during the Civil War? A quiz can be given after the discussion to check student comprehension of the information. (See Chapter Outline IV.a.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Bring in some of the primary testimony from the aftermath of the New York City Draft Riot. Have the students read two of the accounts at their desks. Ask them to look for patterns or clues as to why the riot took place and how it impacted the city and black community. Assign a four-page paper based on their conclusions.

(See Chapter Outline VIII.c.)

2.

Bring in a series of maps about the Civil War, focusing on one key battle such as Antietam, Shiloh, or Gettysburg. Divide the students into groups and have them examine the maps and look for explanations as to why the Union or Confederacy won the battle. A paper can also be devised based on one battle and why it was won or lost. (See Chapter Outline V.k.)

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Long Assignments 1.

Design an assignment based on student selection of a black army unit during the Civil War. Ask them to write a six- page paper on why the unit was formed, its activities during the war, and treatment of the black soldiers by the federal government. (See Chapter Outline V.b.)

2.

Create a research paper on the non-combat role of blacks who assisted the Union war effort during the Civil War. Provide a list of topics on various subjects dealing with black efforts for the Union during the Civil War from which students can select to frame their paper. Require the students to consult primary and secondary sources in the form of films, cartoons, and other visual documents as part of the evidence for their papers. See the list of Suggested Websites below, particularly that of the Odyssey collection, for possible topics and sources. (See Chapter Outline IX.q.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Glory (1989, TriStar, 2 hours).

This film is by far the best on blacks in the Civil War; it stars Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman as free blacks fighting for the Union.

2.

The Civil War (1990, Ken Burns/PBS, 12 hours).

Divided into 9 episodes, Ken Burns’s The Civil War remains one of the best documentaries on the subject and is already considered a classic work.

3.

Lincoln (2012, Stephen Spielberg, 150 minutes).

This acclaimed film penetrates deeply into Lincoln’s thinking and the give-andtake between Republican and Democratic politicians in Congress over the issue of freeing blacks from slavery. The film focuses on the Emancipation Proclamation.

4.

The Blue and the Gray (1982, Hugh Benson, 6 hours).

This television docudrama is presented in three episodes that portray both Union and Confederate sides during the Civil War.

5.

Gettysburg (1993, Ronald Maxwell, 4 hours).

This lengthy film demonstrates the various challenges of being a soldier and of being an officer on both sides during the Civil War.

6.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours).

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. Part Seven covers Virginia and blacks during the Civil War.

7.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours).

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Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation. See also the accompanying website at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Benjamin Quarles, The Negro in the Civil War (Boston: Little, Brown, 1953).

In the classic text on the subject, Quarles provides an overview of black soldiers and other black contributions to the war effort.

2.

Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones, How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1983).

This text examines why the Union won the war and why the South lost, employing military analysis of opposing forces and the resources both sides possessed for war.

3.

George Williams, History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion (New York: Harper and Row, 1888).

Written by a black historian, the book is an early attempt to understand the totality of the use of black troops during the Civil War.

4.

Ervin Johnson, Black Confederates and Afro Yankees in Civil War Virginia (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1995).

Johnson provides a study of culture and society among blacks in Virginia during the Civil War.

5.

Michael P. Johnson and James L. Roark, Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South (New York: Norton, 1984).

This text offers a definitive study of the Ellison family of free blacks and their lives in the South before and during the Civil War.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The accompanying website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of southern slavery and African-American culture.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African-American history in general.

3.

African American Mosaic . 96

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

4.

Frederick Douglass National Historical Historic Site http://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm This National Park Service site showcases the historic home of Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C. The site also contains information on the life of Frederick Douglass.

5.

National Museum of Civil War Medicine http://www.civilwarmed.org/ This fascinating museum site provides a plethora of information on medical treatment for soldiers wounded in the Civil War.

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CHAPTER 12: THE MEANING OF FREEDOM: THE PROMISE OF RECONSTRUCTION 1865-1868

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the response of African Americans, southern whites, and the federal government to the end of slavery. The advances that African Americans achieved fit into a series of complex political developments after the Civil War. Black people themselves had fought and died to preserve the Union, and they had earned the grudging respect of many white people and the open admiration of others. Republicans were determined that white southerners realize that their defeat had doomed the prewar status quo. Republicans established a Reconstruction program to disfranchise key southern leaders while providing legal rights to freedmen. The right to vote, they reasoned, would enable black people to deal more effectively with white southerners and strengthen the Republican Party in the South. The result was to make the mid- to late-1860s one of the few high points in African-American history. During this period, not only was slavery abolished but black southerners were able to organize schools and churches, and black people throughout the South acquired legal and political rights. Yet black people did not stand on the brink of utopia. Most freedmen still lacked land and had no realistic hope of obtaining much, if any, of it. White violence and cruelty continued almost unabated across much of the South. Still, for millions of African Americans, the future looked more promising than ever before in American history.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 12-1 What did freedom mean to nearly four million people who had been slaves?

12-2 How did the government help former slaves acquire land of their own?

12-3 What was the Freedmen’s Bureau, its goals, and how effective was it?

12-4 What role did the black church play in African-American life in the post-war decades?

12-5 Why was education so important to African-Americans and what were the ways in which they were able to obtain it?

12-6 Describe the violence directed at southern blacks in the aftermath of the war.

12-7 What were the facets of Reconstruction under Lincoln, Johnson, and the Radical Republicans, as well as the South’s reaction to their plans?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f.

The End of Slavery Emancipation was traumatic for many former masters.

Some ex-slaves bluntly displayed their hostility.

Other ex-slaves were apprehensive about emancipation and refused to accept it.

Ex-slaves sought family members sold away from them. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

Slavery had not destroyed the black family.

Spouses sometimes learned that their mates had remarried during the separation.

(See Lecture Starter 1.) .

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II.

Land a. Ex-slaves wanted land in return for years of enslavement and to prosper economically like other Americans. b. Federal authorities initially appeared ready to make land available to freedmen. c. General Sherman issued Special Field Order #15 in January of 1865 to set aside land for slaves along the South Carolina coast. d. The head of each family would receive “possessory title” to 40 acres of land. e. Sherman granted ex-slaves old army mules, giving rise to the slogan “Forty acres and a mule.” f. Ex-slaves avoided slave crops and instead planted sweet potatoes and corn. g. They worked as families and avoided the gang labor associated with slavery. h. Most husbands and fathers wanted their female relatives not to work in the fields. i. The “Port Royal Experiment” included black families growing crops on former plantations under the supervision of missionaries and the federal government. j. Northern whites later bought most of the land, but blacks obtained some of it. k. White landowners often returned to find that black families had taken charge.

(See Discussion Question 1.)

III.

The Freedmen’s Bureau a. Congress created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands— commonly called the Freedmen’s Bureau—in 1865. (See MyLab Activity 2.) b. General Oliver O. Howard commanded the Freedmen’s Bureau. (See Long Assignment 2.) c. The Bureau helped freedmen obtain food, medical care, land, and education; negotiate labor contracts; and settle legal disputes with whites d. The Freedmen’s Bureau never had more than 900 agents spread across the South from Virginia to Texas, and Congress failed to provide sufficient funding. e. Few of the agents were black because few military officers were black. f. Land distributed under Sherman’s Special Field Order #15 was returned to whites. g. President Johnson pardoned many ex-Confederates and restored their lands. h. The Southern Homestead Act provided over three million acres of public land for blacks and white southerners loyal to the Union. i. More than 4,000 black families claimed some of this land, but many lacked the financial resources to cultivate it, and the Southern Homestead Act failed. j. Bureau officials forced freedmen to sign labor contracts with white landowners, returning black people to white authority. k. Sharecropping dominated most of the South by the 1870s. l. Freedmen received no wages and worked the land as families without supervision. m. The landowner provided seed, tools, fertilizer, and work animals, and the black family received one-third of the crop but were often cheated by the landowner. n. Blacks remained without land and under white authority until the 1960s.

IV.

The Black Church a. The church remains the most vital institution among blacks other than the family.

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b. The church filled spiritual needs, offered enriching music, provided charity to the needy, and developed community leaders. c. During slavery, free black people and slaves attended white churches under white ministers where they participated in religious services as second-class citizens. d. After slavery, blacks organized their own churches with black male ministers. e. Church members struggled to buy land and build churches. f. Most former slaves founded autonomous Baptist and Methodist churches. g. The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church expanded after the Civil War. h. Presbyterian, Congregational, and Episcopal churches appealed to black elites. i. The Roman Catholic Church made modest inroads among black southerners. j. All-black parishes arose in St. Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, and Louisville. k. During slavery, many elite free blacks in New Orleans were Catholic, and their descendants remained faithful to the church. l. Over one hundred black ministers were elected to political office after the war.

(See Short Assignment 1.)

V.

Education a. Almost every freed black person desperately wanted to learn after the war. b. In 1862 northern missionaries arrived on the sea islands to begin teaching; by 1863 there were 30 schools in the South Carolina low country. c. After the war, northern church groups and the Freedmen’s Bureau organized hundreds of schools. d. In 1866 the Freedmen’s Bureau allocated funds and furnished classrooms while ex-slaves hired, housed, and fed the teachers. e. By 1869 the Bureau was involved with 3,000 schools and 150,000 students. f. By 1870 black people had contributed $1 million to educate their people. g. Ex-slaves preferred black teachers, and blacks responded to the call to teach. h. Most northern white teachers imposed cultural values of piety, thrift, cleanliness, temperance, and timeliness. i. Northern churches established colleges, universities, and institutes across the South in the decade after the war. j. Most of these institutions provided elementary and secondary education. k. Few black students were prepared for actual college or university work. l. The purpose of all-black colleges was to educate blacks to become teachers. m. No integrated schools were established directly after emancipation. (See Long Assignment 1.)

VI. a. b. c. d. e. f.

Violence Southern whites violently retaliated against blacks after the war.

Blacks who demanded respect and equality were targeted with violence.

Race riots in Memphis and New Orleans resulted in hundreds of blacks killed.

Most Union troops had been withdrawn from the South after the war.

The Freedmen’s Bureau was usually unwilling to protect the black population.

Black people left to defend themselves were usually in no position to retaliate. .

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g. h. i. j.

Southern juries were white and refused to convict whites who harmed blacks.

In 1864 in New York, 145 black leaders gathered in a national convention.

They embraced the U.S. political tradition and expected to participate fully in it.

Northern Republicans met in South Carolina and nominated blacks to the 1864 Republican national convention. k. Lincoln’s assassination in April of 1865 altered the course of Reconstruction.

VII. Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson a. Vice President Johnson became president and initially seemed inclined to impose stern policies on the white South while befriending the freedmen. b. In May 1865 Johnson granted amnesty to ex-Confederates who swore allegiance to the U.S., but high-ranking Confederates were excluded. c. Johnson appointed provisional governors in the former Confederate states. d. Southern constitutional conventions omitted blacks and denied them equal rights. e. The legislatures drafted the so-called black codes which forced blacks to sign annual labor contracts with white landowners. (See Short Assignment 2.) f. Black southerners met in conventions in 1865 and 1866 to protest and organize. g. Radical Republicans wanted to transform the racial fabric of American society.

(See Discussion Question 2.) h. In 1866 Senator Trumbull introduced two major civil rights bills and both measures passed in Congress with nearly unanimous Republican support. i. Johnson’s stunning vetoes of both bills strengthened the Republican Party, enabling Congress override both vetoes. j. The Republicans broke with Johnson in 1866, defied him in 1867, and impeached him in 1868. k. The Fourteenth Amendment gave blacks citizenship and equal protection. (See MyLab Activity 3.) l. Democrats opposed the Fourteenth Amendment and the South did not ratify it.

(See Classroom Activity 2.) m. Women’s suffragists felt betrayed because the Fourteenth Amendment limited suffrage to males. n. Republicans swept the 1866 congressional elections and passed the first of three Reconstruction Acts in March 1867 dividing the South into five military districts.

(See Classroom Activity 1.) o. Once each state had formed a new government and approved the Fourteenth Amendment, it would be readmitted to the Union with representation in Congress. p. Black people flocked to the Republican Party and the new Union Leagues. q. Black workers struck across the South in the late 1860s with mixed success. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by showing the opening scenes of Gone with the Wind, which depicts African-American slaves doing a variety of tasks on a southern plantation. When

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the film clip is over, ask the students how they thought the filmmaker portrayed slavery and blacks. (See Chapter Outline I.f.)

2.

Pull up the cartoons of Reconstruction created by the popular cartoonist Thomas Nast. Ask the students the meaning and perspectives behind the images. Nast cartoons can be found at the PBS website Reconstruction: America’s Second Civil War at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/nast/sf_nast.html. (See Chapter Outline VII.q.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Organize the class into a debate regarding the question: Was Reconstruction a success or failure for African American people? Allow the groups to meet for fifteen minutes to hammer out main points to present during the classroom exercise. (See Chapter Outline VII.n.)

2.

Bring in a copy of the Fourteenth Amendment and do a read-along with the students out loud. Then ask them to underline the most important parts of the primary document as an exercise in document analysis. Explain the historical context that led to passage of the amendment. (See Chapter Outline VII.l.)

Discussion Questions 1.

How did African Americans respond to the end of slavery and the realities of freedom? How did southern whites respond to the loss of their slaves and a slavebased economy? (See Chapter Outline Point II.k.)

Points to consider: Blacks responded to freedom by searching for lost loved ones, forming churches, changing behaviors towards whites, becoming educated, looking for jobs, and exercising the right of free speech. Some blacks were hesitant, while others were incredulous that whites were no longer their masters.

2.

What Radical Reconstruction policies were passed by Congress? How did they impact the South? (See Chapter Outline Point VII.g.)

Points to consider: Radical Republicans passed the Reconstruction Act in 1867 which placed the southern states under martial law. They also passed the Fifteenth Amendment, or universal manhood suffrage. Southern whites now watched as black politicians began to rule southern states and form progressive Republican governments that expanded education, social welfare policies, and industry.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Audio: Recordings of Former Slaves Talking about Slavery, 2 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Audio&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA

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_1/history/MHL/US/audio/remembering_slavery_newly.html&width=600&heigh t=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Play the two-minute audio segment for the students and ask them what they were able to glean from the primary account. Write the information on the board. Play it a second and a third time, and ask students for more content information. Then reconvene the class as a group and generate a discussion that draws connections from the audio segment to the subject matter in the textbook. The recording can also be used as part of a body of primary evidence in a paper assigned to students.

(See Chapter Outline I.d.)

2.

Document: The Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, 1865 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/The_Freedmens_Bureau_Bill_1865.html&wi dth=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Pass out the congressional document on the founding of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Design a template for primary document analysis consisting of a list of questions for any document under analysis. Who produced the document? When was it produced? How is the document reflective of a particular type of primary source?

What perspective is conveyed through the document? What limitations for analysis does the type of document present to the reader? What insight does the document provide on a particular subject? Ask the students to answer these questions in a take home written assignment that includes an answer to the question provided in the document itself. (See Chapter Outline III.a.)

3.

Video: The Amendments of Freedom http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/Reconstruction_2.html After showing this four minute mini-lecture by a noted historian on postwar black life, hold a class discussion with students about the amendments that secured African-American freedom. Also discuss how African Americans interpreted freedom after the Civil War. Questions to consider include: What amendments defined black freedom? How did Congress reinforce black freedom? What are the origins of “40 acres and a mule,” and why did Congress return southern land to its original white owners? How did southern states react to black freedom? What were the terms of “black codes?” How did freedmen achieve a voice during this era? What actions did blacks take to access their new free status? A quiz can be given after the discussion to check for student comprehension of the information.

(See Chapter Outline VII.k.)

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SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Ask the students to write a three-page essay on the role of the black church during Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline IV.l.)

2.

Photocopy the Mississippi Black Code provided in the website portion of the Instructor’s Manual and ask the students to write a five-page essay on how the codes attempted to control African-American people after the Civil War. (See Chapter Outline VII.e.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask the students to select one southern state and conduct research on how blacks, local whites, northern whites, and the federal government responded to the issue of black education in that state during Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline V.m.)

2.

Ask the students to focus on one key individual during Reconstruction. Provide them with a list of important people---including men and women, blacks and whites, northerners and southerners---and assign a ten-page research paper on how the individual contributed to the development of Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline III.b.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Gone with the Wind (1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 4 hours).

This classic film provides a view of slavery and the plantation system from the perspective of the white master class. The depictions of black characters in the film also provide insight into the challenging terrain of Hollywood for blacks during the Great Depression.

2.

This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys (2003, PBS, 4 hours).

This PBS documentary covers the diaspora of African religion as it arrived in North America. African slaves transformed African religions into a modern form of African-American spiritual worship today.

3.

Reconstruction: The Second Civil War (2004, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary explores the Reconstruction era in depth by utilizing primary readings. Prominent historians are commentators.

4.

The Unfinished Civil War (2001, PBS, 150 minutes).

This remarkable documentary examines the reasons why Americans take part in reenactments of Civil War battles and how the war and its aftermath continue to generate complicated tensions in the United States over the Confederate flag and other symbols.

5.

The Birth of a Nation (1915, D.W. Griffith, 190 minutes). .

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The Birth of a Nation is one of the most racist films ever produced and one of the most widely seen films of the early twentieth century. An excellent primary source, the film covers the Reconstruction era from the perspective of mainstream white America SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (New York: Harper and Row, 1988).

This book offers a broad political overview and the best overall account of Reconstruction.

2.

Leon F. Litwack, Been In the Storm Too Long: The Aftermath of Slavery (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979).

Litwack examines the lives of blacks after slavery in a multifaceted approach that covers a variety of responses to freedom.

3.

James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1988).

This work is an overview of black education in the South before the Civil War and continuing through the Great Depression.

4.

Barbara J. Fields, Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985).

Fields provides a case study of one state and how its black population struggled and found opportunities within the confines of bondage in Maryland on the geographical edge of freedom

5.

Jacqueline Jones, Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work and Family, from Slavery to the Present (New York: Basic Books, 1985).

Jones focuses on the lives and accomplishments of black women in the context of work and family from slavery through the Civil War and Reconstruction eras and concludes with the modern period.

6.

W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (New York: Free Press, 1999, reprint edition).

This is the first accurate text on Reconstruction that does not blame AfricanAmericans for the failures of the era and the first written by an African-American author.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/

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Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects in African-American history in general.

2.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

3.

Mississippi Black Code http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/omalley/120/state/blackcodes.html This site gives users access to a primary document: a black code from the state of Mississippi, the full legal text.

4.

America’s Reconstruction http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/ This excellent site covers a variety of topics on Reconstruction; it includes an overview with images, links to primary documents, and lists of further resources.

5.

The Freedmen’s Bureau http://www.freedmensbureau.com/ This site compiles a digitized collection of primary documents on a variety of aspects of Reconstruction found in the federal archives; it includes visual images and links to further resources.

6.

Slave to Sharecropper http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/sharecrop/sf_economy.html#a Companion to PBS’s Reconstruction documentary, this site provides access to a useful question-and-answer session led by major U.S. historians on various topics about land and freedmen.

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CHAPTER 13: THE MEANING OF FREEDOM: THE FAILURE OF RECONSTRUCTION 1868-1877

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers Reconstruction and its demise in the 1870s. The hopes that emancipation and the Union victory in the Civil War had aroused among African Americans in 1865 appeared forlorn by 1877. To be sure, black people were no longer slave laborers or property. The Constitution now endowed them with freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. Some black people had even acquired land. But no one can characterize Reconstruction as a success. The epidemic of terror and violence made it one of the bloodiest eras in American history. Thousands of black people were beaten, raped, and murdered after 1865 simply because they had acted as free people. White southerners would not tolerate either the presence of black men in politics or white Republicans who accepted black political involvement. Most white northerners and Republicans grew weary of intervening in southern affairs and became convinced that black men and women were their inferiors. Reconstruction, they concluded, had been a mistake. The combination of violence against blacks and a corrupt compromise in presidential politics in 1877 finally doomed Reconstruction to failure.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 13-1 What political offices were black men elected to—and not elected to—during Reconstruction?

13-2 What types of issues most concerned black political leaders and what were the results of their attempts to change America?

13-3 Why were so many white southerners opposed to black and white Republicans exercising political power?

13-4 Why was the Ku Klux Klan founded, and how effective was it?

13-5 What were the origins and effects of the Fifteenth Amendment and the Enforcement Acts?

13.6 How and why did black and white Republicans lose control of every southern state by 1877?

13-7 What were the various methods and effects of attempts to “redeem” southern states?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d.

Constitutional Conventions Black men first entered politics officially as delegates to constitutional conventions in the southern states in 1867 and 1868.

Most southern white men were Democrats and boycotted postwar elections to protest the extension of voting privileges to black men.

Republicans constituted most of the delegates to the conventions to frame new state constitutions.

The Republicans represented three constituencies. .

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e. Carpetbaggers were white northerners who moved to the South after the war. f. Scalawags were southern whites who wanted economic relief from Republican governments. g. African Americans made up the third and largest Republican constituency. h. Black delegates produced new constitutions that guaranteed civil rights. i. A majority of voters in each state ratified the new constitutions and black men were elected to office in every state. j. White Republicans dominated politics during Reconstruction. k. The number of black officials in a state reflected the size of that state’s black population. l. Some blacks were elected to high office, such as Lieutenant Governor P.B.S. Pinchback in Louisiana. m. Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate. n. Beginning with Joseph Rainey in 1870 in South Carolina, fourteen black men served in the U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

II.

The Issues a. Black and white Republicans created statewide systems of public education throughout the South, including higher education. b. Reconstruction leaders made the first state-supported institutions for the insane, the blind, orphans, prisoners, and the deaf in much of the South. c. Black politicians in the North and South experienced discrimination in public transportation and in accommodations at hotels and restaurants. d. In several southern states black politicians introduced bills to prevent proprietors from excluding black people from restaurants, hotels, and public festivals. e. Many black officeholders were educated; some were illiterate. Some had been free before the Civil War, some were wealthy, and a few had owned slaves. f. Farmers and artisans were well represented among black elected officials. g. Black politicians did not dominate any state but controlled a few black districts. h. Many black and white politicians believed the state had no right to distribute land. i. Republicans believed that expanding the railroads would stimulate employment. j. Black men found it more difficult than white men to finance their corporations, and many black businesses failed for lack of funding. k. Black leaders could not enact an agenda because of white Republican control. l. Class and prewar status frequently divided black leaders. (See Long Assignment 2.)

III.

Republican Factionalism Black and white Republicans often disagreed on political issues and strategy.

The Republican Party in the South constantly split into factions over issues.

Factional disputes led to a turnover in political leadership, weakening the party.

Most white Democrats were opposed to letting black men vote or hold office.

White southerners blamed Republicans for corruption in state government.

White southerners would “redeem” their states by empowering white Democrats.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

a. b. c. d. e. f.

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IV. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

The Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866 by former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. It was one of several such groups.

The Klan drew its members from all classes of white society.

The Klan and other terrorist groups functioned mainly where black people were a large minority and where their votes could affect elections.

Blacks found it difficult to defend themselves against terrorist violence by whites.

Republican legislatures passed anti-Klan measures, but enforcement was weak.

The Klan was rarely active where blacks were in a majority and prepared to defend themselves The former slaves of Indian tribes achieved mixed success in receiving land and political rights from tribes after the Civil War. In the West, blacks struggled for legal rights and sometimes participated in territorial governments. (See Long Assignment 1.)

V.

The Fifteenth Amendment a. The federal government under Republican control protected black voting rights and defended Republican state governments in the South. b. In 1869 Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment, which held that a person could not be deprived of the right to vote because of race. (See MyLab Activity 1.) c. Blacks and white reformers hailed the amendment as the culmination of the crusade to end slavery and instill racial equality. d. The amendment said nothing about women voting and did not outlaw poll taxes, literacy tests, and property qualifications. e. Congress passed the Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 to combat white terrorism in the South and expanded federal authority over the states. f. The 1871 act—known as the Ku Klux Klan Act—made it a federal crime to wear a disguise, interfere with a person’s right to vote, hold office, or serve on a jury. g. The act enabled the president to dispatch federal troops and suspend the writ of habeas corpus. h. The Justice Department arrested thousands of Klansmen. i. In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant declared martial law in nine counties in South Carolina, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and sent in the army. j. Mass arrests and trials followed; federal authorities permitted many Klansmen to confess and escape prosecution. k. Some white men were tried, mostly before black juries, and were imprisoned or fined, but few Klansmen were punished severely. (See Discussion Question 2.)

VI.

The North and Reconstruction a. Klan violence undermined freedmen’s confidence in government protection. b. Radical Republicans grew frustrated at southern problems and thought that federal policies were sufficient to help blacks take care of themselves. c. Northerners lost interest in the freedmen and federal involvement in the South. .

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d. Political corruption, patronage, veterans’ pensions, railroads, taxes, tariffs, the economy, and monetary policy overshadowed black issues. e. The economic downturn from the Panic of 1873 contributed to changing attitudes. f. In 1874 the Democrats recaptured a majority in the House for the first time since 1860 and took control of several northern states. g. The Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company was created by Congress in 1865 but was not connected to the Freedmen’s Bureau. h. The bank’s board of directors consisted of white men who invested the bank’s funds in risky ventures, and the bank lost large sums during the Panic of 1873. i. Blacks across the South lost more than $1 million when the bank closed in 1874. j. Eventually half the depositors received three-fifths of the value of their money.

(See Short Assignment 1.) k. Congress attempted to protect blacks from racial discrimination when it passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. l. It was intended to open public accommodations to all people regardless of race. m. Bans on discrimination in churches, cemeteries, and schools were deleted in 1875. n. No attempt was made to enforce the act, and the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1883.

VII. The End of Reconstruction a. Democrats regained authority in all the former Confederate states except Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina by 1875. (See Classroom Activity 2.) b. By the mid-1870s, the government was reluctant to send troops to protect blacks. c. White violence marred every election in Louisiana from 1868 to 1876. d. In 1874 the White League almost redeemed Louisiana in a wave of violence. e. President Grant sent federal troops to New Orleans when White Leaguers nearly wiped out the black militia and the Metropolitan Police. f. Violence accompanied the elections of 1876 in the South, but the national results were confusing and contradictory. g. Samuel Tilden, the Democratic presidential candidate, won the popular vote and had a large lead over Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the electoral vote. h. Both parties claimed to have won in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, the last three southern states that had not been redeemed. i. The constitutional crisis over the outcome of the 1876 election was not resolved until shortly before Inauguration Day in March 1877. (See Discussion Question 1.) j. An informal understanding known as the Compromise of 1877 ended the dispute.

(See Short Assignment 2.) k. Democrats accepted a Hayes victory, but Hayes let Democrats know he would not support Republican governments in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. (See MyLab Activity 2.) l. In 1877 Hayes withdrew troops from the South, the Republican administration in those states collapsed, and Democrats took control. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS . 110

Lecture Starters 1.

Bring in an article on some aspect of Reconstruction that has a modern connection, such as an issue related to the Confederate Flag, racial violence, the limitations of southern state governments, or the actions of black politicians. Ask students to read the article for five minutes. When they are finished, generate a conversation regarding the impact of Reconstruction issues beyond the era of Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline VII.l.)

2.

Start class by reading a series of revealing quotations from Americans during Reconstruction. After reading each quotation, ask the students what interest group the quote pertains to, and who might have uttered it. (See Chapter Outline I.n.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Convene a debate that invites student analysis of Reconstruction as a success or failure. Be sure to create various interest groups: white northerners, southern Democrats, Republicans, and African Americans. Allow students time in class to frame their various talking-points for presentation to the larger group. (See Chapter Outline III.f.)

2.

Bring in a blank map of the southern states and ask the students to place certain types of information within each state, such as the names of important black leaders, events of violence and other notable occurrences, and the dates of when the state was redeemed by southern white Democrats. (See Chapter Outline VII.a.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did Reconstruction end? (See Chapter Outline VII.i.)

Points to consider: Reconstruction ended for a variety of reasons, including white northern disinterest, the deaths of Radical Republicans, the violence of southern white Democrats, the collapse of the American economy in the early 1870s, the rise of Native American resistance on the Great Plains, the lack of the vote for black women, and corruption within the Grant administration.

2.

What role did the Ku Klan Klan play in southern politics during the 1860s and 1870s? (See Chapter Outline V.k.)

Points to consider: Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was extremely active for five years, successfully limiting Republican Party expansion and black political organizing and voting in the South. Its membership was composed of the leading political and economic elites of the white southern wing of the Democratic Party.

Threats of violence and actual violence combined to intimidate blacks and their white allies into greater submission. After 1871, the federal government targeted the Klan through legislation, martial law, and the use of federal troops to suppress Klan activities. Ironically, the federal government achieved great success against . 111

the Klan during the 1870s. Yet organized violence remained a major factor of daily life as southern whites successfully redeemed their states from black and white Republican rule.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Closer Look: The First Vote http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/closer_looks/ushistory_17/web/ushistory_17.html Play the first segment of the five-minute still-image video clip on the issue of the vote for black men as it transpired in the South following the Civil War. Before you play the thirty-second clip, ask the students to take very brief “sound bite” notes to capture the main ideas of the segment. When the segment is finished, write a central question related to the subject on the board, and ask the students to answer the question on a piece of paper as part of a quiz. Repeat the exercise for each segment of the audio. The entire segment can also be required evidence for students to utilize in a research paper. (See Chapter Outline V.b.)

2.

Video: The Promise and Failure of Reconstruction http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos2/reconstructionlarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Play the five-minute audio mini-lecture by a noted historian, and ask the students to listen to the recording and take brief notes on the promise and failure of Reconstruction as a policy and movement. Then replay the video segment, pausing at pre-selected cartoons, paintings, and photographs for a minute. Hold a brief class discussion on the salient aspects of each image. Then ask students how each image reveals the main aspects of the video content, and to write their observations on a separate piece of paper. This assignment can be part of an inclass quiz. (See Chapter Outline VII.k.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a three-page essay asking students to explain why the Freedmen’s Bank failed. (See Chapter Outline VI.j.)

2.

Assign a four-page essay asking students to explain why and how the Compromise of 1877 took place. (See Chapter Outline VII.j.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign an eight-page research paper on the history of the Ku Klux Klan and its impact on American society between 1866 and 1880. Be sure to ask students to . 112

use primary and secondary sources, and visual evidence, to reinforce their theses.

You may wish to provide a list of topics from which the students can select. (See Chapter Outline IV.h.)

2.

Assign a ten-page research paper on the accomplishments of black politicians during Reconstruction. Students may select one politician or one state, but may also write a general overview of the most notable black politicians of the era. Be sure to ask students to use primary and secondary sources, and visual evidence, to reinforce their theses. (See Chapter Outline Point II.l.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Gone with the Wind (1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 4 hours).

This classic film provides a view of slavery and the plantation system from the perspective of the white master class. The depictions of black characters in the film also provide insight into the challenging terrain of Hollywood for blacks during the Great Depression.

2.

Reconstruction: The Second Civil War (2004, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary goes in-depth into the Reconstruction era by utilizing primary readings and features prominent historians as commentators.

3.

The Unfinished Civil War (2001, PBS, 150 minutes).

This remarkable documentary examines the reasons why Americans take part in reenactments of Civil War battles and examines how the war and its aftermath continue to generate complicated tensions in the United States over the Confederate flag and other symbols.

4.

The Birth of a Nation (1915, D.W. Griffith, 190 minutes).

The Birth of a Nation is one of the most racist films ever produced. One of the most widely seen films of the early twentieth century, the movie covers the Reconstruction era from the perspective of the mainstream of white America. It is an excellent primary source.

5.

Ulysses S. Grant (2004, PBS, 4 hours).

The best documentary on Grant, the PBS production focuses on the entire life of Grant, including the Reconstruction Era. A helpful website with documents and historians’ views accompanies the film and can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/grantbiography/.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Edward A. Miller, Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls: From Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915 (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1995).

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This detailed biography portrays of one of the most interesting African-American men during the Civil War and Reconstruction who made a major impact on both events.

2.

William Gillette, Retreat from Reconstruction, 1869-1879 (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1979).

This book provides a general overview of federal retreat from Reconstruction during the 1870s.

3.

Joel Williamson, After Slavery: The Negro in South Carolina: 1861-1877 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1965).

Williamson provides a solid study of one southern state and examines how white Democrats retook control despite valiant black efforts to create progressive government.

4.

John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction after the Civil War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961).

Franklin’s book is a classic text in the field and one of the first since Du Bois’s pioneering work to focus on corruption and violence as twin reasons why Reconstruction failed.

5.

Carl J. Osthaus, Freedmen, Philanthropy, and Fraud: A History of the Freedmen’s Savings Bank (Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 1976).

This text offers an overview of why the Freedmen’s Bank failed. It considers the perspective of internal corruption as well as the generous efforts of Frederick Douglass to save the bank.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

America’s Reconstruction http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/ This excellent site covers a variety of topics on Reconstruction; it includes an overview with images, links to primary documents, and lists of further resources.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents about plantation life and African-American people. It also covers a wide range of subjects relevant to African-American history in general.

3.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines. .

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4.

U.S. Grant http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/grantbiography/ The PBS production on Grant is affiliated with a very useful website that provides links to a variety of articles, videos, and primary documents.

5.

Reconstruction: America’s Second Civil War http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/nast/sf_nast.html The PBS documentary Reconstruction also provides a useful website containing Thomas Nast’s Reconstruction-era cartoons.

6.

The Library of Virginia: Reconstruction Exhibit http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/political/civilwar.htm The Library of Virginia maintains a Reconstruction exhibit with links to its various documents dealing with leadership, elections, and other facets of Reconstruction history.

.

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CHAPTER 14: WHITE SUPREMACY TRIUMPHANT: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY 1877-1895

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the rapid loss of power by blacks in the context of the postReconstruction redemption of the South by white Democrats during the late 1800s. The federal government established the rights of all citizens to enjoy equal protection of the law following the Civil War. Blacks responded by becoming elected officials and attempting to amass wealth. But the firm commitment of the Republican Party and the federal government to upholding black rights collapsed by the mid-1870s. The conservative white Democrats faced few obstacles to the expansion of white authority over the lives of southern blacks. Between 1875 and 1900, black southerners were gradually excluded from politics, segregated in public life, and denied equal—even basic—rights. They were forced to behave in a demeaning and deferential manner to white people. Most of them were limited to menial agricultural and domestic jobs that left them poor and dependent on white landowners and merchants. They were often raped, lynched, and beaten; their communities were destroyed in race riots. Southern justice was systematically unjust towards people of color. Unwilling and unable to tolerate such conditions, some African Americans left the South for Africa or the American West.

However, most black people remained in the South, where many acquired a semblance of education, some managed to purchase land, and a few even prospered.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 14-1 How important were African Americans in the political system in the late 1800s after Reconstruction ended?

14-2 What methods were used to disenfranchise black voters?

14-3 How, where, and why did segregation of the races begin?

14-4 What were the rules of “racial etiquette”?

14-5 Why were African Americans the victims of such extensive brutality and violence in the South?

14-6 Why did relatively small numbers of African Americans begin to leave the South?

14-7 What economic situation did large numbers of African Americans find themselves caught up in across the South in the late nineteenth century?

14-8 How was the legal system for black people in the South?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Politics a. The number of black politicians and black voters in the South declined until the political system was virtually all white by 1900. b. Paternalistic Democrats appointed black men to lower-level positions and a few black Democrats were elected to state legislatures in the 1880s. c. Most black voters remained loyal Republicans. d. Democrats manipulated congressional districts to dilute black voting strength. .

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e. By 1890 most farmers in the Deep South worked land they did not own. f. Farmers formed the Patrons of Husbandry, or Grange, in the 1870s; the Grange promoted economic cooperatives and political involvement. g. Many struggling farmers joined in the National Farmers’ Alliance in the 1880s. h. The alliances were conservative on racial issues and excluded blacks. i. Black farmers formed the Colored Farmers’ Alliance, which expanded across the South and became one of the largest black organizations in U.S. history. j. By 1892 many alliance members joined the Populist or People’s Party, which urged southern white and black men to unite politically to support the Populists. k. The foremost proponent of racial unity was Thomas Watson of Georgia. l. He publically opposed racial exploitation but was also a staunch supporter of segregation and eventually became a racial demagogue. m. The Populist challenge heightened southern Democrats’ fears that black voters could decide elections if the white vote split. n. Many blacks were suspicious of the Populists and stayed loyal to the Republicans. o. The Republican Party in the South was much weaker than during Reconstruction because many of its black supporters could no longer vote. (See Short Assignment 2.)

II.

Disfranchisement a. Southern Democrats undermined black political power through violence in the 1880s and 1890s. b. Most southern states enacted elaborate restrictions on voting by the 1890s. c. Mississippi made the most successful effort to eliminate black voters without openly violating the Fifteenth Amendment. (See Classroom Activity 2.) d. White voting officials accepted almost all white applicants but failed most blacks. e. Louisiana’s grandfather clause immediately disfranchised all black voters. f. Few black men continued to vote in the South, and none were elected to office. g. In 1890 Congressman Lodge introduced a bill to require federal supervision of elections in congressional districts where fraud was alleged. h. White southerners labeled it the “Force bill” because they thought it would force black rule over whites; the bill failed in the Senate. i. This was the last significant congressional attempt to protect black voting rights in the South until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

III.

Segregation Since Reconstruction, schools, hospitals, asylums, and cemeteries had been segregated and restaurants and hotels did not admit black people.

The term “Jim Crow” originated with a minstrel show character performed by a white man, Thomas “Daddy” Rice, in the 1830s and 1840s.

How Rice’s character became synonymous with segregation is unclear.

By 1900, Jim Crow and segregation were rapidly expanding in the South.

After slavery, segregation evolved as a way to enforce white domination.

Many black people acquiesced in some facets of racial separation in churches and social organizations.

a. b. c. d. e. f.

.

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g. Black southerners often accepted separate seating in theaters, concert halls, and other facilities that had been previously closed to them. h. The first segregation laws involved trains; most black passengers were confined to grimy second-class cars. i. In the 1892 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, Plessy’s lawyers argued that segregation deprived their client of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. (See MyLab Activity 2.) j. But in 1896 the Supreme Court, in an 8-to-1 decision, upheld Louisiana’s segregation statute. k. After the Plessy decision, southern states and cities created an American apartheid—an elaborate system of racial separation. l. Black people bitterly opposed Jim Crow streetcars and held boycotts in at least 25 southern cities between 1891 and 1910. m. Black people also attempted to form alternative transportation companies. n. “White” and “colored” signs appeared in railroad stations, theaters, restrooms and over drinking fountains.

IV.

Racial Etiquette a. Whites expected blacks to act subserviently during slavery. b. After emancipation, white southerners maintained dominance through a pattern of racial etiquette. c. A black man was never to look at a white woman. d. White customers were served first even if a black had been the first to arrive. e. Black women could not try on clothing in white businesses. f. White people did not use titles of respect when addressing black adults. g. Blacks used “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” or “Miss” when addressing whites, including adolescents. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

V.

Violence a. Political and mob violence continued unabated into the 1880s and 1890s. b. Democrats used force to drive black and white Republicans out of politics. c. Race riots and massacres of blacks took place in cities such as Phoenix, South Carolina, in 1898 and New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1900. (See Discussion Question 2 and Long Assignment 1.) d. Between 1889 and 1932, over 3,700 people were lynched in the United States; most lynchings happened in the South, and black men were usually the victims.

(See Lecture Starter 1.) e. Lynchers were never apprehended, tried, or convicted. Prominent community members frequently encouraged and even participated in lynch mobs. f. Most white southerners justified lynching as a response to the raping of white women by black men. g. But many lynchings involved no alleged rape, and even when they did, the victims were often innocent. h. Ida B. Wells was a newspaper editor who led a lifelong crusade against lynching. i. Many whites believed black women to be inferior, immoral, and lascivious. (See Mylab Activity 1.) . 118

j. Southern courts rarely convicted white men of raping black women. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

VI.

Migration a. As late as 1910, nearly 90 percent of black Americans still lived in the South. b. Most blacks who left the South in the 1870s or 1880s moved to Africa or to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas; some moved from farms to southern towns. c. In the 1870s, several black men organized the Liberian Exodus Joint Stock Steamship Company and created a settlement that achieved mixed results. d. Between 1865 and 1880, over 40,000 black people known as “Exodusters” moved to Kansas. (See Discussion Question 1.) e. Larger numbers of black people settled in Oklahoma than in Kansas. f. By 1900 blacks possessed 1.5 million acres in Oklahoma worth $11 million. g. More than two dozen black towns were founded in Oklahoma and nearly 50 black towns in the West by the early twentieth century. h. Many people who moved west after 1865 utilized the 1862 Homestead Act. i. Many blacks moved to southern cities because urban areas offered greater economic opportunities. j. Black women had a better chance than black men of finding regular work in a town, but their jobs as low-paid domestic workers disunited black families.

VII. Black Farm Families a. Most blacks remained impoverished sharecroppers and renters on poor, whiteowned land. b. Sharecropping emerged during Reconstruction as landowners allowed the use of their land for a share of the crop. (See Short Assignment 1.) c. The landlord provided housing, mules, tools, seed, food, and clothing. d. The landowner received from one-half to three-quarters of the crop. e. Sharecropping lent itself to exploitation; by law, verbal agreements were considered contracts. f. Black farmers who disputed white landowners put themselves in peril. g. Cotton brokers and gin owners routinely paid blacks less than whites for cotton. h. Black farmers preferred renting to sharecropping. i. Many sharecroppers and renters were indebted to a merchant for goods; the merchant advanced the merchandise but took out a lien on the crop. j. If the sharecropper or renter failed to repay the merchant, the merchant was entitled to all or part of the crop once the landowner had received his payment. k. Farmers could not leave until their debts were paid; if they tried to depart, the sheriff pursued them. l. Thousands of blacks were thus held in illegal debt peonage across the South. m. Black landownership increased more than 500 percent between 1870 and 1900. n. Most black landowners possessed small farms of about 20 acres; some blacks owned giant estates bought piecemeal after years of toil.

VIII. African Americans and Southern Courts a. The southern justice system yielded nothing but injustice to black people. .

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b. Southern lawmakers worried about what they considered the black crime problem and enacted laws to control the black population. c. Vagrancy laws made it easy to arrest idle black men or black visitors. d. Contract evasion laws ensnared blacks who attempted to escape peonage. e. Black police officers were eliminated and juries and judges were white by 1900. f. Black people were more often charged with crimes than white people and were almost always convicted. g. Juries rarely found white people guilty of crimes against black people. h. Black people received longer sentences and larger fines than white people. i. Conditions in southern prisons were wretched for black prisoners. j. The convict lease system allowed businesses to lease convicts from the state. (See Long Assignment 2.) k. Some law enforcement officials arrested black men to contribute to the system. l. Leased convicts endured appalling conditions and hundreds died.

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by reading an account of a gruesome lynching in the South during the late 1800s. Use this story as a transition to a lecture on violence and southern race relations after Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline V.d.)

2.

Spend the first ten minutes of class using the Internet to show advertisements from the late 1800s that use black people as subject matter. Ask students how these images reinforced white supremacy during the era. (See the website list at the end of this chapter). (See Chapter Outline IV.g.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Show the film The Birth of a Nation in class and devise a set of questions to ask students about the film and its impact on southern life during the late 1800s. Why did the film gross millions of dollars at the box office? (See Chapter Outline V.j.)

2.

Bring in a copy of the Mississippi state constitution after it was “redeemed” by white Democrats in the early 1890s. Ask the students to locate the literacy test, poll tax, and grandfather clause portions of the document as a way to understand how blacks lost political power after Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline II.c.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did blacks head to Kansas, and how did they adjust to new challenges in the West? (See Chapter Outline VI.d.)

Points to consider: The inability to enjoy legal protections of their civil rights drove some black families to migrate westward as a form of self-segregation and empowerment. Between 1865 and 1880, over 40,000 black people known as “Exodusters” moved to Kansas. Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, a charismatic exslave from Tennessee, persuaded several hundred to migrate. Black migrants . 120

formed all-black towns for prosperity and protection. Six black men were instrumental in founding the Kansas town of Nicodemus in 1877. Nicodemus thrived in the 1880s with a hotel, two newspapers, a general store, a drugstore, a school, and three churches. By 1890, however, Nicodemus went into a decline from which it never recovered. Three railroads were built across Kansas, but each avoided Nicodemus, spelling economic ruin for the community. Ethnic diversity in the West helped African Americans escape some of the racism endemic to the South.

2.

Why did the Phoenix riot occur, and how did it impact local blacks? (See Chapter Outline V.c. ) Points to consider: In the tiny South Carolina community of Phoenix in 1898, a white Republican candidate for Congress urged black men to fill out an affidavit if they were not permitted to vote. This practice produced a confrontation with Democrats. Words were exchanged, shots were fired, and the Republican candidate was wounded. White men then went on a rampage through rural Greenwood County. Black men were killed—how many is unknown. Others, including Benjamin Mays’s father, had to humiliate themselves by bowing down and saluting white men.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: Ida B. Wells Challenges White Justifications for Lynching, 1895 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher To establish an understanding of Wells and lynching, show a documentary film in class about lynching as a phenomenon in U.S. history. The documentary film The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (see list of Suggested Films/TV Shows below) is focused on the subject. After showing the film, issue the Wells document to students and hold a discussion about how lynching functioned in the South.

Questions to ask include: What is Wells’s explanation of why lynching took place? What rhetorical strategies does she employ in her statement to combat lynching? Why did lynching continue over time into the mid-twentieth century and what patterns does it manifest today? A quiz can be given after the discussion to check for student comprehension of the material. (See Chapter Outline V.i.)

2.

Video: Plessy v. Ferguson http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/CitiesImmigrationAndSegregation_4.html After screening the five minute mini-lecture by a noted historian on AfricanAmerican history, hold a class discussion about segregation and the origins of the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Questions to ask include: What is the . 121

origin of segregation and the notion of “separate but equal” in American society?

How did the Plessy case arise and what was the outcome? What were the reasons why whites segregated blacks in the South? What impact did segregation make on black people? A quiz can be given after the discussion to check for student comprehension of the information. (See Chapter Outline III.i.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a four-page paper based on secondary sources on the issue of sharecropping and how southern whites maintained the system to the disadvantage of blacks. (See Chapter Outline VII.b.)

2.

Ask students to find four websites based on the history of blacks in politics since the Civil War. Assign a two-page summary of the positive qualities and limitations of the websites for understanding the subject. (See Chapter Outline I.o.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign an eight-page research paper based on analysis of one or more race riots during the era. (See Chapter Outline V.c.)

2.

Assign a ten-page research paper based on historical analysis of the southern prison system and how it intersected with other means of black disempowerment after Reconstruction. (See Chapter Outline VIII.j.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

The West (2001, PBS, 8 hours).

This comprehensive eight-part documentary focuses on American people inhabiting the western portion of North America. Part 7 is focused on black Exodusters. A useful companion website is located at http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/seven/.

2.

The Birth of a Nation (1915, D.W. Griffith, 190 minutes).

The Birth of a Nation is one of the most racist films ever produced. One of the most widely seen films of the early twentieth century, the movie covers the Reconstruction era from the perspective of the mainstream of white America. It is an excellent primary source.

3.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary provides a wealth of primary imagery to convey the rise and fall of segregation, concluding in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education case. An excellent companion website with a variety of links is located at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/.

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4.

Roots: The Next Generations (1979, Alex Haley, 13 hours).

The sequel to Roots, the Next Generations focuses on the family of Kunta Kinte as they experience post-Reconstruction life. Episodes 1 and 2 cover the immediate post-Reconstruction era.

5.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, Universal Pictures, 2 hours).

This classic film, starring Gregory Peck and based on the novel by Harper Lee, drives home like no other movie the nature of southern legal injustice towards blacks.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Edward L. Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).

Ayers provides a lengthy and comprehensive account of southern history during the era.

2.

C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (New York: Oxford University Press, 1955).

This classic text in the field provides an overview of the Jim Crow era.

3.

Neil R. McMillen, Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1989).

This text offers an overview of Mississippi’s transition to white Democratic rule and considers the impact of the transition on blacks during the era.

4.

Nell Painter, Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas after Reconstruction (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977).

Painter offers a general assessment of black migration into Kansas after 1878.

5.

David M. Oshinsky, “Worse than Slavery”: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice (New York: The Free Press, 1999) This text provides a case study of the most notorious southern prison system in U.S. history in the era of Jim Crow segregation.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

The West: Episode 7: The Geography of Hope http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/seven/ A supplement to PBS’s documentary The West, this website is a very useful resource on the black Exodusters and provides links to further resources in conjunction with episode 7 on black migration west.

2.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/

.

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This website accompanies the PBS documentary on Jim Crow and contains many useful lesson plans and links to further resources.

3.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

4.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

5.

U.S. Supreme Court: Plessy Case http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1895/1895_210 This site provides a detailed overview of the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896. It includes the lengthy text of the case itself and information on the justices involved.

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CHAPTER 15: AFRICAN AMERICANS CHALLENGE WHITE SUPREMACY 1877-1918 CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the development of black culture and the multifaceted role blacks played in American society between 1877 and 1918. Industrialization and the rise of large, powerful corporations transformed the American economy in the late nineteenth century. As millions of European immigrants crowded into the cities of the North and Midwest to find jobs in the new factories, agricultural production increased and prices declined, impoverishing many rural southerners. Most black people—nearly eight million—remained in the South, where they struggled to confront white supremacy.

Living in a society that sought to disregard their rights and exclude them from its institutions and culture, black Americans increasingly relied on their own resources to survive. Some African Americans turned to education to elevate themselves and their people; some African-American men sought to advance themselves and prove their worth through military service. By the late nineteenth century, however, black Americans mostly relied on each other and their own communities to sustain themselves. They supported churches, schools, and colleges. They established businesses and sometimes formed labor unions and went on strike. They founded their own hospitals. They expressed themselves in music by creating ragtime, jazz, and blues. They participated in sports with white athletes but more often played separately from them as segregation and white hostility spread.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 15-1 What scientific and scholarly ideas were developed to support racism during the late nineteenth century?

15-2 What, according to Booker T. Washington, was the chief purpose of education for black people? To what extent did Washington’s critics disagree with his position on black education?

15-3 What role did religion play in the lives of African Americans and in their adjustment to discrimination?

15-4 Why did black men in the U. S. Army engage in combat against Native Americans, the Spanish, and Filipinos?

15-5 What were the major developments among African Americans in businesses and labor unions in the struggle for equality?

15-6 What opportunities existed for African Americans in the legal and medical professions?

15-7 What did African Americans contribute to music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

15-8 What contributions did African Americans make to athletics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Social Darwinism

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a. Pseudoscientific evidence and academic scholarship supported white people’s notion that Anglo-Saxons were superior to nonwhites. b. Sociologists Herbert Spencer and William Sumner attempted to apply Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to human societies. c. Social Darwinism held that through natural selection, the strong would thrive, prosper, and reproduce, while the weak would die. d. Social Darwinism justified great disparities in wealth. e. The same logic explained why the United States, Britain, and Germany were stronger and more prosperous than African, Asian, and Latin American societies. f. Many Americans and Europeans believed they had a responsibility to introduce Western culture to the “less advanced” and darker peoples of the globe. g. Social Darwinism led most Protestant white Americans to believe that black people occupied the bottom of this hierarchy. (See Short Assignment 2.) h. Whites held that black inferiority was biologically ordained, so they did not think that substantial resources should be committed to the education of black students.

(See Classroom Activity 2.)

II.

Education and Schools a. Most blacks were poor farmers who had few opportunities for education and even fewer prospects for careers in business or in the professions. b. Most black youngsters could not attend the short school year on a regular basis because of the demands of fieldwork and childcare for younger siblings. c. Schools were often old shacks that lacked plumbing, electricity, and books; some classes were held in churches and homes. Classes were taught by poorly paid teachers. d. Southern states operated separate schools for black and white children and had almost no public black high schools, even in large cities. e. Young black people who sought secondary education often had to travel to a black college or university that offered a high school program. f. In many communities, black people, with the assistance of churches and northern philanthropists, operated private academies and high schools. g. Some blacks and many whites regarded education for blacks as pointless, while others thought that education for blacks should be industrial or domestic training. h. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute founded in 1868 in Virginia was dominated for decades by Samuel Chapman Armstrong, a white missionary. i. Hampton trained legions of African Americans and Native Americans to teach industrial skills and embrace hard work, diligence, and Christian morality. j. Hampton’s foremost graduate was Booker T. Washington who was born a slave and learned to read and write at a local school. (See MyLab Activity 1.) k. In 1881 Washington founded a black college in Alabama, Tuskegee Institute, with a curriculum based in manual labor. l. Washington believed that if blacks acquired skills as small farmers and artisans, they would earn the respect of white Americans and eradicate the race problem. m. White political leaders and philanthropists praised Washington’s message. n. Southern states did not admit black students to their agricultural schools funded by the state under the Morrill Act. .

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o. In 1890, a second Morrill Act permitted states to fund separate black land-grant colleges; by 1915 there were 16 black land-grant colleges. p. Critics of Washington, such as W.E.B. Du Bois, charged that his educational system was designed to train black people for a subordinate role in American society. (See Long Assignment 1.)

III.

Church and Religion a. The church had long been the most important institution—after the family—that African Americans controlled for themselves. b. After 1865, blacks organized their own churches, and black clergymen were often the most influential members of the black community. c. Many black ministers had little or no education, a situation that disturbed some black leaders. d. Black clergymen often stressed middle-class values to their congregations while shaming blacks for allegedly sinful ways. e. Some black clergy such as Bishop Henry Turner publicly opposed white supremacy and insisted that black people stand up for their rights. f. The Holiness movement and the rise of Pentecostal churches proved that many blacks were not part of mainline black religious denominations. g. The Pentecostal church was the only significant movement that crossed the racial divide in early twentieth-century America. h. Most African Americans belonged to Baptist or Methodist churches. i. About 200,000 African Americans were Roman Catholics in 1890 but were rarely fully accepted by the church or white Catholics. j. Black Catholics in the South were segregated in separate churches and schools. k. By 1903 over 15,000 members of black Episcopal parishes worshipped in large cities in the North and South.

IV.

Red versus Black: The Buffalo Soldiers a. Congressional Democrats tried to eliminate black soldiers after the Civil War, but radical Republicans kept the military open to black men. (See MyLab Activity 2.) b. The Army Reorganization Act of 1869 maintained four all-black regiments: the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments. c. These four regiments of 12,500 black troops spent most of the next three decades on the western frontier in segregated units commanded by white officers. d. Black regiments were assigned mainly to the New Mexico and Arizona territories and to west Texas because the army thought black people tolerated heat better. e. Most black soldiers were compelled to endure the hot, dry, dusty Southwest desert, and the army provided them with inferior food, housing, and equipment. f. Comanche and Cheyenne Indians began to refer to black troops as “buffalo soldiers” in the 1870s. g. From the late 1860s to the early 1890s, the four black regiments repeatedly engaged Indians throughout the West. h. Despite the gallant performance of the buffalo soldiers, civilians frequently treated them with hostility. (See Long Assignment 2.)

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i. The Brownsville affair occurred in Texas when black troops were dismissed from the service without a hearing for allegedly shooting at white civilians. j. Ten percent of sailors in the Navy were black; black sailors experienced segregation and discrimination by white officers and sailors. k. By the 1870s and 1880s, black women and men worked in the cattle and horse industries throughout the West. l. Black men by the thousands served in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippine Insurrection that followed it. m. Most of the black units never saw combat in Cuba because white military authorities considered black men unreliable and inadequately trained. n. Many black people questioned the moral value of black men fighting against brown-skinned men in the interest of the U.S. government. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

V.

Black Business People and Entrepreneurs a. The World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 paraded American racism towards people of color for the entire world to see. b. Three black colleges created exhibits that were intended to depict the advances African Americans had achieved since the end of slavery. c. A segregated Colored American Day at the fair was controversial among black leadership; blacks were excluded from fair organizing committees. d. By 1900, virtually every black community had its own small businesses, markets, street vendors, and other entrepreneurs. e. Some black men and women established substantial businesses, like Madam C. J. Walker who developed a formula to enrich the hair of black women. f. Most black people who went into business had difficulty surviving because they depended on black customers who were themselves poor. g. White-owned banks were unlikely to provide credit to black businesspeople. h. Thousands of black southerners worked in factories, mills, and mines; they were usually paid less than white men and often served as strikebreakers. i. When white workers formed labor unions, they usually excluded black workers. j. The Knights of Labor was open to all workers. k. The American Federation of Labor was ostensibly open to all skilled workers, but most of its local craft unions barred women and black tradesmen. l. The United Mine Workers encouraged black coal miners to join the union rather than serve as strikebreakers. m. Black workers in industrial and agricultural sectors repeatedly went on strike in the South in the late 1800s, with mixed success. (See Discussion Question 2.)

VI.

Black Professionals a. The medical and legal professions were strictly segregated, and most black physicians, nurses, and lawyers attended all-black professional schools. b. Blacks needing medical care were excluded from white hospitals or confined to all-black wards, and black doctors were denied staff privileges at white hospitals. c. Blacks often formed their own small hospitals.

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d. Barred from membership in the American Medical Association, black doctors organized the National Medical Association in Atlanta in 1895. e. Black physicians and nurses struggled to provide medical care to people who were often desperately ill and sought treatment only as a last resort. f. Black nurses experienced rampant discrimination and were relegated to domestic duties and low pay. g. Black lawyers were permitted to practice but white judges and attorneys did not welcome them, and black clientele were poor and often chose white lawyers. h. The American Bar Association (ABA) would not admit black attorneys. i. William Lewis, a black lawyer, was appointed an assistant U.S. attorney general

by President Taft in 1911. j. In 1925 black lawyers organized the National Bar Association.

VII. Music a. Music created by black people evolved into the uniquely American art forms of ragtime, jazz, and blues. b. Some late nineteenth-century music can be traced to African forms and rhythms.

Other sources are slave work songs and spirituals. c. Traveling groups of black men, some of them ex-slaves, put on minstrel shows that featured “coon songs” after the Civil War. d. In 1871 the Fisk University Jubilee Singers began holding fund-raising concert tours that entertained black and white audiences in the United States and Europe. e. Ragtime, which emerged in the 1890s, was composed music written down for performance on the piano. f. The creative genius of ragtime, Scott Joplin, composed his best-known tune, the “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899, and it sold over one million copies. g. Unlike ragtime, jazz was mostly improvised, not composed, and it was not confined to the piano. It replaced ragtime in popularity by the early 1900s. h. Jazz incorporated African and European musical elements drawn from plantation bands, minstrel shows, riverboat ensembles, and Irish and Scottish folk tunes. i. The first jazz bands emerged around New Orleans where they played at parades, funerals, clubs, and outdoor concerts. (See Lecture Starter 1.) j. Ferdinand La Menthe, or Jelly Roll Morton, was the first prominent jazz musician; he recorded music in Los Angeles and Chicago in the 1910s and 1920s. k. W.C. Handy is considered the father of the blues, which was played in juke joints (rural nightclubs), at picnics, in lumber camps, and in urban nightclubs. l. By 1920 two forms of American music were developing—jazz and the blues. m. Both musical forms drew on African and American musical elements and European styles and would form the basis of modern American music.

VIII. Sports a. Black athletes found that white athletes and sports entrepreneurs increasingly opposed the presence of black men in the boxing ring and on the playing field. b. Black boxers regularly fought white boxers through the end of the nineteenth century, but the success of Jack Johnson angered many white Americans.

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c. Many white fans were unwilling to accept Johnson as the heavyweight champion and looked desperately for “a great white hope” who could defeat him. (See Discussion Question 1.) d. Johnson’s personal life generated controversy when he married a second white woman and was sentenced to a year in prison for violating the Mann Act. e. Black men were officially excluded from major league baseball by the late 1880s and would not integrate the sport until Jackie Robinson began playing in 1947.

(See Lecture Starter 2.) f. Black men formed their own teams; by 1900 there were five black professional teams in the Negro Leagues.(See Short Assignment 1.) g. By 1910–1911 Howard University and Hampton Institute had basketball teams as basketball became popular with black youth in urban America. h. In horse racing, black jockeys regularly won major races. Willie Simms won the Kentucky Derby in 1894, 1895, 1896, and 1898. i. Bicycling and bicycle racing were popular by the 1890s, and in 1899 a black rider, Marshall W. “Major” Taylor, won the world championship. j. White colleges that admitted black students rarely allowed them to play sports. k. White institutions with black players often encountered rampant racism, and opposing teams and their fans frequently abused black players. l. White colleges occasionally played black institutions, but black college teams were far more likely to play each other.

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Play selections of jazz or blues music; ask students to listen and compile some of the lyrics. Then generate a discussion based on the meaning of the lyrics and the music itself. (See Chapter Outline VII.i.)

2.

Use the Internet to access images of early baseball from the Negro Leagues, such as baseball cards, advertisements, and team promotional material. Generate a discussion based on the themes of racial discrimination in sports. (See Chapter Outline VIII.e.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Generate a debate in class regarding two issues: whether or not the U.S. should enter the Spanish-American War, and what role should blacks play in the conflict.

Divide the class into southern whites, the federal government, and African Americans. Allow these interest groups to meet during class to formulate their rhetorical strategies. (See Chapter Outline IV.n.)

2.

Show a segment from the film America: 1900, which deals with AfricanAmerican people (twelve-minute segment, Part I). Then ask the students what evidence and themes from black history are utilized by the filmmakers to frame the narrative and visual imagery of the piece. (See Chapter Outline I.h.)

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Discussion Questions 1.

How does the career of Jack Johnson reveal the challenges faced by blacks in the early 1900s? (See Chapter Outline VIII.c.)

Points to consider: Johnson was successful and flamboyant at knocking down white men during a time when black men were lynched on the rumor they had a sexual interest in a white woman. Johnson faced constant racism which eventually manifested in arrest for violating an anti-prostitution law when he drove his own white wife across state lines. Although he was very wealthy and successful, his career and fame were cut short, and he served several months in federal prison after returning from hiding from arrest in Europe. He symbolized the struggles of elite blacks who tried to buy their way out of racism, and it never worked.

2.

How did labor unions and African Americans intersect during the era? What role did blacks play in strikes? (See Chapter Outline V.m.)

Points to consider: Although the Knights of Labor allowed black membership, it had lost influence to the American Federation of Labor by the 1890s. Founded in 1886, the AFL was ostensibly open to all skilled workers, but most of its local craft unions barred women and black tradesmen. In contrast, the United Mine Workers (UMW), formed in 1890, encouraged black coal miners to join the union rather than serve as strikebreakers. By 1900 approximately 20,000 of the 91,000 members of the UMW were black men. The Industrial Workers of the World, a revolutionary labor organization founded in 1905, brought black and white laborers together. In 1869 a Baltimore ship caulker, Isaac Myers, organized the National Colored Labor Union, which lasted for seven years. Black stevedores periodically went on strike in Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. The Longshoremen’s Protective Union in Charleston won several strikes in the 1870s.

In Nashville in 1871 black dockyard workers went on strike, demanding 20 cents an hour.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: Booker T. Washington, The Atlanta Exposition Address (1895) http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Washington_Atlanta_Expo_Add.html Washington’s Atlanta Address is his most important statement on racial issues during his lifetime. Dissect the document with students as a group in class by asking different students to take turns reading from the document. Use the board to “brainstorm” with students about their ideas and understanding of Washington’s words and intentions. Questions to ask include: How do you think white people received his speech? What about blacks? What aspects of the speech reveal Washington’s philosophy about racial uplift? What are his opinions on segregation and education? What are the limitations of understanding his point of view based solely on the document? A quiz may be derived from this exercise: . 131

ask students to answer on paper the central question: What is the racial philosophy of Booker T. Washington based on his Atlanta Address? (See Chapter Outline II.j.)

2.

Audio: The Negro as Soldier http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Audio&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/audio/the_negro_as_soldier_by_christian.html&width=600& height=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Play the 44-second audio segment of a short reading from a pamphlet on the role of blacks in American wars several times for the students. Use the reading as a thesis-statement exercise in helping students understand how to write a thesis for a short essay on a historical subject. Then assign students a five-page research paper based on the thesis outlined in the audio segment. You might also assign a book on the subject and ask the students to create their own theses. (See Chapter Outline IV.a.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a four-page research paper based on the history of the Negro Leagues. Ask each to select a team or player as the focus for his or her paper. (See Chapter Outline VIII.g.)

2.

Assign a web-based project asking students to locate five websites that pertain to one or more themes of black history in turn-of-the-century America. (See Chapter Outline I.h.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign the book Up from Slavery, and ask the students to write an eight-page essay that answers one central question that they may select from a larger list provided by the instructor. (See Chapter Outline II.p.)

2.

Assign a seven-page research paper about the Buffalo Soldiers and their relationship to the federal government, white soldiers, and local citizenry (Native Americans, Anglo Americans, and Mexican Americans). (See Chapter Outline IV.h.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Baseball (1994, PBS, 18.5 hours).

Divided into 9 episodes, or “innings,” this interesting documentary dedicates “inning” 5 to black baseball players.

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2.

Jazz (2001, PBS, 18 hours).

The documentary Jazz, produced by PBS, contains a wealth of information on black musicians during this dynamic era of black music contributions. Episode 1 focuses on jazz history to 1917. A useful website is provided by PBS for classroom use: www.pbs.org/jazz.

3.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary on Jim Crow covers violence and discrimination against blacks during the era. PBS also provides a useful website to accompany the documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/.

4.

Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2005, Ken Burns, 3 hours).

A case study in black sports history and discrimination during the era of Jim Crow and the Great Migration, this PBS documentary also provides a useful website for teachers: http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/teachers/.

5.

Roots: The Next Generations (1979, Alex Haley, 14 hours).

In the sequel to the famous Roots television miniseries, the history of Kunta Kinte’s family is traced through 1900. Episodes 1 and 2 cover the relevant time period.

6.

America: 1900 (2000, PBS, 3 hours).

America: 1900 is a comprehensive documentary on many aspects of U.S. society in 1900, including blacks in education, business, and agriculture.

7.

Scott Joplin (1977, Billy D. Williams, 96 minutes).

This Hollywood-produced film is still the best depiction on film of Joplin’s life.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Howard Rabinowitz, Race Relations in the Urban South, 1865-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978).

Rabinowitz focuses on a few key southern cities to portray the post-emancipation lives of urban blacks.

2.

William Loren Katz, The Black West (New York: Touchstone Books, 1996).

Katz’s pioneering work examines selective elements of the black western experience during the 1800s.

3.

Gerald D. Jaynes, Branches without Roots: Genesis of the Black Working Class in the American South, 1862-1882 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986).

This book examines the role of class as a factor in shaping the black experience broadly across the American South with a focus on a relatively brief time period of twenty years. .

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4.

Randy Roberts, Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes (New York: The Free Press, 1983).

This book focuses on the black boxer in the context of white supremacy and the attempt of whites to remove him from stardom.

5.

W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues: An Autobiography (New York: Macmillan, 1941).

Written by Handy himself, this book provides a history of the blues from the perspective of one of its originators.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/ This website accompanies the PBS documentary on Jim Crow and contains many useful lesson plans and links to further resources.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

3.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

4.

Jazz www.pbs.org/jazz This website is associated with the 2001 documentary Jazz that was produced by PBS. It contains a wealth of information for classroom use.

5.

Madam C. J. Walker http://www.madamcjwalker.com This website is dedicated to maintaining the legacy of this black entrepreneur and provides numerous links to information on Walker, her era in black history, and the lives of black women.

6.

Louis Armstrong http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_armstrong_louis.htm This excellent website accompanies the PBS documentary Jazz and includes links to further resources for teachers.

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7.

Duke Ellington http://www.dukeellington.com/ Owned by NBC, this website provides much information in visual and musical form about the great band leader.

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Chapter 16: Conciliation, Agitation, and Migration: African Americans in the Early Twentieth Century 1895-1928

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter discusses the different strategies blacks created to survive white supremacy in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Most white people believed black Americans were an inferior race capable of little more than manual labor and entitled to only basic legal rights. Refusing to accept inferiority, they organized institutions to enable them to prosper in a hostile society. However, African Americans and their leaders disagreed about how to secure full constitutional rights. Some, following W.E.B. Du Bois of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), favored a frontal assault on segregation and disfranchisement. Others, following Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute, cautioned against the vigorous pursuit of civil rights and political power and insisted that agricultural and industrial training would generate prosperity and self-sufficiency for blacks. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, black men joined a Jim Crow military that was fighting to make the world safe for democracy. But black people in America were not safe, and democracy did not prevail. Racial violence erupted before, during, and after the war. In the meantime, one of the most important episodes in American history—a vast and prolonged migration of hundreds of thousands of rural black southerners to northern cities—began in earnest after 1910. By 1920, despite white opposition on many fronts, black Americans had demonstrated that they would not accept economic subservience and the denial of their civil rights.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 16-1 What advice for advancement did Booker T. Washington offer to African Americans?

16-2 What were the views of W.E.B. Du Bois on promoting progress among African Americans in early twentieth-century America?

16-3 What were the origins and goals of the NAACP? 16-4 What role did black women play in advocating reform and in fostering progress among African Americans?

16-5 What were the defining characteristics of the black elite?

16-6 How did African Americans contribute to the U.S. war effort in World War I? 16-7 What were the causes of racial violence in the early twentieth century and why was that violence so intense?

16-8 Why did African Americans begin to leave the rural South in the early twentieth century, and what kinds of lives were they able to make for themselves in urban communities?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Booker T. Washington’s Approach a. Washington’s commitment to agricultural and industrial education was the basis for his approach to racism in the U.S. . 136

b. He believed economic acceptance would lead to political and social acceptance. c. The Tuskegee leader outlined his philosophy in the speech he delivered at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta in 1895. d. After the Atlanta speech, Washington’s influence soared. He received extensive and mostly positive coverage in black newspapers. e. Washington developed support among the nation’s industrial elite, like Andrew Carnegie who consulted him before contributing to black colleges. f. Washington’s political influence, connections, and organizational skills came to be known as “The Tuskegee Machine.” g. In 1901, President Roosevelt invited Washington to dinner at the White House. h. Black people applauded, but the white South recoiled in disgust from such a flagrant breach of racial etiquette. i. Most of Washington’s political activities were not public. He secretly helped finance an unsuccessful court case against the Louisiana grandfather clause. j. Washington was a conservative leader who did not directly or publicly challenge white supremacy. He attacked lynching only occasionally. k. Opposition to Washington’s stance on racial matters intensified among black leaders over time.

II.

W.E.B. Du Bois a. Du Bois became the most significant black leader in America during the first half of the twentieth century. b. Du Bois was raised in Massachusetts, attended integrated schools, went to Fisk University in Tennessee, and received a Ph.D. (in history) from Harvard in 1895. c. Du Bois was perhaps the greatest scholar-activist in American history and wrote 16 nonfiction books, five novels, and two autobiographies. d. In 1903, Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk, one of the major literary works of the twentieth century and his most important work. e. Du Bois in his book attacked Washington for failing to stand up for political and civil rights and higher education for black Americans. (See Classroom Activity 1.) f. Washington worried that black opposition would jeopardize the flow of funds from white philanthropists to black colleges and universities. (See MyLab Activity 1.) g. To reconcile with his opponents, he organized a meeting with them, funded by white philanthropists, at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1904. h. Du Bois and other Washington opponents came determined to adopt a radical agenda. Washington loyalists monopolized the proceedings, and Du Bois quit. i. Du Bois was convinced that the advancement of black people was the responsibility of the black elite, those he called the Talented Tenth. j. In 1905 Du Bois invited an elite group of blacks to Niagara Falls in Canada. k. The 29 delegates at the meeting demanded voting rights, better schools, health care, and housing, and called for an end to segregation. l. The Niagara Movement attracted 400 members and remained active for years. m. The Niagara Movement was no match for the well-financed Tuskegee Machine; Washington used dubious tactics to undermine the movement. . 137

n. In 1908 the Niagara Movement virtually collapsed because most blacks and whites would not support any organization with uncompromising demands.

III.

The NAACP a. As the Niagara Movement expired, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) came to life. b. There was no direct link between the demise of the Niagara Movement and the rise of the NAACP. c. In its early years the NAACP was a militant organization dedicated to racial justice. White leaders dominated it, and white contributors largely financed it. d. A few white progressives were concerned about rampant racial prejudice and founded the NAACP in 1909 in New York City. e. Du Bois, Ida Wells Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell were the black leaders most involved in forming the NAACP. f. The NAACP was determined that black citizens should fully enjoy the civil and political rights the Constitution guaranteed to all citizens. g. It relied on the judicial and legislative systems in a decades-long effort to secure those rights. h. The NAACP won its first major legal victory in 1915 when the Supreme Court overturned Oklahoma’s grandfather clause in Guinn v. United States. i. Du Bois was the most prominent black figure associated with the NAACP and became director of publicity and edited the NAACP publication, the Crisis. j. Many black leaders and members of the NAACP despised Washington and his ideology, and Washington worked to subvert the new organization. k. The NAACP had 6,000 members and 50 local branches when Washington died in 1915. l. In 1910, black and white progressives founded the National League on Urban Conditions among Negroes in New York City. m. The Urban League worked to alleviate conditions black people encountered as they moved into large cities in ever-increasing numbers during the early 1900s. n. The league also assisted black youth who ran afoul of the law, and it helped establish the Big Brother and Big Sister movements. (See Discussion Question 1.)

IV.

Black Women and the Club Movement Years before the Urban League and the NAACP existed, black women had been creating clubs and organizations.

The local groups that formed in the 1870s were concerned with cultural, religious, and social matters.

But many of the middle-class women in these clubs became more involved with community problems.

The National Federation of Afro-American Women included thirty-six clubs in twelve states.

The Colored Women’s League of Washington, D.C., founded in 1892, helped to organize the National Colored Woman’s League.

The two groups merged in 1896 to form the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), with Mary Church Terrell elected the first president.

a. b. c. d. e. f.

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g. The NACW adopted the self-help motto “Lifting as We Climb” and promoted education, an end to poverty and an end to racial discrimination. h. Black women also formed Phillis Wheatley clubs and homes across the nation, named in honor of the eighteenth-century African-American poet. i. The residences offered living accommodations for single, black working women in many cities where YWCAs refused to admit them. j. In 1911, Jane Hunter formed the Working Girls’ Home Association for cleaning women, laundresses, and private duty nurses. k. Black women were also involved in the long struggle for women’s suffrage on the state level. Ida Wells Barnett was a leader in the Illinois suffrage effort. l. The proposed Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution drove a wedge between black and white advocates of women’s political rights. m. Many opponents of women’s suffrage warned that granting the vote to women would increase the number of black voters. n. Black suffragists understood that the right to vote meant that political power could be exercised to acquire civil rights and improve education. (See Long Assignment 2.)

V. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l.

VI.

The Black Elite Many black leaders described by Du Bois as the Talented Tenth formed protest organizations, joined reform efforts, and organized self-help groups.

The leaders were primarily middle- and upper-class black people who were better educated than most Americans and held professional positions.

In 1897, Episcopal priest Alexander Crummel formed the black scholarly organization known as the American Negro Academy.

By the early 1900s, there were several hundred very wealthy African Americans.

Black aristocrats distanced themselves from less affluent black and white people, lived in expensive houses, and were doctors, lawyers, and businessmen.

The black elite formed exclusive organizations that jealously limited membership.

Organizations like the Diamondback Club and the Cosmos Club in Washington sponsored luxurious banquets, dances, and debutante balls.

The black elite also established Greek-letter black fraternities and sororities.

Black inventors and innovators contributed to the technical and industrial transformation of America. (See Long Assignment 1.)

Since Reconstruction, the Republican Party had rewarded black voters by providing a token number of black men with federal jobs.

President Wilson was no friend of black people, and federal agencies and buildings were fully segregated during his tenure.

Wilson defended separation of the races as a means to avoid friction with southern whites.

Black Men and the Military in World War I a. In 1916, the U.S. government sent black and white troops to pursue bandit Francisco “Pancho” Villa into Mexico for sacking an American city in Arizona. b. World War I erupted in Europe in 1914 but the U.S. joined in 1917 after German submarine attacks compelled President Wilson to act. . 139

c. Most African Americans supported the war because blacks wanted to demonstrate their loyalty by fighting in the conflict as they had done in previous wars. d. There were more than 5,000 black men in the navy in 1917, but all of them were kitchen attendants and stokers. The Marine Corps did not admit black men. e. During the war, the Selective Service system drafted over 370,000 black men.

Approximately 10,000 black men were already serving in the army in 1917. f. Black newspapers and the NAACP campaigned to commission black officers to lead black troops, though the military remained segregated. g. Black officers were confined to the lower ranks, and the overall command of black units remained in white hands. h. The army preferred to employ black troops in labor battalions, as stevedores, in road construction, and as cooks and bakers. i. Of the 380,000 black men who served in the war, only 42,000 entered combat. j. The army did not prepare black soldiers adequately, but military leaders complained when black soldiers in combat performed poorly. k. By June 1918 French commanders were asking for all the black troops the Americans could send, and most French people praised black soldiers. l. Black troops returned to America on segregated ships. m. The treatment of black soldiers embittered black leaders who had supported American entry into the war. (See Short Assignment 2.)

VII. Race Riots a. Most white Americans clung to social Darwinism and white supremacy. b. War sacrifices were accompanied by a backlash against African Americans. Ten black men still in uniform were lynched in 1919. c. Race riots broke out in Atlanta in 1906; more conflicts occurred between 1917 and 1921 in East St. Louis; Houston; Chicago; Elaine, Arkansas; and Tulsa. (See Short Assignment 1.) d. The causes were similar in all riots: White residents feared that black migrants would compete for jobs and housing, or that black men had raped white women.

(See Discussion Question 2.) e. The aftermath of riots included massive destruction of black property, the incarceration of black victims, and the deaths of many blacks and some whites. f. White men were never prosecuted for starting, leading, or taking part in race riots. g. In 1919, black sharecroppers in Elaine, Arkansas, attempted to organize a union and withhold their cotton from the market until they received a higher price. h. Deputy sheriffs tried to break up a union meeting, and one deputy was killed. i. In retaliation, white people killed dozens of black people. No white people were prosecuted, but twelve black men were convicted of the deputy’s murder. j. They were sentenced to death, and 67 other black men received prison terms of up to 20 years. k. The NAACP appealed the convictions and the Supreme Court overturned them in 1923. l. Violence erupted in Tulsa in May of 1921 after a black man was accused of rape.

(See MyLab Activity 3.)

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m. As many as 300 black people and 20 white people perished in one of the worst episodes of civilian violence in American history. n. In 2001, a state commission concluded that Oklahoma should offer restitution. o. In 1923, the town of Rosewood, Florida, was destroyed, and its black residents driven out or killed. p. In 1994 the Florida legislature appropriated $2.1 million to survivors of Rosewood and to families who lost property in the assault. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

VIII. The Great Migration a. The Great Migration of blacks from the South to the urban North began as a trickle after 1865 and became a flood by 1910. (See Lecture Starter 1.) b. Between 1910 and 1940, 1.75 million black people left the South, and the black population outside the South doubled by 1940. (See Classroom Activity 2.) c. People moved because they were both pushed from their rural homes by segregation and racism, and pulled toward urban areas providing better jobs. d. Most migrants maintained a fondness for their southern homes and kinfolk. They returned for holidays, weddings, and funerals. e. Few black southerners moved west to California, Oregon, or Washington. f. Most black migrants found their destination was not the Promised Land. g. Blacks congregated in all-black neighborhoods that later would be called ghettos. h. White owners resisted selling or renting property to blacks outside of these neighborhoods and many black migrants preferred to live among black people. i. Over 100,000 blacks from the West Indies arrived in northern cities in the early 1900s. j. Black residents established churches, social organizations, businesses, and medical facilities. k. There was less overt segregation in the North than the South. Most northern states and California prohibited segregated schools and racial discrimination. l. Many white businesses and communities ignored the statutes and embraced Jim Crow. m. Chicago’s black population surged from 1900 to 1930 as migrants poured into the city. Black institutions flourished though labor and racial conflicts escalated. n. By 1920, over 75,000 black people lived in Harlem, New York, which became the “Negro Capital of the World.” o. Migration placed black families under enormous strains. Relatives frequently moved north separately and children might be left with grandparents. p. Black women in northern cities were confined to domestic and janitorial work. q. Most northern black families were two-parent households. Women headed comparatively few families. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Use the Internet to show paintings of the Great Migration by Jacob Lawrence.

(See the website list at the end of this chapter for sources.) Ask students the . 141

meanings of the paintings as they view them on the screen. Point out the intersection between the themes students see and the actual event itself. (ISeeLS1) 2.

Show a short scene from the film Rosewood regarding race relations in the South during the early twentieth century. Ask students why whites and blacks behaved in the manner observed in the film. (See Chapter Outline VII.p.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Organize a debate in class based on the differing perspectives of black uplift as proposed by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. The themes of accommodation vs. protest in the context of white supremacist violence should frame the substance of the debate. (See Chapter Outline II.e.)

2.

Provide students with a blank map of major cities in the U.S. in 1900, and have them mark the cities that blacks migrated to during the Great Migration out of the South. (See Chapter Outline VIII.b.)

Discussion Questions 1.

What were the political goals of the Urban League? How did they differ from the political goals of the NAACP? (See Chapter Outline III.n.)

Points to consider: The Urban League focused on the urban problems of black people, particularly migrants from the South who arrived in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Housing, social welfare, employment, and other material conditions reflected Urban League goals and activities. The Urban League also assisted black youth who ran afoul of the law, and founded the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organizations. The NAACP was more concerned with protecting black legal and political rights in rural and urban sectors. It utilized the judicial system to attack segregation, lynching, and the various state mechanisms used in the South to disfranchise black voters. a.

Why did race riots break out in the early 1900s? (See Chapter Outline VII.d.)

Points to consider: Race riots broke out for a variety of reasons. The many riots shared similarities in causation: the alleged rape of a white woman by a black man, job competition in varying forms, labor union conflict, the presence of new black neighborhoods in cities, black challenges to segregation, and black selfdefense efforts against police brutality. In particular, between 1919 and 1921, several dozen race riots broke out. The principal cause was job competition as the defense industry declined with the end of World War I. MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: W. E. B. Du Bois Challenges Booker T. Washington, 1903 .

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http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Bring into class copies of the Du Bois document and ask students to answer the questions at the end of the selection as the basis for a class quiz. Generate a preliminary discussion with students about challenges impacting blacks after the Civil War. Questions to consider include: What solutions did black leaders pose to uplift black people? What problems did Du Bois identify regarding Washington’s approach to black uplift? What solutions did Du Bois propose that differed from Washington’s solutions? How do Washington and Du Bois compare to modern black leaders? (See Chapter Outline II.f.)

2.

Video: The Great Migration http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos2/migrationlarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes This seven-minute video segment by a noted historian on the Great Migration emphasizes black agency in creating the massive movement of black people out of the South beginning in the early 1900s. The segment can be assigned as part of the evidence used in a research paper on the Great Migration. Instructors can also play the segment in class and ask students to summarize the main points of the mini-lecture in a quiz format. As an exercise in historiography and the “production” of history, instructors can also ask the question, “How does the historian frame the causes, impact, and meaning of the Great Migration in U.S. history?” (See Chapter Outline VIII.q.)

3.

Document: An NAACP Official Investigates the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign the document as a take-home exercise for students to read and answer the three questions listed at the end of the document selection. After the students turn in their assignment for a letter grade, show the documentary film The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, which conveys scenes of race riots during the era. According to Walter White of the NAACP, why did the Tulsa race riot take place? What explanations are offered in the Jim Crow documentary? What rhetorical strategies does White utilize to convey his argument about the Tulsa riot? The document can also serve as the basis for a two-page written summary or as part of a body of primary evidence for a longer research paper. (See Chapter Outline VII.l.)

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SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a short essay of four to five pages on a student-selected race riot during the era. Provide a list of books on the topic for students to use as sources. Allow the students to use visual evidence to supplement the written evidence for their essays. (See Chapter Outline VII.c.)

2.

Assign a short essay of four to five pages on a subject concerning black soldiers and World War I. Provide a list of secondary sources to students to generate their interest in the subject. Assign one or more books from the list as the source material for the essay. (See Chapter Outline VI.m.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign a research paper of eight pages based on student selection of a black inventor from the era. The challenges experienced during education followed by the path to invention and the struggles to maintain control over scientific discovery should be the focus of the paper. (See Chapter Outline V.i.)

2.

Assign a research paper of eight pages based on the role of black women in the club movement and the impact they made on the larger struggle for black civil rights. The students may focus on one club, one woman, one state, or the larger club movement itself. (See Chapter Outline IV.n.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary on Jim Crow covers violence and discrimination against blacks during the era. PBS also provides a useful website to accompany the documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/.

2.

Roots: The Next Generations (1979, Alex Haley, 14 hours).

In the sequel to the famous Roots television miniseries, the history of Kunta Kinte’s family is traced through 1900. Episodes 1 and 2 cover the relevant time period.

3.

America: 1900 (2000, PBS, 3 hours).

This comprehensive documentary covers many aspects of U.S. society in 1900, including blacks in education, business, and agriculture.

4.

Rosewood (1997, John Singleton, 140 minutes).

This film provides an excellent portrayal of the events leading to the Florida race riot of 1923 in the attempt to explain why whites attacked blacks so often during this era.

5.

Ragtime (1981, Dino De Laurentiis, 155 minutes).

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Loosely following E.L. Doctorow’s novel of the same title, this film focuses on black and white friction during the era and illustrates many of the themes depicted in the chapter.

6.

Marcus Garvey: Look For Me in the Whirlwind (2000, PBS, 2 hours).

This solid documentary portrays the life of Marcus Garvey. A useful website accompanies the production of the documentary at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/.

7.

Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2005, Ken Burns, 3 hours).

A case study in black sports history and discrimination during the era of Jim Crow and the Great Migration, the PBS documentary also provides a useful website for teachers: http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/teachers/.

8.

Jazz (2001, PBS, 18 hours).

The documentary Jazz, produced by PBS, contains a wealth of information on black musicians during this dynamic era of black music contributions. Episode 2 focuses on jazz history in the 1920s and 1930s. A useful website is provided by PBS for classroom use at www.pbs.org/jazz.

9.

Banished: How Whites Drove Blacks Out of Town (2006, Marco Williams, 87 minutes) This interesting documentary considers the impact of white supremacy in forcing black people, via race riots, out of southern communities between 1886 and 1923.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Charles F. Kellogg, NAACP: A History of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967).

This book offers a general overview of the formation and development of the NAACP during its early years.

2.

W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (A.C. McClurg, 1903).

One of many books written by Du Bois, this is the primary text of his most important work, one that defined the “color line” as the most important problem of the U.S. in the twentieth century.

3.

Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (New York: Doubleday, 1901).

Washington’s autobiography is a must-read for students studying late nineteenth century black history and provides insight into many themes presented in the textbook chapter.

.

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4.

James R. Grossman, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989).

A journalist by training, Grossman provides a very readable and comprehensive retelling of one of the most important geographical movements of African Americans in U.S. history.

5.

Scott Ellsworth, Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1982).

One of the worst race riots in U.S. history, the Tulsa riot of 1921, is analyzed from a variety of vantage points by Ellsworth and provides the evidence for redress by the federal government.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/ This website accompanies the PBS documentary on Jim Crow and contains many useful lesson plans and links to further resources.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

3.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

4.

Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site http://www.nps.gov/tuin/index.htm The National Park Service maintains a website showcasing Tuskegee and includes links to other resources about Booker T. Washington. The site also includes links to information on George Washington Carver, the famous scientist and Tuskegee graduate.

5.

The Great Migration: A Story in Paintings by Jacob Lawrence http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/odonnell/w1010/edit/migration/migration.ht ml This site provides the paintings of the Great Migration made by Jacob Lawrence.

The paintings are now part of The Phillips Collection, housed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

6.

Marcus Garvey . 146

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/ This site was the byproduct of the PBS documentary on Marcus Garvey and provides a teachers’ resource guide and links to primary source documents.

7.

The Crisis http://www.thecrisismagazine.com/ The NAACP offers its magazine online and provides an archive of previous issues that can be searched and utilized in classrooms.

.

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CHAPTER 17: AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE 1920S 1918-1929 Chapter Overview This chapter covers African American adjustment to circumstances in the U.S. following World War I. For African Americans, the 1920s must have seemed little more than a depressing continuation of earlier decades. Little appeared to have changed and racial violence and lynching persisted. Nevertheless, positive developments in the 1920s gave hope for a more promising future. The NAACP became an organization to be reckoned with as it fought for anti-lynching legislation in Congress and for civil and political rights in the courts. Although many black and white Americans ridiculed Marcus Garvey for his excessive rhetoric, he offered racial pride and self-respect as he enrolled hundreds of thousands of black people in the UNIA. Black workers made little progress as they sought concessions from big business and representation within the ranks of organized labor. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural awakening in literature and the arts that was unprecedented in African-American history. This renaissance allowed thoughtful and creative men and women to grapple with what it meant to be black in a society in which the white majority had defined the black minority as inferior, incapable, and backward.

Black musicians, dancers, singers, entertainers, and athletes made names for themselves and contributed to popular culture in a mostly urban environment. As the 1930s began, it remained to be seen whether the modest but real progress of the 1920s would be sustained.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 17-1 Why was there an increase in intolerance in the 1920s?

17-2 How did the Ku Klux Klan becomes so influential in the 1920s?

17-3 How did major black organizations confront racial discrimination and promote progress in the 1920s?

17-4 Why did some black men and women who worked as Pullman Porters form a labor union, and what role did A. Philip Randolph play in those efforts to organize these workers?

17-5 Who were some of the men and women involved in the cultural phenomenon known as the Harlem Renaissance, and what were some of their literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical contributions to that movement?

17-6 What was the role of Harlem and its inhabitants in what popularly became known as the Jazz Age? 17-7 What opportunities and obstacles confronted black athletes in the 1920s?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Varieties of Racism a. In the early 1920s, many white Americans believed the U.S. was under siege as European immigrants and black migrants flooded American cities. b. Pseudoscholars warned about the peril these “inferior” peoples posed. (See Short Assignment 2.) c. In 1916 Madison Grant published The Passing of the Great Race. .

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d. In 1921 and in 1924, Congress severely restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe, Latin America, and prohibited it entirely from Asia. e. In 1915 D. W. Griffith released the film The Birth of a Nation, a historical travesty based on Thomas Dixon’s 1905 novel The Clansman. (See Lecture Starter 2.) f. The film was enormously popular. President Wilson screened it in the White House. g. The NAACP fought to halt the presentation of The Birth of a Nation, and the film was banned in several cities. The film unleashed racist violence. (See Long Assignment 1.) h. The NAACP campaign provided publicity that attracted more viewers to the film. i. The campaign also helped increase NAACP membership.

II.

The Ku Klux Klan a. In 1915, William Simmons and 34 other men gathered at Stone Mountain near Atlanta to resurrect the Klan after The Birth of a Nation was released. b. The Klan in the 1920s championed white supremacy and anti-immigrant policies, and they claimed to represent white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant America. c. The Klan found support among the white middle class in the North and West. d. Many Klansmen believed the liberal and loose lifestyles they associated with urban life, immigrants, and blacks threatened their religious beliefs and values. e. The Klan attacked the theory of evolution, fought for the prohibition of alcohol, and claimed to uphold the “sanctity” of white womanhood. f. The Ku Klux Klan opposed Jews, Roman Catholics, and black people. g. Klansmen often used violence and burned synagogues and Catholic churches. h. By 1925 the Klan had an estimated five million members. i. The Klan attracted small businessmen, shopkeepers, clerks, Protestant clergymen, farmers, and professional people. j. It was open only to native-born white men, but it also had a Women’s Order, a Junior Order for boys, and a Tri K Klub for girls. k. The Klan was active in Oregon, Colorado, Illinois, and Maine, and it became a potent political force in Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. l. The Klan was also a moneymaking machine and collected millions of dollars in initiation fees, membership dues, and sales of Klan paraphernalia. m. The Klan declined rapidly in the late 1920s when its leaders fought among themselves and a tragic sex scandal brought down its leader. (See Discussion Question 2.)

III.

Protest, Pride, and Pan-Africanism: Black Organizations in the 1920s a. During its second decade, the NAACP expanded its influence and increased its membership under the influence of James Weldon Johnson as field secretary. b. Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) became the largest mass movement of blacks in American history with several million followers. (See MyLab Activity 3.) c. The UNIA enabled black people to celebrate one another and their heritage and to anticipate a glorious future of black nationalism and solidarity. . 149

d. Garvey is best remembered for his proposal to return blacks to Africa on the Black Star Line, a steamship company he founded in 1919. e. Garvey sold stock in the company for $5 a share and hoped to establish a fleet with black officers and crews. He bought three ships but never sailed to Africa. f. The UNIA adopted a red, green, and black flag for the proposed African republic that represented the blood, land, and race of the African people. g. In 1922 Garvey and three other UNIA leaders were indicted on mail fraud and he was deported in 1927. h. In 1919 black men who had migrated to New York City from the Caribbean formed the African Blood Brotherhood as a radical alternative to the UNIA. (See Long Assignment 2.) i. The second Pan-African Congress met in Paris in February 1919 to advise the League of Nations in taking over the former German colonies in Africa. j. Two more Pan-African Congresses met in the 1920s but failed to influence the colonial powers.

IV.

Labor a. The arrival of thousands of blacks in cities during and after World War I changed the industrial workforce and pressured labor unions to admit black members. b. More than two-thirds of black workers in 1920 were employed in agriculture and domestic service. Less than 20 percent were engaged in manufacturing. c. Black industrial workers disproportionately worked in the lowest paying jobs. d. By World War I, the NAACP and the Urban League regularly appealed to employers and unions to accept black laborers. e. Many employers preferred to divide black and white workers by hiring black men and women as strikebreakers, enraging striking white workers. f. The Urban League persuaded the Department of Labor to establish a Division of Negro Economics to advise the secretary of labor on black issues. g. By the 1920s the Pullman Company was the single largest employer of black people in the United States. h. In 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters hired A. Phillip Randolph to lead their organization. i. Not until the passage of legislation during President Roosevelt’s New Deal in the mid-1930s did the BSCP make substantial gains. (See Discussion Question 1.)

V.

The Harlem Renaissance Black intellectuals congregated in Manhattan during the early 1920s and gave rise to the creative movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

The movement produced stunning artistic works, especially in creative writing, that continued into the 1930s. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

Many black artists emphasized black identity and African themes in their work.

From 1897 to 1928, the American Negro Academy was a forum for the Talented Tenth; it featured the ideas of men such as Alain Locke, Kelly Miller, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

a.

b. c. d.

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e. The Harlem Renaissance expanded as more creative figures were drawn to Harlem and white publishers became attracted to black artistic and literary efforts. f. Disagreements among black writers developed over the definition and purpose of black literature. g. Most black writers and artists welcomed the financial backing they received from white authors, critics, and publishers. h. Whites found life in Harlem more exotic and sensual than white life and culture. i. Black writers like Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen wanted to depict black life realistically. (See Short Assignment 1.) j. The Great Depression that began in 1929 devastated the U.S. economy; many black intellectuals left Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance faded away. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

VI. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

Harlem and the Jazz Age Harlem introduced the Jazz Age to American white audiences.

Liquor flowed freely in Harlem late-night establishments despite Prohibition.

The blues arrived with black musicians from the rural South and the Gulf Coast.

The Cotton Club was Harlem’s most exclusive and fashionable nightspot.

Black women were popular as performers and were often in Broadway shows.

White men wrote many popular Broadway shows that starred black entertainers.

White playwright Eugene O’Neill wrote serious drama involving black people.

Charles Gilpin and Paul Robeson appeared in O’Neill’s Emperor Jones.

Robeson later appeared in many important theatrical productions, including Shakespeare’s Othello, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Hammerstein’s Showboat. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

VII. Sports a. In 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster helped form the eight-team Negro National [Baseball] League and became its president and secretary. b. Foster and the new league took advantage of the migration of blacks to cities. c. The biggest obstacle that black teams faced was the lack of fields to play. d. Major league clubs frequently exploited black teams for money. e. Football, baseball, basketball, and track and field were popular at the collegiate level. f. Amateur sports were less rigidly segregated than professional baseball. g. Black men played for white northern universities, but few teams had more than one black player. h. Paul Robeson and Frederick Pollard were two of the most well-known black college football athletes of the 1920s. i. Black college players on white teams encountered discrimination when the teams traveled. j. The Big Ten had an unwritten agreement that basketball coaches would not accept black players. k. All-white college teams sometimes refused to play schools with black players. l. Sports in black colleges thrived in the 1920s. Baseball and football were the most popular spectator events. (See Classroom Activity 2.) . 151

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by playing music from the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Choose your favorite artist and copy the lyrics to the songs; ask students to read the lyrics as they listen to the piece. (See Chapter Outline VI.i.)

2.

Show a short scene from the film A Birth of a Nation to dramatize to students the excesses of Hollywood imagery regarding blacks during the era. Hold a discussion about the historical portrayals of blacks in the media. (See Chapter Outline I.e.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Show the film Against the Odds and ask students to discuss in small groups the various problems of black artists during the 1920s. (See Chapter Outline V.j.)

2.

How did blacks and baseball intersect during the 1920s? (See Chapter Outline VII.l.)

Discussion Questions 1.

How did labor unions and blacks interact during the 1920s? (See Chapter Outline IV.i.)

Points to consider: Over 20 percent of blacks became involved in the industrial workforce by 1920 as a result of the Great Migration and World War I. Employers used black workers as strikebreakers and blacks agreed because national labor unions historically did not accept black workers. As the war declined, labor unions lost ground with corporations. Blacks sometimes formed their own unions as a result. A. Phillip Randolph and Pullman workers formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925. Randolph and the BSCP threatened to strike if the company did not agree to concessions. The NAACP and the Urban League talked with the American Federation of Labor to allow black workers into the union, but no tangible gains resulted.

2.

Why did the Ku Klux Klan grow stronger as an organization after 1915? (See Chapter Outline II.m.)

Points to consider: In 1915 the Klan was resurrected by a group of southern stalwarts who wanted to profit from white supremacy by expanding the Klan into a worldwide organization. The enormous popularity of the film The Birth of a Nation helped to popularize the Klan beyond its southern roots. Mass media in the 1920s, the Red Scare, anti-immigrant sentiment, and the movement of blacks into northern cities transformed the Klan into an urban social club that was less

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violent, but still virulently racist, than its southern counterpart. The Klan quickly collapsed in the 1920s when its leadership was indicted for rape and corruption.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Audio: I, Too: reading by Langston Hughes http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Audio&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/audio/i_too_poem_and_reading_by_langston.html&width=6 00&height=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Play the thirty-second audio reading of “I, Too” by Langston Hughes. Provide students with a copy of the poem. Generate a discussion about black history in the 1920s by asking the students how the poem reveals the themes, patterns, and challenges faced by blacks during the era. Supplement the discussion with poems written by Harlem Renaissance authors. Then issue a quiz to students asking them to connect the poem to the course material. (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

2.

Video: The Harlem Renaissance http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos2/harlemlarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Play the six-minute video segment by a noted historian on the origins of the Harlem Renaissance. Ask students to take notes during the presentation. Play the selection twice for student comprehension. Then ask students to write a one-page summary of how the Harlem Renaissance began. The assignment is due at the next class session for a letter grade. (See MyLab Activity V.b.)

3.

Document: Marcus Garvey Calls for Black Separatism, 1921 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign the document and its questions as a take-home exercise for students to return for a letter grade. A quiz can also be given after the students return their write-ups to check student comprehension of the information. Questions to consider include: Why did Garvey argue for black separatism? How might African Americans have received Garvey’s message? The document can also serve as the basis for a two-page summary of Garvey’s ideology. Or the document can serve as part of the body of primary evidence for a longer research paper on Garvey and his movement. (See MyLab Activity 3.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS

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Short Assignments 1.

Assign a short essay of four to five pages based on student selection of an artist from the Harlem Renaissance. Be sure to have the students include visual evidence in their analysis. (See Chapter Outline V.i.)

2.

Assign an essay of four to five pages on the issue of scientific racism and the American university system. Students might focus on particular professors or universities who produced a corpus of racist material that masqueraded as science.

(See Chapter Outline I.b.)

Long Assignments: 1.

Assign an eight-page research paper on an analysis of the film A Birth of a Nation, based on the film itself and supplementary primary and secondary sources. (See Chapter Outline I.g.)

2.

Assign a twelve-page research paper based on student analysis of the various panAfrican groups that arose following World War I and during the 1920s. (See Chapter Outline III.h.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary on Jim Crow covers violence and discrimination against blacks during the era. PBS also provides a useful website to accompany the documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/.

2.

Roots: The Next Generations (1979, Alex Haley, 840 minutes) The sequel to the famous Roots television miniseries, the history of Kunta Kinte’s family is traced through 1900. Episodes 3 and 4 cover the relevant time period.

3.

Marcus Garvey: Look For Me in the Whirlwind (2000, PBS, 2 hours).

This solid documentary portrays the life of Marcus Garvey. A useful website accompanies the production of the documentary at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/.

4.

Against the Odds: The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance (1994, New Jersey Network, 56 minutes).

This short but focused documentary contains many newsreels of black artists and their work during the 1920s and 1930s.

5.

Baseball (1994, PBS, 18.5 hours).

Divided into 9 episodes, or “innings,” this interesting documentary dedicates “inning” 5 to black baseball players.

6.

The Birth of a Nation (1915, D.W. Griffith, 190 minutes). .

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The Birth of a Nation is one of the most racist films ever produced. One of the most widely seen films of the early twentieth century, the movie covers the Reconstruction era from the perspective of the mainstream of white America. It is an excellent primary source.

7.

Jazz (2001, PBS, 18 hours).

The documentary Jazz, produced by PBS, contains a wealth of information on black musicians during this dynamic era of black music contributions. Episode 2 focuses on jazz in the 1920s and 1930s. A useful website is provided by PBS for classroom use: www.pbs.org/jazz.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Marcus Garvey, Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (New York: Atheneum, 1969).

Garvey asserts his philosophy and ideology in his own words.

2.

Jervis B. Anderson, A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1973.

Anderson provides a detailed portrait of one of the black titans of the labor movement.

3.

David Levering Lewis, When Harlem Was in Vogue (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981).

Offering what is perhaps the definitive study of Harlem, Lewis provides a general overview of the era and place.

4.

Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., Seeing Red: Federal Campaigns against Black Militancy, 1919-1925 (Bloomington, IN; Indiana University Press, 1998).

This book yields a fascinating account of the first wave of federal harassment and unjust prosecution of radical black leaders after World War I.

5.

Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan in the City (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967).

Jackson focuses on the movement of the Klan into the urban environments of both southern and northern cities.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/ This website accompanies the PBS documentary on Jim Crow and contains many useful lesson plans and links to further resources.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ .

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Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

3.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

4.

Marcus Garvey http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/ This site is a byproduct of the PBS documentary on Marcus Garvey and provides a teachers’ resource guide and links to primary source documents.

5.

Louis Armstrong http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_armstrong_louis.htm This excellent website accompanies the PBS documentary Jazz and includes links to further resources for teachers.

6.

Duke Ellington http://www.dukeellington.com/ Owned by NBC, this website provides much information in visual and musical form about the great band leader.

7.

The Crisis http://www.thecrisismagazine.com/ The NAACP offers its magazine online and provides an archive of previous issues that can be searched and utilized in classrooms.

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CHAPTER 18: BLACK PROTEST, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THE NEW DEAL 1929-1940 CHAPTER OVERVIEW For African Americans, the Great Depression was an era of suffering made worse by the horrors and burdens of American racism. As the economy plummeted in late 1929, most African Americans were either trapped in the failing southern agricultural system or eking out a bare existence at the margins of the booming urban economy. The economy’s fall pushed many blacks to the edge of starvation, throwing them off the land and urban employment. The emerging political power of African-American voters in the North, the development of civil rights organizations, and the growth of an antiracist agenda among radicals and labor unions created the preconditions for a profound change in American politics during the 1930s. Amid economic despair, peonage, lynching, and labor conflict, black people saw glimmers of hope in protests against racial segregation. Their protests helped shape the policies and programs of the New Deal programs of President Roosevelt. Although progress remained slow, the 1930s embodied the dark dawn of a new era for blacks that witnessed the rise to prominence of a remarkable cadre of black social scientists. As black voters switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party, the New Deal stimulated economic recovery and established the basis for a political coalition that would challenge the nation’s racial system after World War II LEARNING OBJECTIVES 18-1 What caused the Great Depression of the 1930s and what were the economic effects on blacks in the cities and rural areas?

18-2 What were the varieties of protests continued by blacks during the Great Depression to address economic concerns and challenge racial discrimination?

18-3 How did the New Deal affect African Americans?

18-4 What was the “black cabinet,” its purpose, and its goals?

18-5 What role did organized labor play in radicalizing black Americans in the 1930s?

18-6 What was the Scottsboro case and what were its consequences?

18-7 What was the Tuskegee study and its impact?

Chapter Outline I.

The Cataclysm, 1929-1933 During the Great Depression, millions of Americans lost life savings and homes.

Americans responded by buying fewer consumer goods.

Business cut back production, investment, and payrolls.

The economic collapse hit African Americans particularly hard.

Most blacks in the rural South were mired in an exploitive agricultural system.

Consumer demand fell with the economy, devastating the agricultural sector.

Unions, north and south, continued to exclude African Americans.

Black women domestic workers had access to fewer jobs because white families could no longer afford domestic help. i. Blacks had a harder time getting federal aid than whites and were given less money. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

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j. President Hoover approved loans to big companies by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a federal agency intended to rescue large corporations. k. Hoover’s reluctance to use the federal government to intervene in the economy extended to the provision of relief, resulting in “Hoovervilles” across the nation.

(See MyLab Activity 2.)

II. a.

b. c. d. e.

III. a. b. c.

d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l.

Black Protest during the Great Depression African Americans were determined to use every resource at their disposal to destroy the obstacles to racial justice and barriers to equal opportunity. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

The NAACP led a legal campaign against educational and political discrimination.

Black people benefited from the New Deal but less than white people did.

Discriminatory distribution of federal aid based on race convinced blacks to intensify their own struggle for their rights.

The NAACP’s new activism was apparent in 1930 when Walter White helped to defeat Hoover’s nomination of a white supremacist to the Supreme Court. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

African Americans and the New Deal The election of Franklin Roosevelt to the presidency in 1932 was based on a new coalition of voters that undermined the edifice of American racism.

Roosevelt pressed through Congress a series of bold economic initiatives that came to be known as the first New Deal. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was designed to protect farmers by giving them subsidies to limit production and thereby stabilize prices. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

This program helped many blacks because it pumped billions of dollars into an economic sector upon which over 4.5 million blacks relied for jobs.

The experience of African Americans with the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) mimicked the problems with the AAA. The NIRA was intended to revive manufacturing by allowing industries to cooperate in establishing codes of conduct to govern prices and wage levels.

Even when black advocates won wage increases for occupations in which blacks predominated, the result was often a shift to white labor.

To the relief of many African-American advocates and workers, the Supreme Court declared the NIRA unconstitutional in 1935.

Relief programs saved millions of blacks from starvation but the distribution of funds by states favored white applicants.

Work programs like the CCC built rural segregated camps to employ young people from cities.

Black former enrollees conceded that their experience in the CCC helped them secure better jobs and a middle-class life after World War II. Some black professionals gained influence within the Roosevelt administration. .

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m. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was revered by blacks for attacking racial injustice.

(See Short Assignment 2.)

IV.

The Rise of Black Social Scientists a. The Roosevelt administration employed thousands of black professionals during the 1930s in a variety of lower level government posts. b. A core of black social scientists became linked in a network called the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, commonly known as Roosevelt’s “black cabinet.” c. This cadre of advisers pressured the president and the heads of federal agencies to support color-blind policies and lobbied to advance the social status of blacks. d. Many black intellectuals, scholars, and writers believed the social sciences could be used to adjudicate race relations. e. In sociology E. Franklin Frazier issued pioneering studies of black families that placed him at the forefront of debates on social policy. f. Historians such as Carter G. Woodson and John Hope Franklin argued that black people had been active agents in the past. g. The 1936 presidential election cemented a new coalition that yoked the southern wing of the Democratic Party with more liberal farmers and working-class voters. h. The Democratic Party began to win the votes of the large African-American populations in the great cities of the North. i. The increased participation of blacks in the Democratic Party after the election of 1936 sent chills down the spines of the white southern elite. (See Classroom Activity 2.) j. Despite the rise of black Democrats, southern congressmen succeeded in excluding many African Americans from key government programs. k. The Historical Records Survey sent writers to interview former slaves. l. The Works Progress Administration helped black and white artists display their talents and made their work widely available. m. The Federal Theater Project established 16 black theater units; plays about black people began to be shown, starring black actors like Paul Robeson.

V.

Organized Labor and Black America The relationship of blacks to labor unions changed profoundly during the 1930s.

(See MyLab Activity 3.)

Before 1935 most unions affiliated with the national American Federation of Labor barred black people or restricted them to segregated locals.

The New Deal, especially after 1935, did much to transform the labor movement.

The NLRA and the militancy of workers helped to organize the nation’s great mass production industries.

The Committee for Industrial Organization was committed to interracial and multiethnic organizing.

Its leaders knew it was in organized labor’s best interest to admit black men and women to membership.

By 1940, the CIO counted over 200,000 black members.

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters remained with the AFL, but it also benefited from New Deal legislation.

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

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i. In 1934 Congress had amended the Railway Labor Act which helped the BSCP overcome the opposition of the Pullman Company to recognize it as a union. j. The law required that corporations bargain in good faith with unions if the unions could demonstrate that they genuinely represented the corporations’ employees. k. Pullman resisted, but in 1937 the company recognized the brotherhood. (See Long Assignment 2.) l. In 1943 black women union leaders and activists were involved in a strike against the R. J. Reynolds tobacco company to force it to the negotiating table. (See Long Assignment 1.)

VI.

The Communist Party and African Americans a. Throughout the 1930s the Communist Party intensified its support of African Americans’ efforts to address job discrimination and to seek social justice. b. The party expelled members who exhibited racial prejudice and gave black men key leadership positions. c. James Ford, an African American, ran as the party’s vice-presidential candidate in the election of 1932. d. Many black workers were drawn to the Communist Party because it criticized the refusal of organized white labor to include them. e. In the Scottsboro case, nine black youths were accused of raping two white women in Alabama; the case brought the Communist Party to the sympathetic attention of blacks. f. The Communist Party’s International Labor Defense (ILD) rushed to help the “boys” by appealing the conviction and death sentence to the Supreme Court. g. The case produced two important decisions that reaffirmed black people’s right to the basic protections all American citizens enjoyed. h. In Powell v. Alabama (1932), the Court ruled that the Scottsboro defendants had not been given adequate legal counsel. i. In Norris v. Alabama (1935) the Court decided that all Americans have the right to a trial by a jury of their peers. j. In 1937 Alabama dropped charges against five of the nine men, and in the 1940s the state released those still in jail. (See Discussion Question 1.) k. The NAACP created a carefully orchestrated campaign that questioned the sincerity and effectiveness of the communists.

VII. a. b. c. d.

Misuses of Medical Science: The Tuskegee Study In 1932, the U.S. Public Health Service initiated several major studies of syphilis.

The USPHS recruited poor black male sharecroppers as the study group.

Some had advanced cases of syphilis; the rest did not.

The Tuskegee Study was called a treatment program, but it turned out to be an experiment, designed to chart the progression of a potentially fatal disease. e. The doctors based their work at Tuskegee Institute, and a black nurse hired to gain the men’s trust convinced them that they needed special treatment. f. Penicillin became available in the 1940s, but the sharecroppers never received it and were given ineffective placebos which they were told would cure them. g. The Tuskegee Study was to last twelve months, but it was repeatedly extended. .

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h. The doctors recorded the men’s health but never treated them for syphilis for 40 years. i. So little understood was the Tuskegee Study that men not only remained in the program but believed they were fortunate to have the physical examinations. j. The medical community knew of the Tuskegee experiment, but the general public learned of it only in 1972 when a reporter broke the story. (See Short Assignment 1.) k. Black families sued the government, but before the case went to trial the government made a $9 million settlement to the survivors and their descendants.

(See Discussion Question 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Use the Internet to show film segments of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games where Jesse Owens became an American hero not only for winning gold medals but also for beating the Nazis. (See Chapter Outline II.a.)

2.

Play Depression-era music and ask the students the meaning of the lyrics. (See Chapter Outline II.e.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Devise a matching exercise where the instructor provides a list of the “alphabet soup” of New Deal acronyms alongside a list of the policies. The goal for students is to memorize the acronyms/policies. (See Chapter Outline III.b.)

2.

Organize a debate around the question of whether or not blacks should join the Democratic Party in 1936. Among the interest groups, include blacks, the National Democratic Party, the southern wing of the Democratic Party, and the Republicans. (See Chapter Outline IV.i.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why did the “Scottsboro Boys” incident became a multiple-year trial? (See Chapter Outline VI.j.)

Points to consider: The ingrained racist assumption of southern whites that black men were always ready to rape a white woman lay at the heart of the trials for over a decade. Two white women had accused nine black men and boys of raping them on a train. The fact that the young men had legal assistance from outside of the South enabled them to successfully challenge the racist court system of Alabama, prolonging their lives and their trials. They retained Joseph Liebowitz, the best defense attorney in the nation. The International Labor Defense arm of the Communist Party created a worldwide media focus on the trials, which also prolonged them and ultimately led to freedom for the accused.

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2.

How did the Tuskegee medical experiment unfold over time? Why was it undertaken? (See Chapter Outline VII.k.)

Points to consider: From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted an experiment at the Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama, on approximately 400 black Alabama sharecroppers to trace the evolution of untreated syphilis. The men were never informed that they had the disease, nor were they given penicillin when it became available. The study was supposed to last six months but was repeatedly extended. A reporter broke the story and ended the program in 1972 after forty years. Some of the men died or became paralyzed while in “treatment.” On May 16, 1997, President Bill Clinton on behalf of the U.S. government finally apologized for this cruel and clearly racist experiment on human subjects.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: E. E. Lewis, “Black Cotton Farmers and the AAA,” 1935 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Black_Cotton_Farmers_n_AAA_1935.html &width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Assign the document to students as a take-home assignment consisting of written answers to questions posed by the instructor. Questions might include: What does the document reveal about the challenges faced by black cotton farmers in the South during the era? What role did the AAA play in southern agriculture during the 1930s? How did race shape the situation of cotton production in the South?

What solutions does the author pose to improve living conditions in the South?

What are the limitations of the document for understanding the scope of southern agriculture during the New Deal era of the 1930s? (See Chapter Outline III.c.)

2.

Video: The Great Depression http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/TheNewDeal_02.html After showing the four minute mini-lecture by a noted historian on the causes and impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s, hold a discussion in class about the repercussions of the crash of the stock market in 1929. Questions to consider asking students include: Why did the stock market crash in 1929? How did the federal government respond to the collapse of the U.S. economy? In what ways did the Great Depression impact the American people and their government system during the 1930s and beyond? This exercise can also serve as the basis for a quiz on the impact of the Great Depression on American society. (See Chapter Outline I.k.)

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3.

Document: Lester B. Granger Calls on Black Workers to Combat Discrimination in Organized Labor, 1934 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign the document and its questions as a graded take-home assignment for students. But first generate a discussion in class about the impact of Great Depression on black families in the area of work. Steer the discussion towards the subject of labor unions and black workers during the 1930s. The context includes the expansion of labor unions during the era under the Wagner Act. Questions to consider based on the document include: How did labor unions and corporations treat black workers at the onset of the Great Depression? How did black workers respond to labor unions during the era? What solutions did black workers pose to combat discrimination by labor unions? How did the American people respond to labor unions during the 1930s? (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a five-page essay on the Tuskegee medical experiment. Central questions for the students to answer include why the experiment began and how it unfolded over time. (See Chapter Outline VII.j.)

2.

Assign a five-page essay on the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in the New Deal and her efforts regarding African Americans during the 1930s. (See Chapter Outline III.m.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign a two-book comparative paper of eight pages that asks students to read two short secondary texts on organized labor and black America. The paper should compare the two works using a set of criteria developed by the instructor.

(See Chapter Outline V.l.)

2.

Assign a research paper of ten pages based on the impact of New Deal legislation on African-American people during the 1930s. Examining one state or one piece of legislation may help focus the paper. (See Chapter Outline V.k.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002, PBS, 3 hours).

This PBS documentary on Jim Crow covers violence and discrimination against blacks during the era. PBS also provides a useful website to accompany the documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/.

2.

Roots: The Next Generations (1979, Alex Haley, 14 hours). .

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In the sequel to the famous Roots television miniseries, the history of Kunta Kinte’s family is traced through World War II. 3.

Against the Odds: The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance (1994, New Jersey Network, 56 minutes).

This short but focused documentary contains many newsreels of black artists and their work during the 1920s and 1930s.

4.

Scottsboro: An American Tragedy (2000, PBS, 2 hours).

This film is the best documentary on the Scottsboro case; the website for the documentary contains useful information for teachers: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/.

5.

From Swastika to Jim Crow (2000, PBS, I hour).

This is a fascinating documentary about the relationships among expelled German Jewish professors in 1939 and their interactions with American black students at southern universities.

6.

Jazz (2001, PBS, 18 hours).

The documentary Jazz, produced by PBS, contains a wealth of information on black musicians during this dynamic era of black music contributions. Episode 2 focuses on jazz history in the 1930s. A useful website is provided by PBS for classroom use: www.pbs.org/jazz.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

James H. Jones, Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (New York: Free Press, 1981).

In one of the first books on the tragic medical experiment, Jones provides a longterm history of the issue.

2.

Harvard Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978).

Sitkoff provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of New Deal legislation on African American people and examines the role of blacks in the New Deal in the context of the civil rights movement.

3.

Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990).

This text is one of the best general overviews of the New Deal’s impact on a city and its black population.

4.

August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, Black Detroit and the Rise of the UAW (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982).

The authors trace the story of the rise of the UAW and the issue of black participation. .

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5.

Dan Carter, Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1969).

In one of many books on the Scottsboro case, Carter provides a penetrating analysis of the entire story.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

The Crisis http://www.thecrisismagazine.com/ The NAACP offers its magazine online and provides an archive of previous issues that can be searched and utilized in classrooms.

2.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

3.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

4.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/ This website accompanies the PBS documentary on Jim Crow and contains many useful lesson plans and links to further resources.

5.

“Scottsboro Boys” Trial http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm This very useful website provides the actual transcripts of the trial as well as links to additional primary documents.

6.

Mary McCloud Bethune Council House http://www.nps.gov/mamc/index.htm The National Park Service maintains Bethune’s Washington, D.C., residence as a historic site. The website provides links to various primary and secondary written, auditory, and visual sources, including Bethune’s speeches.

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CHAPTER 19: MEANINGS OF FREEDOM: CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN THE 1930S, 1940S, AND 1950S CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers black life from the 1930s to the early 1950s. It focuses on the many strategies African Americans devised to protest second-class citizenship, resist negative racial stereotypes and end white entrepreneurs’ appropriation of black culture. The 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were a fertile period in the history of black expressive culture. The Depression caused intense hardship. It was also a period in which black Americans had an unprecedented impact on American culture. Through the medium of radio, black Americans powerfully helped to change American popular entertainment and gave rise to a new urban consciousness. Black people excelled in sports, arts, drama, and music. The Works Projects Administration (WPA) funded artists whose cultural productions were accessible, inclusive, and populist. The Chicago Black Renaissance reflected the positive impact that the WPA had on the lives of hundreds of artists. A new generation of black jazz musicians transformed black music into an art form that won worldwide admiration and emulation. Black musicians weaned Americans from swing to bebop. Gospel music satisfied the needs of the black urban migrants to express their spiritual and communal feelings. Black counterculture artists had a lasting impact on America and facilitated the spread of black internationalism and anti-colonialism. Black artists reflected a growing pride and a determination to resist complete assimilation into white culture. Black culture prepared black people for the next level of struggle against the American Jim Crow regime and against ideologies of white supremacy.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 19-1 How did black institutions support classical music in St. Louis in the 1930s and 1940s?

19-2 How did African Americans merge a distinct aesthetic with a demand for social justice?

19-3 How did swing, big band, and bebop music develop and why were they important for blacks?

19-4 What was the role and presentation of blacks in comic strips, movies, and radio?

19-5 What were the characteristics, developments, artists, and authors of the Chicago Renaissance?

19-6 How did black graphic artists of the 1930s fuse politics and art in their work?

19-7 What were the themes and impact of the work of Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison?

19-8 How did sports figures contributed to black culture?

19-9 What were the alternative religious movements and how did they help African Americans?

19-7 What were the themes and impact of the work of Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison?

19-8 How did sports figures contribute to black culture?

19-9 What were the alternative religious movements and how did they help African Americans?

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CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l.

II. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

III.

Black Culture in a Midwestern City Beginning in the 1930s, a second wave of black migrants made St. Louis the fifth largest city in the United States.

Segregation and discrimination compelled the black community to address its own educational and cultural needs.

Classical music commanded considerable interest in the city.

Black residents struggled to secure training in this genre of music and for opportunities to perform it.

Not all black musicians wanted to play ragtime and jazz; many of them resented being relegated to these forms.

Schools, churches, labor, and media within the St. Louis black community created opportunities for black children to study and perform classical music.

Two all-black institutions supported classical music: Lincoln University and Sumner High School.

By the 1940s Lincoln University had become the institution for training St. Louis musicians, and its music instructors were active in the black cultural affairs.

Sumner High School had orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs.

Many music teachers had advanced degrees from prestigious music schools.

Black churches sponsored programs of black and white composers.

The American Federation of Musicians and the St. Louis Music Association promoted black performing organizations and training.

The Black Culture Industry and American Racism Black artists confronted discrimination and exploitation in the culture industry and could rarely afford to produce and disseminate their work.

Power resided in the hands of record companies, publishers, and the owners of radio stations and film studios.

Black artists in the 1930s and 1940s shaped an emerging consciousness that would erupt in the 1950s and propel a modern civil rights movement.

Paul Robeson won acclaim as a performing artist and became a leading black critic of colonialism and racism.

In 1945, the NAACP awarded him its prestigious Spingarn Medal.

The State Department revoked Robeson’s passport in 1950 because of his support for radical reform.

Many blacks insisted that art, music, and literature serve a political and an aesthetic purpose.

Whites appreciated black culture, but some appropriated it for their own profit.

Corporations exploited black artists by producing and marketing black culture.

Black artists subordinated their true feelings to earn income from their work.

Artists who exhibited a certain combination of showmanship, charm, and talent could reap some of the financial rewards their creativity generated.

The Music Culture from Swing to Bebop

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a. The paradox of the black performer—using your art to entertain your oppressor— was most apparent in music. b. The Great Depression wrought havoc on the black culture industry of the 1920s. c. Record sales in 1932 were only a sixth of those in 1927. d. The record companies had their separate black music labels and sold thousands of records to southern migrants to the big cities. e. New bands sprouted up across the country. In Harlem’s small clubs, a new kind of jazz was born. f. Swing emerged as white bands reduced the music of the more innovative black bandleaders to a broadly appealing formula. g. Swing’s popularity helped boost the careers of black and white bandleaders, but it also led to a creative slump that disheartened younger black musicians. h. Tired of swing’s predictability, black musicians began improvising in the jazz clubs. i. Bebop featured complex rhythms and harmonies and highlighted improvisation. j. Bebop music shaped American popular culture for two generations and became the principal musical language of jazz musicians around the world. k. Black working-class young men adopted their own style of talking and hip dressing, reflected in their zoot suits and conked hair. l. Bebop was the dominant black music of the war decade, but after 1945 returning veterans preferred a slower-paced music that transformed bebop. m. Few black musicians received the respect, recognition, and financial rewards from white America that their creativity warranted.

IV. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

Popular Culture for the Masses: Comic Strips, Radio, and Movies Masses of blacks participated in more accessible black popular culture outlets.

Comic strips, radio programs, and movies were affordable forms of artistic creativity that allowed a brief escape from the Depression.

Comic strips in black newspapers entertained but also affirmed the values and ideals of black people.

African-American jazz musicians embraced the commercial and technological developments that revolutionized the music industry in the 1920s.

By the 1930s, radio and improved record making helped spread black music and ensured its survival.

Black radio stations became platforms for independent black music and were essential to the building of black community businesses.

During the Depression, black actors in radio and film were frequently marginalized, exploited, or excluded.

Commercial radio delivered an audience of white consumers to white advertisers and it denied black people jobs as announcers, journalists, or technicians.

In the 1930s and 1940s, black and white producers began to make what were known as race films for black audiences. (See Discussion Question 1.)

The film that firmly cemented the role of black Americans as servants in the American consciousness was Gone with the Wind (1939). (See Classroom Activity 2.)

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k. Black actors formed the Fair Play Committee to lobby the white-dominated movie industry for more substantial roles. l. The Negro Soldier, directed by Frank Capra in 1944, played to vast audiences of enthusiastic black people. m. Paul Robeson made two movies, The Emperor Jones (1933) and Show Boat (1936), in which he attempted to change how blacks were represented on screen.

(See MyLab Activity 1, Short Assignment 2, and Lecture Starter 2.) n. Oscar Micheaux made films aimed primarily at the black public; black men and women in Micheaux’s films were often educated, cultured, and prosperous.

V.

The Black Chicago Renaissance a. Black Chicago became the center of black cultural innovation and expressivity during the 1930s and 1940s. b. The leading writers in Chicago harbored no illusions that art would solve the problems caused by white supremacy and black subordination. c. The Chicago writers emphasized the idea that black art had to combine aesthetics and function; it had to be art that served the cause of black freedom. d. Arna Bontemps (1902–1973) was to the Black Chicago Renaissance what Alain Locke had been to the Harlem Renaissance. e. Richard Wright’s writings also celebrated resistance, but with more nuance. He published Uncle Tom’s Children in 1938 and Native Son in 1940. f. Chicago was heir to the Harlem Renaissance. g. In 1930 Langston Hughes published Not Without Laughter, the first major novel about the black experience in Chicago. h. The South Side of Chicago was the beating heart of the city’s Jazz Age. i. Katherine Dunham founded the Negro Dance Group in Chicago. j. Dunham protested racial segregation even though it hurt her popularity. In the early 1940s, she denounced discrimination. k. Billie Holiday also used her art to challenge the oppression of black people. (See Long Assignment 2.)

VI.

Black Visual Art Chicago artists celebrated working-class black people while criticizing racism.

Their art belonged to the social realist school that flourished in the 1930s.

Social realist art was ideological and fused propaganda to art to make it socially and politically relevant.

As the Depression worsened, black artists became even more determined to portray the crisis in capitalism and created images of social and racial inequality.

The Harmon Foundation sponsored five juried exhibitions (1926–1931, 1933) of the work of black artists.

The William E. Harmon Awards for Distinguished Achievement among Negroes celebrated black artists so that they would serve as role models for others.

In the 1930s the WPA established art workshops and art centers in black urban communities to teach art to young people and provide work for artists.

The Federal Arts Project sponsored the creation of murals that illustrated American ideals in public buildings.

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

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i. Black muralists celebrated the heritage, contributions, and struggles of blacks. j. Black artists pressed the Works Progress Administration to appoint more blacks to local boards and to hire them for more projects. k. The Harlem Artists Guild and the Arts and Crafts Guild in Chicago provided forums where black artists fostered the visual arts and supported political issues.

VII. Black Literature a. The most distinguishing feature of black literature is the way that black writers have attempted to create spaces of freedom in their work. b. Black literature is valued both for aesthetic reasons on its own and for the way it represents the struggles of black people to attain freedom. c. Black writers in the 1930s and 1940s felt obliged to address questions of identity and to define urban life for the black masses who migrated from the South. d. Black writers explored the issue of the rights African Americans were entitled to as Americans and the demands they could and should make on the state. e. In 1940, Richard Wright published Native Son, the first of many important novels

by Depression-generation black authors. (See Lecture Starter 1.) f. Native Son was an immediate success, and it became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and has sold millions of copies. (See MyLab Activity 2.) g. Wright’s influence on American literature was immense; he was the first AfricanAmerican writer to enjoy an international reputation. h. A younger generation of black writers, especially James Baldwin, took issue with Wright and argued that blacks should not be portrayed as victims of racism. i. The most intricate novel about the black experience written during this era was Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man which won the National Book Award in 1952; the novel explores class tensions within U.S. society and the black community.

VIII. African Americans in Sports a. The experiences of blacks in sports are a microcosm of their lives in society. b. In the 1930s two black athletes, Jesse Owens and Joe Louis, captured the world’s attention and inspired African Americans with pride, hope, and pleasure. c. Jesse Owens debunked the Nazi myth of white supremacy at the Berlin games in 1936, becoming the first Olympian to win four gold medals. d. Joe Louis beat the German Max Schmeling in a symbolic victory over Nazism in 1938. Louis retained the world heavyweight title until 1949. (See Discussion Question 2.) e. Although blacks were integrated in track and boxing, professional baseball remained segregated until after World War II. f. The Negro National League was revived in 1934, and the Negro American League was formed in 1937. g. Many players in the Negro leagues would have equaled or excelled over their white counterparts in the major leagues. h. In 1947, major league baseball became integrated again when Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. (See MyLab Activity 3.) i. Robinson won Rookie of the Year in 1947, and the Dodgers won the National League pennant. . 170

j. Robinson retired in 1957 but remained outspoken on racial issues until his death. k. In 1947, Larry Doby became the first black player in the American League when he joined the Cleveland Indians. l. As other major league teams signed black players, the once popular Negro leagues withered. (See Long Assignment 1.)

IX. Black Religious Culture a. The term “black church” is shorthand for a collection of seven independent denominations that included over 80 percent of black Christians. b. The black church helped black workers make the transition from being southern peasants to joining a northern urban proletariat. c. During the Depression, the black church helped black people survive by enabling them to pool their resources and by offering spiritual consolation. d. The blues and jazz performed in nightclubs transformed into urban gospel music. e. Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam and Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement combined secular concerns with sacred beliefs. f. Both religious movements strengthened a sense of identity, affirmation, and community among members in northern cities. (See Classroom Activity 1.) g. The Nation attracted the attention of federal authorities during World War II when its members refused to serve in the military. h. Leader Elijah Muhammad was arrested in May 1942 on charges of inciting his followers to resist the draft and was imprisoned until 1946. i. After his release he settled in Chicago and began to expand his movement. j. Members subscribed to a family-centered culture in which women’s role was to produce and rear the next generation. k. Father Major Jealous Divine began what became known in the 1930s as the Peace Mission Movement. l. Divine espoused a racially neutral and economically empowering dogma that appealed to poor and needy black and white urbanites. (See Short Assignment 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by reading a short selection from Richard Wright’s Native Son. Ask students what Wright is attempting to convey to his readers about black people.

(See Chapter Outline VII.e.)

2.

Start class by showing a film segment from Paul Robeson’s Emperor Jones. Ask students how Robeson, and his black supporting cast, depict black people. (See Chapter Outline IV.m.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Invite a member of the Nation of Islam to speak to your class about the history of the Nation of Islam. (See Chapter Outline IX.f.)

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2.

Show part of the film Gone with the Wind, and then ask students why blacks played such subservient roles in Hollywood movies during the 1930s and 1940s.

(See Chapter Outline IV.j.)

Discussion Questions 1.

What roles did Hollywood allow for blacks in the 1930s and 1940s? How did black actors respond to these limitations? (See Chapter Outline IV.i.)

2.

What was the significance of Joe Louis and his boxing career during the 1930s and 1940s? (See Chapter Outline VIII.d.)

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1. Document: Paul Robeson “Welcome Home Rally,” 1949 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&type= Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/ history/MHL/US/documents/Paul_Robeson_Welcome_Home_Rally_June_19_1949. html&width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Generate a discussion about Paul Robeson and his career. Questions to ask include: What did Robeson accomplish during his career? Why was he so criticized by the federal government and many white Americans? How did Robeson respond to ostracism during his lifetime? Then assign the lengthy primary document and its questions as a take-home project for students to read and complete in full sentences.

The exercise should be returned to the instructor in a week for a letter grade. (See Chapter Outline IV.m.)

2. Document: Richard Wright, “Are We Solving America’s Race Problem?”, 1945 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&type= Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/h istory/MHL/US/documents/Wright_Solving_Race_Problem.html&width=640&height =480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Assign a five-page research paper based on the impact of Richard Wright on American society. Include the document as one of several primary sources required for students to complete the paper. After passing out the assignment, use the document in a group exercise designed to help students understand how to dissect a primary source. (See Chapter Outline VII.f.)

3. Video: Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&type= Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/histor y/MHL/US/videos/jackielarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin= yes

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Assign a five-page research paper based on the historical intersection of baseball and the black community. Mandate the inclusion of the five-minute video segment as one of the secondary sources required for the project. After showing the video in class to generate student interest in the assignment, hold a discussion about ethnicity in modern baseball and how the ethnic backgrounds of players have changed over time.

(See Chapter Outline VIII.h.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a five-page essay on Father Divine and his movement with a focus on the impact of the church on black people during the 1930s. (See Chapter Outline IX.l.)

2.

Assign a five-page essay on the history of Paul Robeson prior to World War II. Include his films as part of the assignment. (See Chapter Outline IV.m.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign a ten-page research paper on the intersection of blacks and sports during the 1930s. Students may select a particular sport, athlete, or controversy as the subject matter for their papers. Both primary and secondary sources should be incorporated. (See Chapter Outline VIII.l.)

2.

Assign an eight-page research paper on the Black Chicago Renaissance and its impact on the American art scene, Chicago, and the black community during the 1930s. How does it compare to the Harlem Renaissance during the same era? Ask that students make visual imagery a key component of the paper. (See Chapter Outline V.k.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Jesse Owens (2012, PBS, 2 hours).

This recent PBS documentary portrays Owens and his 1936 Olympic Games victory in Berlin. A useful website accompanies the documentary at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/owens/.

2.

The Jesse Owens Story (1984, Paramount Television, 174 minutes).

This made-for-television film about Jesse Owens depicts his success at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

3.

’42 (2013, Bryan Helgeland, 128 minutes).

This is an excellent and very recent dramatization of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier in baseball in 1947.

4.

Jazz (2001, PBS, 18 hours). . 173

The documentary Jazz, produced by PBS, contains a wealth of information on black musicians during this dynamic era of black music contributions. Episode 3 focuses on jazz history in the 1930s and 1940s. A useful website is provided by PBS for classroom use: www.pbs.org/jazz.

5.

Gone with the Wind (1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 4 hours).

The classic film provides a view of slavery, Reconstruction, and the plantation system from the perspective of the white master class. Gone with the Wind is also a study in Hollywood stereotypes of black people and black actors.

6.

Emperor Jones (1933, United Artists, 80 minutes).

Starring Paul Robeson, this 1930s classic film was an attempt by Robeson to improve the image of blacks in Hollywood during the era.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Robert Peterson, Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970).

A pioneering work in the field, Peterson’s overview of the subject launched a modern fascination with Negro League baseball.

2.

Richard Wright, Native Son (New York: Harper, 1940).

Native Son is perhaps the number-one book to read of the era. Wright provides a powerful story of racism and violence.

3.

Richard Bak, Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998).

In this biography of the fighter, Bak provides a sympathetic overview of the complex career of a black sports star.

4.

Jackie Robinson. I Never Had It Made (New York: G. P. Putnam and Sons, 1972).

Robinson wrote this book to let readers know that he had mixed feelings about the player and public response to his breaking of the color line in baseball.

5.

Donald Bogle, Brown Sugar: Eighty Years of America’s Black Female Superstars (New York: Crown Publishers, 1980).

The role of blacks in film is as old as Hollywood itself, and Bogle provides a long-term analysis of the roles and the efforts of blacks to improve racial representations.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Louis Armstrong http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_armstrong_louis.htm

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This excellent website accompanies the PBS documentary Jazz and includes links to further resources for teachers.

2.

Duke Ellington http://www.dukeellington.com/ Owned by NBC, this website provides much information in visual and musical form about the great band leader.

3.

The Depression Era Murals of Aaron Douglas http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA03/staples/douglas/intro.html This site provides a written and visual overview of the paintings of Douglas and includes links to other resources.

4.

Black Chicago Renaissance http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/for-teachers/curriculum/black-chicagorenaissance.html Maintained by the city of Chicago, this website contains a wealth of information for educators on the role of blacks in shaping the Chicago Renaissance during the 1930s-1950s.

5.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum http://www.nlbm.com/s/resource.cfm This website provides a window into the museum’s collection; it also links to a vast array of resources on the role of blacks in baseball.

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CHAPTER 20: THE WORLD WAR II ERA AND THE SEEDS OF A REVOLUTION 1936-1948

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the role of blacks during the era of World War II. International events replaced the Great Depression as the defining force in African-American lives. Hundreds of thousands of black men and women learned new skills and ideas while serving in the armed forces, and many resolved to claim their civil rights. Events abroad and in the United States during the 1940s heightened black consciousness and led to a more aggressive militancy among local leaders and black citizens in southern states. President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8802 was a significant victory for A. Philip Randolph’s March on Washington Movement and for black workers, who were able to appeal racial discrimination in defense industries to the FEPC. World War II profoundly transformed black servicemen and servicewomen. The years between 1940 and 1954 were a dynamic period of black activism and witnessed a rising international consciousness among African Americans. The Cold War created a climate in America that was both hospitable and hostile to the African-American freedom movement. Radicals such as Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois found no place in this movement or in American society. Instead, more moderate organizations, such as the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund, pursued their goals within the ideological and legal constraints of the American political system and met with some success. The coming civil rights movement would, however, produce a more varied, vibrant, and successful challenge to racism.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 20-1 How did African Americans use the World War II crisis to protest racial discrimination?

20-2 What role did African-American physicians and nurses play in the struggle to desegregate the military during World War II? 20-3 How did the Tuskegee Airmen contribute to victory in World War II? 20-4 How did the war exacerbate tensions and competition over housing and jobs between black and white Americans?

20-5 What were the positive and negative effects of the Cold War on blacks, both in politics and social life?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

On the Eve of War, 1936-1941 a. Fascist regimes arose in Germany, Japan, and Italy during the 1930s and embroiled the world in warfare during the first half of the 1940s. b. Most aircraft manufacturers and other defense-related industries hired black people only in janitorial positions or other low-paid, racially segregated work. c. Many all-white American Federation of Labor unions enforced closed-shop agreements that prevented their employers from hiring black workers. d. The U.S. Employment Service filled “whites-only” requests for defense workers. e. The military put blacks to work in segregated units and gave them service duties. .

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f. The navy limited black servicemen to menial positions. The Marine Corps and the Army Air Corps refused to accept them. g. The “Double V” campaign—victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home—became the rallying cry for millions of patriotic black people. h. The NAACP and other groups staged mass protest rallies around the nation after it became clear that Roosevelt would make only token gestures towards blacks. i. In early 1941, A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters called on blacks to direct their protests at the national government. (See MyLab Activity 1.) j. He suggested that blacks march on Washington and demand a presidential order against companies with federal contracts from engaging in racial discrimination.

(See Lecture Starter 2.) k. The president capitulated and had his aides draft Executive Order 8802, prompting Randolph to call off the march. (See Discussion Question 1.) l. Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) with the power to investigate complaints of discrimination. m. Roosevelt’s order said nothing about desegregation of the military, but private assurances were made that the barriers to entry in key services would be lowered.

II.

III.

Race and the U.S. Armed Forces a. Much of the armed forces’ racial policy derived from negative attitudes and discriminatory practices common in American society. b. A 1925 study by the American War College concluded that blacks were physically unqualified for combat duty. c. The military ignored black fighting ability in previous wars and the heroism of Dorie Miller during the attack on Pearl Harbor. (See Short Assignment 1.) d. Sick and injured black soldiers were treated in segregated wards in military hospitals. Black physicians could treat only black military personnel. e. At army camps black soldiers were placed in the least desirable spots and denied the use of officers’ clubs, base stores, and base recreational facilities. f. Most of the nearly one million blacks who served during World War II did so in auxiliary units, notably in the transportation and engineering corps. g. The Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Policies was charged with coordinating the use of black troops and developing policy on social questions and personnel. h. In 1943 the War Department produced its own propaganda film, The Negro Soldier, directed by Frank Capra, to alleviate racial tensions. (See Class Activity 1.) i. The services relaxed restrictions on blacks following the Pearl Harbor attacks. j. Several black artillery, tank destroyer, anti-aircraft, and combat engineer battalions fought with distinction in Europe and Asia. k. African-American women also found expanded opportunities in the military. (See MyLab Activity 3.) l. In 1945, the army and navy opened its Nurse Corps to all applicants. (See Short Assignment 2.)

The Tuskegee Airmen . 177

a. The most visible group of black soldiers served in the Army Air Force. b. In 1941 the War Department announced the formation of an all-black pursuit squadron of fighter planes at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama, for black pilots. c. The Tuskegee Airmen faced discrimination from local civilians and the Air Force but persevered over time. d. The Tuskegee Airmen gained an impressive record in aerial combat. They flew over 15,500 sorties and completed 1,578 missions. e. The Tuskegee Airmen accumulated 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Legion of Merit, a Silver Star, 14 Bronze Stars, and 744 Air Medals. f. Tuskegee Airmen mechanics became some of the most knowledgeable in the service because the pilots flew several different models of fighter aircraft. (See Long Assignment 1.) g. A new generation of African Americans became soldiers during World War II, and the experience gave many a commitment to the fight for black equality. h. Black veterans returned home with a broader perception of the world and a transformed consciousness based on wartime sacrifices. (See Class Activity 2.)

IV.

Black People on the Home Front a. Black people helped staff the factories and farms that produced goods for the fight while also purchasing war bonds. (See Lecture Starter 1.) b. The war accelerated the migration of blacks from rural areas to the cities. c. The wartime need for workers, backed by pressure from the government, helped break down some barriers to employing African Americans in industry. d. The abundance of industrial jobs helped spur the second phase of the Great Migration, in which some 1.5 million migrants left the South. e. Many unions became more open to black workers as black men and women took jobs in industries. f. One of the bloodiest race riots in the nation’s history took place in 1943 in Detroit over white and black competition for jobs and housing. (See Long Assignment 2.) g. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (known as the “G.I. Bill of Rights”) gave black and white veterans college tuition, stipends for books, and guaranteed loans. h. The G.I. Bill made possible the upward mobility of a generation of American men who entered professions and trades and purchased homes. (See Discussion Question 2.) i. The NAACP grew tremendously during the war, and membership increased from 50,000 in 1940 to 450,000 in 1945. j. The Congress of Racial Equality in 1942 was a decentralized and democratic organization dedicated to the principles of nonviolence patterned on Gandhi. k. CORE expanded to many cities during the war and challenged segregation in the North with sit-ins and other protest tactics. l. Many gains of blacks were wiped away as the armed forces demobilized and the factories resumed discriminatory hiring systems.

V.

The Cold War and International Politics a. During the Cold War, external pressures reinforced domestic efforts to change American racial policy. . 178

b. The Cold War gave new importance to the voices of African Americans in world affairs. c. Du Bois considered the United States a protector of the colonial system and opposed its stance in the Cold War. d. Ralph Bunche served as acting mediator of the UN Special Committee on Palestine; in 1950 he became the first black to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. e. Paul Robeson was one of the most tragic victims of federal anticommunist witch hunts. The attacks destroyed Robeson’s singing career. f. The importance of the black vote, the fight for the allegiance of emerging nations, and the civil rights movement hastened the desegregation of the military. g. President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, but not until 1950 and the outbreak of the Korean War was Truman’s order fully implemented. (See MyLab Activity 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by playing some music from World War II that includes lyrics related to the war effort, democracy, and fascism in Europe and Asia. Frame a discussion with students regarding U.S. war aims and goals. (See Chapter Outline IV.a.)

2.

Start class by reading some quotes from black leaders such as A. Philip Randolph or W.E.B. Du Bois that address black participation in the war and federal treatment of black troops and black war workers. (See Chapter Outline I.j.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Show a black war film such as Black Brigade, The Negro Soldier, or Red Tails.

Ask students to meet in small groups to discuss the characters in the film and how they portray the black struggle for equality. (See Chapter Outline II.h.)

2.

Bring in blank maps of Europe and Asia and work with students to place information on the maps about the black troop presence and contributions to winning World War II. (See Chapter Outline III.h.)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1.

What factors led to President Roosevelt’s issuance of Executive Order 8802? (See Chapter Outline I.k.)

Points to consider: In January 1941 A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called on black people to unify their protests at discrimination in wartime employment, and direct them at the national government. He suggested that 10,000 African Americans march on Washington under the slogan “We loyal Negro-American citizens demand the right to work and fight for our country.” In the following months, Randolph helped create the March on Washington Movement (MOWM). The MOWM’s demands included a presidential order forbidding companies with government contracts from . 179

engaging in racial discrimination, eliminating race-based exclusion from defense training courses, and requiring the USES to supply workers on a nonracial basis.

Randolph also wanted an order to abolish segregation in the armed forces and the president’s support for a law withdrawing the benefits of the National Labor Relations Act from unions that refused to grant membership to black American Roosevelt, dispatched First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to dissuade Randolph from marching. Their pleas for patience fell on deaf ears. The president offered a set of superficial changes, but the African Americans stood firm in their demands and raised the stakes by increasing their estimate of the number of black marchers coming to Washington to 100,000. By the end of June 1941, the president capitulated and had his aides draft Executive Order 8802, prompting Randolph to call off the march.

2.

How did the G.I. Bill apply to African-American veterans? (See Chapter Outline IV.h.)

Points to consider: In 1944, President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (known as the “G.I. Bill of Rights”), legislation that would profoundly affect American life and society. It gave black and white veterans in the war college tuition allowances, stipends for books, and guaranteed loans at low interest rates, with which to purchase homes or launch small businesses. By 1947, veterans accounted for half of all college students. The G.I. Bill made possible the upward mobility of a generation of American men who entered professions and trades and purchased homes that would become the basis of future wealth. While many black veterans benefited from the G.I. Bill of Rights, they never received their fair share of funds and assistance. Mississippi Congressman John E. Rankin sabotaged the transformative potential of the G.I. Bill by insisting that state and local veterans’ administrators control the distribution of the benefits. The resulting racial disparities were predictable in southern states. In Mississippi, by the summer of 1947, local officials had approved over 3,000 Veterans Administration home loans, but only two went to African-American veterans. The denial of loans and the violence that often erupted when black families attempted to move into northern or southern suburban areas curtailed upward and outward mobility.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: A. Philip Randolph Calls on Blacks to Support the Fight for Equality at Home and Abroad, 1941 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Use the lengthy document in class as the basis for a read-aloud exercise with students. After finishing the document reading, generate a discussion about the . 180

main points of Randolph’s statement. Questions to pose to the students include: Why was Randolph unhappy with black working conditions in the U.S during World War II? What strategies does he suggest blacks should undertake to combat problems in employment? How does the issue of World War II figure into Randolph’s statement? How did World War II shape the larger civil rights struggle for black equality? The discussion can be the basis for a class quiz. The document itself can be part of the body of primary evidence used in a research paper on A. Phillip Randolph and blacks during World War II. (See Chapter Outline I.i.)

2.

Document: President Truman Integrates the Armed Forces, 1948 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign the short document and its questions as a take-home assignment for students to complete and return for a letter grade. But first generate a discussion with students about why blacks fought for the U.S. during World War II, how they were treated by the federal government, and how blacks responded to discrimination during and after the war. Questions to consider include: Why did President Truman desegregate the armed forces? How did this decision impact the civil rights movement? The document can also serve as part of the body of primary evidence in a paper on blacks in the military during and after World War II. (See Chapter Outline V.g.)

3.

Video: The Desegregation of the Military and Blacks in Combat http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos2/mlty_integlarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the five minute segment of an overview of black participation in World War II by a noted historian, hold a brainstorming session with students on the subject of research paper topics mentioned in the film clip. Once the board is filled with ideas, divide the students into groups and assign each group a topic for a group research project. Each student in the group will be responsible for dividing up the responsibilities of the project in terms of visual, written, auditory, and secondary source components. (See Chapter Outline II.k.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a five-page paper about on Dorie Miller, a sailor and hero during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. A central question should frame the paper: How did the federal government treat Miller after the attack?

(See Chapter Outline II.c.) . 181

2.

Assign a five-page paper concerning the experiences of black women as nurses during World War II. (See Chapter Outline II.l.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign a research paper of eight pages based on the history of the Tuskegee Airmen. (See Chapter Outline III.f.)

2.

Assign a research paper based on a comparison between the race riots that took place in Los Angeles and those that took place in Detroit during World War II. (See Chapter Outline IV.f.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Miracle at St. Anna (2008, Spike Lee, 160 minutes).

Directed by Spike Lee, this film is a successful attempt to reveal the perspectives of black soldiers during World War II.

2.

The Negro Soldier (1944, Frank Capra, 43 minutes).

This fascinating War Department propaganda film about black soldiers in the U.S. army includes Jesse Owens and George Washington Carver.

3.

Red Tails (2012, John Ridley, 2 hours).

This recent film on the Tuskegee Airmen is the first to reach a wide national audience.

4.

Red Ball Express (1952, Aaron Rosenberg, 83 minutes).

This Cold War-era film is one of the first to focus on the story of integrated military units during the war and offer the perspective of black soldiers.

5,

Black Brigade (1970, Aaron Spelling, 70 minutes).

Made in 1970 during the Black Power and anti-Vietnam War movements, Black Brigade stars Richard Pryor and reveals the struggles and tensions within a Jim Crow segregated army during World War II.

6.

Red Tail Reborn: The Tuskegee Airmen (2008, PBS, 75 minutes).

This documentary provides a general overview of the Tuskegee Airmen and uses black veterans of the Tuskegee units as sources of the evidence in the film.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Robert Allen, Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny in U.S. Naval History (New York: Warner Books-Amistad Books, 1989).

This is the best book on the subject of the Port Chicago mutiny and provides a general overview of the tragic event.

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2.

Neil McMillen, ed., Remaking Dixie: The Impact of World War II on the American South (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1997).

McMillen focuses on the impact of World War II on race relations and southern people, arguing that the war remade the South because of the global war for democracy abroad.

3.

Mary Penick Motley, The Invisible Soldier: The Experience of the Black Soldier in World War II (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1975).

Motley explains federal and local white treatment of black soldiers during World War II.

4.

Studs Terkel, ed., The Good War (New York: Pantheon, 1984).

Terkel’s collection is still the best primary source on World War II told from a plethora of perspectives, including those of African-American people.

5.

Dominic Capeci and Martha Wilkerson, Layered Violence: The Detroit Rioters of 1943 (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1991).

This book provides an in-depth focus on the Detroit race riot of 1943.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Executive Order 8802 http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=72 This site provides the full text of President Roosevelt’s executive order and includes his handwritten notes on the document. This site enables easy printing of the document.

2.

Rosie Pictures: Women Workers during World War II http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/126_rosi.html Maintained by the Library of Congress, this site contains numerous images, commentary, and links to a wealth of images and primary source material on black women war workers.

3.

Tuskegee Airmen http://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm Maintained by the National Park Service, this website showcases the National Historic site in Tuskegee, Alabama, where the federal government operated a training experiment to see if blacks had the aptitude to become airplane pilots for the war effort. The site includes links to related primary and second source information.

4.

Ralph Bunche http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1950/bunche-bio.html The official website of the Nobel Prize provides a detailed biography of Bunche (a 1950 winner) and includes links to various resources on his life and times.

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5.

Zoot Suit Riots, Los Angeles, 1943 http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_23356963/zoot-suit-riots-rememberingwwii-era-los-angeles This website from the San Gabriel Tribune provides a detailed and modern newspaper article to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the riot; it includes video footage, newspaper articles from 1943, and links to other resources.

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CHAPTER 21: THE LONG FREEDOM MOVEMENT 1950-1965

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the first ten years of the civil rights movement as it evolved into a revolution, transforming the legal and social status of African Americans. The two Brown decisions by the federal courts ended the legal underpinning of segregation and discrimination. But white southerners resisted the changes Brown unleashed. And as their resistance gained momentum, violence against African Americans and their allies exploded. The successes of the civil rights movement depended on many factors. The federal government intervened at crucial moments to enact historic legislation, issue judgments on behalf of protesters, and protect the rule of law with federal marshals and soldiers. Black leaders in the early 1960s pursued strategies to provoke confrontations in cities like Albany and Birmingham and at lunch counters throughout the South to ensure federal intervention and garner media coverage. The uncompromising struggle of African Americans, their organizations, and their white allies pressured federal officials to enact major civil rights legislation, issue executive orders, and deliver judicial decisions that dismantled segregation in the South.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 21-1 What were the background and conditions of the 1950s that led to the emergence of the national civil rights movement?

21-2 What events led to Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and why was it the most important Supreme Court decision of the twentieth century?

21-3 How did white southerners’ strategy of massive resistance affect the modern civil rights movement?

21-4 What were the origins and outcome of, and who were the participants in, the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

21-5 What were the goals of the Civil Rights Act of 1957?

21-6 How did the early activism by students differ in tactics and methods from earlier activism?

21-7 Who were the leaders and what were the tactics and effects of their various civil rights activities?

21-8 How did the federal government intermittently support and thwart the long freedom movement?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d.

The 1950s: Prosperity and Prejudice For most white Americans, the 1950s were an era of unparalleled prosperity.

Affluent white Americans fled to the suburbs, and by 1960, over half of Americans owned their own homes.

The decade is remembered nostalgically as a time of large, stable nuclear families, wives and mothers who stayed at home, and communities untroubled by crime.

For most black Americans the 1950s were less blissful. American society remained rigidly segregated in housing and education. .

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e. The threat of white violence kept millions of African Americans from voting in the Deep South, and housing integration was a distant dream. f. African Americans suffered a higher unemployment rate in urban areas more so than any other segment of the population. g. White workers felt threatened by competition from unemployed black workers. h. As urban neighborhoods deteriorated, conditions ripened for a massive explosion.

II. a.

b. c. d. e. f.

g. h. i. j. k. l.

III.

The Road to Brown In 1954, the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, pushed desegregation in the U.S. into the civilian realm. (See MyLab Activity 3.)

In 1940 the NAACP set up the Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACPLDEF) to attack the legal foundations of race inequality in American education.

The NAACP-LDEF fought segregation and discrimination in education, housing, employment, and politics.

Attorneys for the fund won stunning victories, including a 1944 Supreme Court decision, Smith v. Allwright, declaring white primaries unconstitutional.

The case of Shelley v. Kramer (1948) outlawed restrictive residential covenants.

The life and career of one of the NAACP-LDEF lawyers, Constance Baker Motley, symbolizes the struggle of black professionals during the era. (See Short Assignment 2.)

The NAACP-LDEF’s attack on inequality in graduate education provided the basis for a full-scale assault on segregation.

The organization was no longer satisfied merely to push for fulfillment of the promise of “separate but equal” facilities.

In a series of precedent-setting cases, the Supreme Court signaled a readiness to reconsider the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

Black parents in Kansas and other states asked the court to declare the “separate but equal” doctrine invalid in public education.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a classification based on race violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Brown decision would help dismantle the entire structure of Jim Crow laws that regulated black life in the nation.

Brown II a. In 1955, the Supreme Court issued a second ruling, commonly known as Brown II, which addressed the practical process of desegregation. b. The Court underscored that the states in the suits should begin prompt compliance with the 1954 ruling and that this should be done with “all deliberate speed.” c. Many black Americans interpreted this to mean “immediately.” White southerners hoped it meant over a long period of time or never. d. President Eisenhower was displeased with the Court’s rulings and refused to put the moral authority of his office behind enforcement. e. In 1955 and early 1956, desegregation proceeded without hindrance in Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

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f. White moderates soon found themselves a shrinking minority, and extremists became determined to maintain white supremacy at any cost. g. In 1955 leading white businessmen, professionals, and clergy founded the White Citizens’ Councils in cities across the South. h. The councils were dedicated to preserving “the southern way of life” and the South’s “sacred heritage of freedom.” i. White politicians began massive resistance. The Virginia legislature closed all public schools in Prince Edward County to thwart integration. j. In 1956, several dozen southern congressmen led by Senator Strom Thurmond issued “The Southern Manifesto.” It vowed to fight to preserve segregation. k. The NAACP came under siege after the Brown decision as southern states tried to destroy it; by 1957 nine southern states had filed suit to eradicate the organization. l. By 1960 very few southern school districts had desegregated their schools, and massive southern white resistance began to successfully hinder court decisions. i. The lynching of Emit Till in 1955 in Mississippi impacted an entire generation of young African-American activists who saw the photos of Till in Jet magazine.

(See Lecture Starter 2.)

IV. a.

b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

j.

V.

New Forms of Protest: The Montgomery Bus Boycott The movement in Montgomery was the result of years of planning by protest groups led by the Women’s Political Council (WPC) and the Alabama NAACP. (See MyLab Activity 4.)

In 1955, Rosa Parks, a 43-year-old department store seamstress and civil rights activist, refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white man.

The Women’s Political Council called for a boycott of the city buses. On December 5, 1955, the black community did not ride the buses.

Black activists in the city formed a new organization, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), to coordinate the boycott.

They selected a 26-year-old minister, Martin Luther King, Jr., as its president.

King had been raised in a prominent ministerial family with a long history of supporting African-American rights.

At age 25 King earned a Ph.D. in theology and began a ministry.

The Montgomery movement was funded by white and black activists primarily in the northern states who had been waiting for this type of mass action.

Black and white activists in many northern cities including New York and Chicago launched challenges to overthrow housing segregation, and promote open access to public beaches, swimming pools, and amusement parks.

In November of 1956, the Supreme Court in Browder v. Gayle ordered an end to Montgomery’s bus segregation. (See Discussion Question 1.)

No Easy Road to Freedom: 1957-1960 a. After the Montgomery boycott, black southerners and their allies across the nation prepared for a broader movement. b. Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged as a moral leader of national stature and helped create the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

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c. The SCLC was a federation of civil rights groups, community organizations, and churches that sought to coordinate the burgeoning local civil rights movements. d. The SCLC focused on securing voting rights for black people. e. Membership in the NAACP in the South plummeted in the late 1950s as southern states persecuted its members. f. The SCLC and the NAACP worked together, but tensions over tactics surfaced. g. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first such legislation since the end of Reconstruction. h. The Act created a commission to monitor violations of civil rights and black voting. i. In 1957, Governor Faubus placed national guardsmen outside Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas to prevent nine black youths from integrating the school. j. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to uphold federal law, and the troops occupied the school for a year. k. Most of the black students withstood the abuse of segregationists and eventually desegregated the high school. (See Long Assignment 1.)

VI.

Black Youth Stand Up By Sitting Down a. Black college students in 1960 used the “sit-in” in North Carolina and other cities and emerged as the vanguard of the civil rights movement. b. Their contributions accelerated the pace of social change, and the movement inspired more northern white and black college students to get involved. c. The sit-ins were carefully planned, and white businessmen and politicians gave in to the black community’s demands across the urban South. d. Nashville college students were arrested at sit-ins but by May 1960 had compelled major restaurants to desegregate. College students in Atlanta followed suit. e. The sit-in movement paved the way for the “Freedom Rides” of 1961. f. White and black college students, ministers, and other progressives rode interstate buses to challenge state segregation laws. g. The Freedom Rides tested the Justice Department’s willingness to protect the rights of blacks to use bus terminals on a non-segregated basis. h. Freedom Riders were savagely beaten at several locations by white mobs. i. News services captured graphic images of the violence, and the federal government resolved to end the bloodletting. (See MyLab Activity 1.)

VII. A Sight to be Seen: The Movement at High Tide a. African-American voters in key northern cities provided the crucial margin that elected John F. Kennedy to the presidency in 1963. b. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11063, which required government agencies to discontinue discriminatory policies in federally supported housing. c. Kennedy nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Over 40 African Americans took positions in the new administration. d. Kennedy sent 300 federal marshals to uphold a federal order to admit James Meredith to the University of Mississippi. e. Thousands of students rioted at the campus and federalized the Mississippi National Guard to ensure Meredith’s admission. . 188

f. SNCC joined the NAACP, SCLC, and CORE in the voter education project funded by major philanthropic foundations. g. SNCC opened voter registration schools, prompting a wave of white violence across Mississippi. (See Lecture Starter 1.) h. In Albany, Georgia, the civil rights movement met sophisticated resistance and experienced its most profound defeat up to that time. (See Discussion Question 2.) i. By early 1963 the movement stalled and only modest changes had been achieved. j. SCLC launched a massive new campaign to integrate Birmingham, Alabama. k. Organizers provoked the city’s public safety commissioner “Bull” Connor into violence caught on television, prompting President Kennedy to act. l. King’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” in 1963 had a national impact and called for direct action to achieve civil rights immediately. m. Birmingham was a major triumph and a turning point in the movement. n. The summer of 1963 saw protests across the South, with 800 marches and sit-ins; ten civil rights protesters were killed and 20,000 were arrested. o. In June of 1963, white extremist Byron de la Beckwith gunned down NAACP worker Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi. (See Short Assignment 1.)

VIII. A Hard Victory a. Civil rights organizations resurrected the idea of a march on Washington to demonstrate support for the late President Kennedy’s civil rights legislation. b. In 1963, nearly 250,000 marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., to support the civil rights bill and the movement at large. Dr. King gave a stirring speech. (See MyLab Activity 2.) c. White racists bombed the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham and killed four girls attending Sunday school just days after the March on Washington. d. President Johnson told the nation he planned to support the civil rights bill as a memorial for the slain president. e. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination in places of public accommodation, including restaurants, hotels, schools, and parks. f. The voter registration campaign in Mississippi began in late 1963 when Robert Moses mobilized the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). g. COFO decided to invite northern white students from prestigious colleges to participate in the Mississippi project. h. Three volunteers were murdered by Klansmen with the help of law enforcement. i. Many frustrated SNCC activists began to reject King’s commitment to nonviolence, the inclusion of white activists, and the wisdom of integration. j. Robert Moses encouraged COFO to set up the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge the state’s regular Democratic delegation at the convention.

(See Long Assignment 2.) k. The MFDP held its first state convention and delegates traveled to the national convention to present their credentials. l. Democratic Senator Humphrey worked out a compromise calling for Mississippi regulars to be seated if they swore loyalty to the party and vote accordingly. m. Most of the MFDP delegation rejected the compromise.

.

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n. Violence against marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and King’s decision to not get arrested, frustrated young black SNCC leaders. King’s leadership suffered. p. Local whites clubbed to death James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister. His martyrdom created a national outcry and prompted President Johnson to act. (See Classroom Activity 2.) o. The protests at Selma and massive white resistance spurred Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which outlawed educational requirements for voting.

(See Classroom Activity 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by playing some of the civil rights music of Nina Simone who wrote many songs during the era that contain lyrics that address the challenges of the movement. (See Chapter Outline VII.g.)

2.

Start class by showing the 15-minute film segment from Eyes on the Prize of the assassination of Emmitt Till and the trial of his murderers in Mississippi. (See Chapter Outline III.i.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Bring into class a person who has some official connection to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Ask students to develop questions for the person in the days before their speaking in class. (See Chapter Outline VIII.p.)

2.

Bring into class a blank map of the South and ask the students to fill in certain pieces of information based on the civil rights movement, such as the dates and locations of marches, murders, and legislative victories. (See Chapter Outline VIII.p.)

Discussion Questions 1.

Why was the Montgomery Bus Boycott successful? (See Chapter Outline IV.j.)

Points to consider: The boycott achieved success for a variety of reasons. The organizational structure of the Baptist church and the ideology of Christianity served as a practical and inspirational motivation for victory. Also, thousands of black churchwomen did the activities associated with the boycott, including mass mobilization and the dissemination of literature. Men remained the major leaders, such as the charismatic and brilliant tactician Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott stayed nonviolent. King and others were willing to be arrested on several occasions, dramatizing racial inequities. Blacks also skillfully used the media and court system to keep the issue in the headlines as they continued to apply strong economic pressure to the bus companies which eventually gave up.

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2.

Why did King face obstacles during the Albany Movement? (See Chapter Outline VII.h.)

Points to consider: The Albany movement stymied King for a variety of reasons, forcing him to rethink strategy as the movement stalled for a period of time. The challenge came from Laurie Pritchard, chief of police of Albany, Georgia, who smartly arrested and then released blacks and King during the movement. He ordered his troops to remain non-violent. Never before had a police chief responded to King’s nonviolent tactics with nonviolence. King lost the wedge of influence provided on previous protest occasions when police chiefs placed thousands of black teenagers in jail, creating a media sensation. In Albany the challenges for King increased when local courts placed injunctions on further marches in Albany, further taking the wind from the movement’s sails.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: Julian Bond, Sit-ins and the Origins of SNCC, 1960 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Julian_Bond_SitIns_and_the_Origins_of_SN CC_1960.html&width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Assign the lengthy document and its questions as a take home assignment for students to answer in full sentences and return for a letter grade. Before passing out the assignment, hold a read-around in class and generate a preliminary discussion about the document so that students understand context and authorship before they answer the questions outside of class. (See Chapter Outline VI.i.)

2.

Video: Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Speech http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Videos&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDI A_1/history/MHL/US/videos2/Rev_Dr_Martin_Luther_King_Jr_Speech.html&w idth=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the three-minute “we are free at last” speech by Dr. King during the March on Washington in 1963, create the conditions in class for a debate or a group discussion by students on the issue of the success or failure of the civil rights movement and the reality of racial equality in the United States today.

King’s speech serves as the backdrop for this modern discussion that can also be orchestrated in small groups, reconvening for a larger class discussion. (See Chapter Outline VIII.b.)

3.

Document: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/Brown_v_Board_Ed_Topeka54.html . 191

Use the document from Chief Justice Warren by dividing the class into small groups and assigning each group the reading to decipher in terms of its main points and argument. Hold a general discussion afterwards and steer students towards an understanding of the implications of the court decision for segregation in the South. The document can also be utilized as part of the primary evidence for a research paper on the origins of the civil rights movement or an essay on the Brown decision and Chief Justice Warren. (See Chapter Outline II.a.)

4.

Document: Jo Ann Gibson Robinson Looks Back at the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Ask students to read the document at home and answer the questions listed at the end of the reading before returning to class for a small-group discussion on the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Questions to consider assigning to groups include: Why was the boycott successful? What role did black women play in the struggle? How did whites and local government react to black efforts to address inequality through the boycott? What role did Martin Luther King, Jr. play in the boycott? This assignment also works well in conjunction with students’ viewing of the boycott in the documentary Eyes on the Prize (see the list of Suggested Films/TV Shows below). (See Chapter Outline IV.a.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a four-page paper based on student analysis of the life of civil rights worker and NAACP activist Medgar Evers. (See Chapter Outline VII.o.)

2.

Assign a four-page paper based on the activities of NAACP attorney Constance Baker Motley. (See Chapter Outline II.f.)

Long Assignments 1.

Ask students to read Warriors Don’t Cry, by Melba Patillo-Beals, which chronicles the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Assign a six-page paper based on a series of questions provided by the instructor. Screening the episode in class from Eyes on the Prize augments the assignment. (See Chapter Outline V.k.)

2.

Ask students to read Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi about the struggles of a black teenage during the civil rights movement. Assign a six-page paper based on a set of questions provided by the instructor. (See Chapter Outline VIII.j.)

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SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Freedom Riders (2011, PBS, 2 hours).

This film is the most recent documentary on the subject and includes many oral interviews of participants.

2.

The Help (2011, Tate Taylor, 146 minutes).

Based on a book by the same title, the film adaptation traces the interactions between African-American women domestic workers and the upper-middle class white women who hired them during the civil rights movement as tensions emerge between blacks and whites.

3.

Four Little Girls (1997, Spike Lee/HBO, 102 minutes).

This documentary by Spike Lee examines the bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and the deaths of four girls there.

4.

Mississippi Burning (1988, Alan Parker, 128 minutes).

This Hollywood version of the civil rights movement focuses on the efforts of the F.B.I. in the search for the murders of three civil rights workers.

5.

Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years (1987, PBS, 6 hours).

This excellent documentary series provides six one-hour episodes with prime coverage of the issues and with images from the era.

6.

Ghosts of Mississippi (1996, Rob Reiner, 130 minutes).

This is an interesting recreation of the trial of Byron De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: American in the King Years, 1954-1963 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988).

Branch provides a massive overview of the civil rights movement that touches upon major and minor events of the era.

2.

Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965 (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1998).

This is Branch’s second volume that continues the narrative in a three-part series on the civil rights movement.

3.

Clayborne Carson, In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981).

Carson provides an illuminating analysis of the course of SNCC as it evolved during the 1960s.

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4.

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: Dial Press, 1968).

Moody provides a first-person account of segregation and the civil rights movement in Mississippi during the 1950s and 1960s.

5.

Melba Patillo-Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry: The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High School (New York: Washington Square Press, 1994).

One of the nine black students who attempted to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Patillo-Beals provides a first-hand account of her struggles in 1957-1958.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Montgomery Bus Boycott http://www.alabamamoments.state.al.us/sec55ps.html Maintained by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, this website provides newspaper articles and other primary source documents, including links to further resources on the boycott.

2.

Separate Is Not Equal: Brown vs. Board of Education http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/brown/ This website is maintained by the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History and includes many images and resources for teachers.

3.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Education and Research Institute http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/ This is a major website run by Stanford University that provides links to King’s papers and a plethora of primary source documents in video, audio, and written form.

4.

Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/ This website maintained by the National Park Service provides an extensive narrative and listing of the major places and sites where the civil rights movement unfolded. The website provides a photographic tour of the places and provides links to other resources.

5.

Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954 http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1954/1954_1 This website covers Supreme Court cases and provides the full text of the Brown decision and related information regarding justices and other legal aspects of the case that ended segregation.

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CHAPTER 22: BLACK NATIONALISM, BLACK POWER, BLACK ARTS 1965-1980

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter covers the late 1960s and the decade of the 1970s in terms of the civil rights movement, political change, and the black cultural revolution. Between 1967 and 1980, the dynamics of the civil rights struggle shifted from protest against segregation, disenfranchisement, and discrimination to black mobilization for the election of black officials to public office. African-American communities elected an unprecedented number of black politicians as mayors in dozens of America’s larger cities. But while witnessing these electoral victories by black officials, the older civil rights movement coalitions fizzled and frayed. Assassins killed Malcolm X in 1965 and both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968. The Black Power and Black Arts Movements continued the struggle for freedom in northern and western cities and states where housing discrimination, high unemployment, and unrelenting police brutality sparked rebellions that resulted in many deaths and widespread destruction in Los Angeles, Newark, Detroit, and other cities. Although African Americans did not create a third party, they were able to elect an impressive number of black mayors and to send the first two black women to the United States House of Representatives. The legacies of the Black Panther Party have yet to be fully appreciated and were often overshadowed by the relentless vilification of party leaders and members by white police authorities and media. Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, the Black Arts Movement opened up new venues for developing a positive black identity. The legislative successes of the Civil Rights Movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Affirmative Action were important steps in the long journey toward an egalitarian society. Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Carter attempted to address the needs of the poor. But their efforts produced mixed results, hampered by the disastrous war in Vietnam and massive white backlash against school busing and government-mandated desegregation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 22-1 Why did many African Americans become increasingly militant at the end of the 1960s?

22-2 What factors contributed to and ignited the urban rebellions in the 1960s?

22-3 How did the Vietnam War affect the Great Society and African Americans?

22-4 What was the relationship between the black power movement and black culture?

22-5 What specific policies did President Nixon initiate that affected the civil rights of African Americans?

22-6 What were some of the political accomplishments of the black power movement in the 1970s?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

The Rise of Black Nationalism a. Black power transformed black and white leaders of religious organizations. .

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b. The Black Power Movement spurred the creation of black caucuses within predominantly white churches. c. The Black Power Movement carried radicalism forward by emphasizing the importance of community-based leaders and of ordinary people; Malcolm X attracted the attention of an increasingly disillusioned component of the black population until his assassination by the Nation of Islam in 1965. (See Long Assignment 2, Discussion Question 2, and MyLab Activity 1.) d. In 1966 Stokely Carmichael became chairman of SNCC, fired white workers, and began to popularize the slogan “Black Power.” (See MyLab Activity 3.) e. In 1968 CORE followed SNCC’s example, and by the end of the 1960s, SNCC and CORE had virtually disappeared. f. The most enduring expression of the new black political militancy was the Black Panther Party created by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland in 1966. g. The Black Panthers combined black nationalist ideology with Marxist-Leninist doctrines. h. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover hated the Black Panther Party even more than he disliked Martin Luther King, Jr., and helped to destroy the organization. i. Black militancy survived in many forms, including the prisoners’ rights movement. j. Angela Davis, a philosophy professor, worked for prisoner’s rights and was acquitted in a lengthy trial in 1971 of helping black prisoners escape custody. k. Prisoners at Attica state prison in New York in 1971 seized control of the prison until guards shot them down. (See Classroom Activity 1.)

II. a. b. c.

d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

The Inner-City Rebellions The militant nationalism and growing embrace of black radicalism reflected the alienation and anger in America’s impoverished inner cities.

Inner-city school dropout rates by the 1960s had reached epidemic proportions, crime and drug use increased, and family structures weakened.

The Watts rebellion in Los Angeles was the beginning of four summers of uprisings between 1965 and 1969 that would engulf cities across the nation. (See Classroom Activity 2.)

Riots in Newark and Detroit led President Johnson to establish the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission.

The Kerner Commission report in 1968 indicted white racism as the underlying cause of the riots and called for massive government aid to cities.

The urban riots of the late 1960s undercut support for the broadest attack the federal government had yet waged on the problems of poor Americans.

President Johnson’s Great Society programs remained popular, including the War on Poverty which tested the limits of American reform.

Johnson pushed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act through Congress.

The War on Poverty was the first government-sponsored effort to involve poor blacks directly in implementing programs to serve low-income communities.

The program provided meaningful work, access to education, and critical resources to poor people so that they would become leaders. . 196

l. Johnson’s concern for the disadvantaged manifested itself in the cornerstone of his War on Poverty campaign, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. (See Short Assignment 1.)

III.

Johnson and the War in Vietnam a. The American military presence escalated in South Vietnam and by 1969, nearly twenty percent of active duty soldiers were black. b. In 1966 the Defense Department launched Project 100,000 to reduce the military’s high rejection rate, enabling thousands of black men to join. (See Discussion Question 1.) c. By the end of 1967, the nation was heading toward total racial polarization. d. Johnson’s Great Society met increasing resistance because of higher income taxes and the drain on the economy caused by the Vietnam War. e. King’s first response to urban rebellions in 1965 and 1966 was to move his campaign to the North to nationalize the civil rights movement. f. King and the SCLC set up operations in Chicago but white racism and black militancy frustrated his strategy. g. Chicago reinforced important lessons for King: racism was more than a southern problem, and racism was intertwined with economic discrimination. h. In 1967, King announced his most ambitious and most militant project, an integrated, nonviolent “Poor People’s Campaign.” i. Tens of thousands of the nation’s dispossessed would descend on Washington to focus attention on the disadvantaged in American society. j. King began to attack the war in Vietnam which alienated him from Johnson’s black supporters, including traditional civil rights leaders who supported the war. k. King persisted and by 1968 he had become one of the war’s most vocal critics.

(See MyLab Activity 2.) l. On March 18, 1968, King went to Memphis to address striking sanitation workers and was assassinated by a white man, James Earl Ray. m. King’s assassination unleashed a torrent of civic rage in black communities. More than 125 cities experienced uprisings, hundreds were arrested, and dozens killed. n. Within days of King’s death, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. o. The act outlawed discrimination in the sale and rental of housing and gave the Justice Department authority to bring suits against such discrimination.

IV.

The Black Arts Movement and Black Consciousness Between 1967 and 1975 the “black arts movement” grew from three geographical centers: Harlem, Chicago and Detroit, and San Francisco.

The guiding ethos of the black arts movement was the determination of black artists to produce black art for black people and accomplish black liberation.

The black arts movement was criticized because of its celebration of black maleness, its racial exclusivity, and its homophobia.

The black arts movement had its most significant impact in poetry and theater.

The cultural nationalists in the black arts movement championed modern jazz musicians as icons of the quest for black freedom. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

The most dramatic expression of militancy came from black college students.

a. b. c. d. e. f.

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g. Some observers describe the period of activism between 1968 and 1975 as the “second phase” of the black students’ movement. h. The massacre of black students at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg in 1968 was an appalling demonstration of state violence. i. The Black Studies revolution on campus began with the enrollment of large numbers of black students in predominantly white institutions across the country. j. These students demanded courses in black history, culture, literature, and art as alternatives to the “Eurocentric” bias of the average university curriculum. k. At San Francisco State College, black students demanded not only curriculum changes but also the structural transformation of the college. l. In 1969 Harvard University created an Afro-American Studies Department, and other schools soon followed. m. In 1988 Temple University offered a Ph.D. in African-American studies.

V.

The Presidential Election of 1968 and Richard Nixon a. After the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago erupted into violence when policemen beat antiwar demonstrators. b. President Nixon named Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of Johnson’s experts on social policy, to be his domestic policy adviser. c. Moynihan announced that the absence of a strong black family in urban America was the main instigator of black poverty and backlash against white racism. d. Nixon pursued a “southern strategy” that realigned the Republican Party with the white southern backlash to civil rights and weakened the New Deal coalition. e. The busing movement to end educational segregation in Boston met stiff white resistance and mass arrests of angry white parents and students. f. Domestic violence by the U.S. military against antiwar college students helped to end the Vietnam War. m. President Nixon’s resignation in 1974 coincided with a decline in white American and federal government interest in the civil rights movement. (See Lecture Starter 1.)

VI.

The Rise of Black Elected Officials A new generation of black leaders gained prominence during the 1970s, determined to mobilize newly enfranchised black voters and win political office.

The Gary National Black Political Convention of 1972 developed an agenda for black empowerment.

The Gary convention signaled a shift in the political focus of the black community toward electoral politics and away from mass demonstrations.

Deep ideological differences precluded cooperation between black nationalists and the rising numbers of black elected officials.

Shirley Chisholm’s election to Congress from New York made her the first African-American woman in Congress. (See Short Assignment 2.)

In 1989, L. Douglass Wilder was elected governor of Virginia, making him the first black governor of any state since Reconstruction.

Between 1971 and 1975, the number of African-American mayors rose from 8 to 135, leading to the founding of the National Conference of Black Mayors in 1974.

a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

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h. The 1970s were a decade of recessions and economic instability. Many black people experienced this economic downturn as a depression. i. The gap between black men and women at the bottom of the economic ladder and their white counterparts expanded during the decade. j. Poor black people were losing ground. The black middle and upper class grew, but the economic status of black workers did not improve. k. President Carter appointed many blacks to his staff, continued forced busing, strengthened the EEOC, and prosecuted violations of the Fair Housing Act. g. But many blacks became disillusioned with Carter who had done little to bring about greater social justice and economic advancement for ethnic minorities. (See Long Assignment 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by showing video images of the Vietnam War and generate a discussion about why the war took place and whether or not the U.S. achieved its strategic goals in fighting the conflict. (See Chapter Outline V.m.)

2.

Start class by playing a selection of civil rights era protest music that can be found at http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/civilrights.html. Ask students the meaning of the lyrics. (See Chapter Outline IV.e.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Organize a debate in class between advocates of traditional, non-violent civil rights protest and advocates of the Black Power movement. Include the federal government as another interest group. Divide the class into three large groups and allow them to work out their differences verbally in class along a set list of issues devised by the class as a whole, or by the instructor. (See Chapter Outline I.k.)

2.

Show visual images of riots during the late 1960s in cities such as Watts or Detroit. Then ask students why they think the riots erupted and what role the riots played in shaping the civil rights movement. (See Chapter Outline II.c.)

Discussion Questions 1.

What are the most significant aspects of black involvement as servicemen and servicewomen in the Vietnam War? (See Chapter Outline III.b.)

Points to consider: As the war dragged into the late 1960s, soldiers increasingly were African-American men who joined the war effort became of poverty and joblessness. The slogan that the war had become “a white man’s war but a black man’s fight” helped to fuel racial tensions within American society, the civil rights movement, and military units in Vietnam. For the Black Power movement, the war became a rallying cry of black exploitation. Many Black Panthers were

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combat soldiers in Vietnam who returned with weapons training and a fighting spirit to end racism in the United States.

2.

Why did Malcolm X experience a radical change in ideology in the mid-1960s?

(See Chapter Outline I.c.)

Points to consider: Malcolm X was persecuted within the Nation of Islam by its top leadership after Malcolm began to criticize Elijah Muhammad in 1964. As he created his own power-structure and organization following his expulsion from the organization, he generated the ire of the Nation of Islam’s leadership.

Following his return from Mecca in the Middle East where he went on religions pilgrimage, Malcolm returned to the U.S. proclaiming a new take on black and white relationships, one that emphasized human brotherhood over racial differences.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Video: Malcolm X http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/videos2/Malcolm_X.html&width=850&height=680&autoh= yes&centerwin=yes Screen the two-minute interview of Malcolm X given after his return from Africa.

Generate a class discussion about the thesis and main points of Malcolm’s statements. Point out to students the context of the interview as you steer the discussion towards placing MX in the historical moment marking an evolution in his racial ideology. Provide to students a few questions about the content of Malcolm X’s interview, such as “What may have prompted MX to grant this interview? What implications may have arisen from the interview? (See Chapter Outline I.c.)

2.

Document: Martin Luther King, Jr. Takes a Stand on the Vietnam War, 1967 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign students the lengthy document as a take-home graded assignment to read and answer the questions listed at the end of the reading. Generate a discussion in class about the context surrounding King’s memorable address and his transformation into an antiwar figure. The assignment can also include an oral history project where students provide a two-minute presentation on the main aspects of King’s radio sermon. (See Chapter Outline III.k.)

3.

Document: Stokely Carmichael Calls for a “Black Power” Movement, 1966 .

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http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Divide the class into small groups and assign each group a portion of the document to analyze for fifteen minutes. After reconvening the class, develop a class discussion based on the salient points of Carmichael’s text. Each group should be prepared to provide a thesis statement and supporting evidence regarding Carmichael’s perspective on black uplift. As the discussion unfolds, provide contextual background on the Black Power movement, Carmichael, and changes in the civil rights movement in the late 1960s. After the discussion is over, assign the questions listed at the end of the document as a graded assignment to be returned later. (See Chapter Outline I.d.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a four-page research paper on one of the many urban riots during the late 1960s. (See Chapter Outline II.l.)

2.

Assign a four-page research paper on the life of Shirley Chisholm, Nina Simone, or Coretta Scott-King. (See Chapter Outline VI.e.)

Long Assignments 1.

Design an oral history project asking students to find an older adult who witnessed or took part in any aspect of the civil rights movement. The assignment can be broadened to include more than one person as the interview focus, or a focus on an event, state, or time period. Supplement the resources required for the assignment by adding visual, audio, and written evidence to the oral interview data for analysis. (See Chapter Outline VI.h.)

2.

Assign The Autobiography of Malcolm X early in the semester and provide a list of questions to guide students’ reading of the text. Design a paper due at the end of the semester based on a comparison between the book and the film Malcolm X

by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington. Which is more accurate? Why? (See Chapter Outline I.c.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power (2009, PBS, 2008).

This is the remarkable and courageous story of Rob Williams and how he went from resisting the Ku Klux Klan with guns to living in Cuba as an exiled black revolutionary.

2.

Malcolm X (1992, Spike Lee, 321 minutes).

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Directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, this version of the MX story stays faithful to the book and coves the totality of his life.

3.

The Greatest (1977, Tom Gries, 101 minutes).

Based on Ali’s autobiography, the film not only includes rare footage of Ali, but it also captures the spirit of the Black Power movement in the late 1970s.

4.

Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore (2001, PBS, 2 hours).

A civil rights pioneer in Florida, Moore and his wife were assassinated in 1951; their murder remains one of the many mysteries of the civil rights movement. The documentary uses the event to explain his role in the civil rights movement.

5.

The Help (2011, Tate Taylor, 146 minutes).

Based on a book by the same title, the film adaptation traces the interactions between African-American women domestic workers and the upper-middle class white women who hired them during the civil rights movement as tensions emerged between blacks and whites.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Rob Williams, Negroes with Guns (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998).

Published in 1962 and written by Rob Williams, the book explains the efforts of Williams and other blacks to defend themselves using violence against Ku Klux Klansmen.

2.

Charles Hamilton and Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), Black Power: The Politics of Liberation (New York: Vintage reissue, 1992).

This is the book that in 1967 explained black power ideology and the impact of racism in the U.S. to a generation of black youth, many of whom would join the movement.

3.

James Forman, The Making of Black Revolutionaries (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997).

Forman provides an autobiographical account of his role in SNCC and other major events of the civil rights movement.

4.

Clayborne Carson, The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle (New York: Penguin reprint edition, 1991).

This text is a companion to the massive documentary Eyes on the Prize and contains many primary source documents regarding the entirely of the civil rights movement.

5.

Malcolm X with Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: Grove Press, 1965)

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Told by Malcolm X his own words (with the literary assistance of Alex Haley), the autobiography covers the totality of Malcolm X’s life.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Black Power and Rob Williams http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/negroeswithguns/more.html This website accompanies the production Negroes with Guns and provides many links to primary documents regarding the later stages of the civil rights movement.

2.

The N.A.A.C.P. http://www.naacp.org/ The official website of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People contains visual updates and links to anniversary events regarding the civil rights movement. 2013 is the anniversary of the March on Washington and the assassination of Medgar Evers.

3.

Portraits of Black Chicago during the 1970s: John H. White http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/portrait_of_black_chicago/introduction.html Photographer John H. White was paid by the city of Chicago to photograph African Americans in the city during the early 1970s. The site contains his images.

4.

Civil Rights Era Protest Music http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/civilrights.html Part of the PBS documentary series, this website provides audio clips of some of the most memorable civil rights-era protest music by Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and others.

5.

Civil Rights Timeline http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/civil_01.html This PBS site provides a detailed timeline with many links to various resources in audio, visual, and written form.

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CHAPTER 23: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 1980-2010

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter focuses on the historical experiences of African American people between 1980 and 2010 with an emphasis on cultural and economic developments. Civil rights laws of the 1960s helped to remove some of the racial barriers to black economic and cultural advancement by the 1980s and 1990s. The closing of the twentieth century saw remarkable progress for African Americans even as part of the community remained mired in poverty and prison. African Americans still experience the burden of racism. In the last thirty years, black people have confronted challenges by engaging in collective political action and maintaining black churches, colleges, and social action groups. The black soul that Du Bois thought had so much to give America now flows freely through its art, language, scholarship, and popular culture, particularly in the Hip-Hop National and International Culture Movement. At the same time, increasing diversity in the ways that African Americans live their lives has produced profound differences in how individuals understand their identities. The tension between racial, class, gender, sexual, and racial-ethnic identities is likely to persist and will shape the course of the AfricanAmerican odyssey in the twenty-first century.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 23-1 Why are so many African Americans less wealthy and healthy than white Americans?

23-2 What are some of the reasons for continued poverty among African Americans?

23-3 What achievements have African Americans made in the areas of music, literature, and film from the 1980s through the twenty-first century?

23-4 Why has rap music achieved international popularity?

23-5 What is the main philosophy of Afrocentricity?

23-6 What are the strengths and tensions operating within the black church today?

23-7 What are Louis Farrakhan’s views and how has he been instrumental in helping African Americans?

23-8 Why has black identity become more complicated in the twenty-first century?

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Progress and Poverty: Income, Education, and Health a. The decades after 1970 witnessed a consolidation of black economic, civic, and political progress and the expansion of a black middle and upper class. b. The success of the black upper class was exemplified by the prominence of highly visible African Americans such as media mogul Oprah Winfrey. c. The median income of black families rose substantially after 1960 but remained well below the median income for white families. d. By 2005, just under half of African Americans owned their own homes (the figure for white ownership was 70 percent). e. The economic recession that began in 2008 devastated black communities. .

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f. The economic downturn dramatically increased the unemployment rates among African Americans to percentages unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. g. Almost 16 percent of African Americans were unemployed at the end of 2012 compared to around 8 percent of white Americans. (See MyLab Activity 3.)

II.

The Persistence of Black Poverty a. The poverty rate for black people had dipped to a low during the Clinton boom but rose to 25 percent during George W. Bush’s presidency. b. Black poverty continues to outpace all other groups under President Obama. c. Another concentration of black poverty is found in depressed rural areas where many experience similar social problems as within inner cities. d. The high rate of poverty in the black community disproportionately affects children. e. Many single-parent families headed by females suffer from low incomes, meager public assistance, poor housing, and inferior schools. f. Deindustrialization, labor-saving technology, and low-wage offshore production have wiped out jobs that blacks with limited education and few skills once held. g. The history of Oakland, California, illustrates this process. By 2000, black districts lacked legitimate work which paved the way for the rise of drug-related crime. h. The boom under Clinton was weakened by the severe recession that began in 2008 and persisted through the end of President Barack Obama’s first term. (See Long Assignment 2.) i. The growth in inner-city crime combined with a national shift toward aggressive policing increased the imprisonment rates of black males. (See Discussion Question 2.) j. Rates of achievement in high school and college place blacks among the most educated groups of people in the world. (See MyLab Activity 2.) k. Blacks suffer greater incidence of disease and mortality for most major illnesses and are more likely to have HIV/AIDS than any other group in the U.S.

III.

African Americans at the Center of Art and Culture a. Beginning in the 1980s, cultural renaissances emerged in virtually every American community that had a substantial African-American presence. (See Lecture Starter 2.) b. Black consciousness institutions proliferated and flourished. They included black history and culture museums, festivals, expositions, and dance troupes. c. By 1994 there were dozens of African-American publishing companies. d. In 1998 the National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent opened at Chicago State University. e. The new cultural renaissance differed from the black arts movement of the 1960s and 1970s. f. The contemporary flowering was more inclusive and more appreciative of women artists. It also included the work of openly gay and lesbian artists. g. Much of the new work appealed as much to white audiences as to black. h. In 1993 Rita Dove became America’s poet laureate, and in the same year Toni Morrison became the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. . 205

i. President Clinton invited Maya Angelou to read one of her poems at his inauguration. j. In 2009 President Obama invited Elizabeth Alexander to read poetry at his inauguration. (See Long Assignment 1.)

IV.

The Hip-Hop Nation a. Rap was the most successful genre of black music to emerge in the late 1900s. b. Rap music reflected the post-civil rights and black power movement generations of youth of color, known collectively as the hip-hop nation. c. The rap musical style arose in 1973 in New York City’s South Bronx. d. Its original purpose was to promote musical and dance competitions for inner-city youths.(See Lecture Starter 1.) e. Afrika Bambaataa developed a political version of rap by merging the ideology of the Nation of Islam with the Black Panthers’ cultural nationalism. f. The first commercial rap hit, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang, came out in 1979 and popularized the term hip-hop. g. In the Reagan years (1981–1989), conditions worsened in inner cities as crack cocaine flooded neighborhoods and gang warfare erupted over drug turfs. h. Rapper Russell Simmons revolutionized the rap recording industry by founding his own label and maintaining control over musical production. i. Hip-hop culture spread beyond New York to other black urban centers. j. By 2000, hip-hop had become a global force and the source of astonishing profits. k. The southern California group NWA was one of the most successful new rap groups in the late 1980s and spread the new style of gangsta rap.

V.

African-American Intellectuals a. In the 1980s and 1990s, a philosophy of culture referred to as Afrocentricity captured wide attention. b. Afrocentricity was prominent in the political movement that created black studies. c. Temple University professor Molefi Kete Asante gave Afrocentrism a presence and a personality within the nation’s university system. (See Classroom Activity 1.) d. Asante argued that an African-centered perspective was needed to reorient black people from the Eurocentric periphery to the center of their own history. e. Some Afrocentrists argue that much of European civilization originated in Africa, particularly from the culture of ancient Egypt. f. Afrocentrists point to evidence of advanced cultures in other parts of Africa to refute assertions of African cultural inferiority. (See Short Assignment 2.) g. Many black educators embraced Afrocentricity as a way to celebrate a positive African identity and to unite peoples of the African diaspora.

VI.

Black Religion at the Dawn of the Millennium a. Religion remains at the heart of the African-American experience: black churches remain by far the largest black-controlled institutions in the nation. b. Immigration from the Caribbean and Africa has increased African-American membership in some predominantly white denominations. . 206

c. Most African Americans remain Protestants, but demographic and social changes have challenged the mainline denominations. d. African-American Christians in both traditional and nontraditional religious institutions have developed outreach programs to create supportive communities. e. Tensions have arisen within many black churches over the lack of social engagement and the HIV/AIDS crisis. f. The Nation of Islam is the best known of the many African-American Muslim groups, but its 40,000 members constitute a small percentage of black Muslims.

(See MyLab Activity 1.)

VII. Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam a. Beginning in the 1980s, the Nation of Islam’s minister Louis Farrakhan became a potent source of racial division in the United States. (See Short Assignment 1.) b. In 1978 he became leader of the Nation. c. Under Farrakhan’s direction, the Nation developed media ventures, restaurants, clothing stores, and various companies. d. The national move to the right during the Reagan era complemented the reconstituted Nation’s conservative social ideas. e. In 1984, the Nation of Islam’s broke its long-standing abstention from politics to support Jesse Jackson’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. f. Farrakhan blamed Jews for many of the ills plaguing African Americans. Jewish Americans called on black organizations and leaders to repudiate Farrakhan. g. In the 1990s Farrakhan reached out to a broader group of African Americans. He called for a Million Man March on Washington, D.C. h. The estimated 400,000-strong crowd at the 1995 march made it a symbolic success and generated positive coverage even in the mainstream media. i. The Million Man March inspired many black men to become more engaged with their communities and to speak out against oppression. (See Discussion Question 1.) j. The Million Man March inspired women to organize their own march. An estimated 300,000 black women gathered in Philadelphia in 1997. k. The women’s march was a celebration, a call to unity, and a forum for black women to denounce domestic violence and inadequate access to quality social services; it symbolized the struggle of black women to be heard in American society and to counter negative stereotypes and derogatory images.

VIII. Complicating Black Identity in the Twenty-First Century a. In 2000, for the first time in U.S. history, blacks were no longer the largest minority group in the United States. Most blacks continued to live in the South. b. For the first time, the 2000 census allowed respondents to choose more than one racial designation for themselves. c. The civil rights laws of the 1960s changed the purpose of gathering data by racial classification. d. Many who would have been considered black under the traditional American system of racial classification could now assert multiple identities.

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e. Immigration to the United States from Latin America, Asia, and Africa is undermining what had once been a largely biracial dynamic in U.S. history. f. The number of black immigrants from the West Indies increased dramatically after the 1960s. g. The feminist and gay rights movements have challenged traditional ideas of racial identity in recent decades. h. The core of black feminist thinking is a dual critique of the women’s movement and black liberation ideology. i. In 2008 California voters approved a referendum overturning a decision of the California Supreme Court that had legalized same-sex marriage in the state. j. African Americans were instrumental in passing this referendum, which restricted marriage to unions between a man and a woman. k. African-American Muslims, some of whom are immigrants, have become more closely tied to the larger trends in Islam. l. The attacks on September 11, 2001, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, two Muslim countries, have left many African-American Muslims conflicted. (See Classroom Activity 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by playing some rap music and ask students the meaning of the lyrics and how they relate to challenges facing blacks in the 1980s and 1990s. (See Chapter Outline IV.d.)

2.

Start class by showing a comedic segment from the television series The Cosby Show, and ask students how the segment reflects black culture in the 1980s. (See Chapter Outline III.a.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Organize a debate in class on the issue of Afrocentrism. Divide the class into two segments to conduct the debate. (See Chapter Outline V.c.)

2.

Bring into class an African American who was a high school student or adult during the 1980s. Allow the students to ask the person questions about different themes of the era and how his or her life experiences relate to the theme. Students should prepare themes and questions beforehand. (See Chapter Outline VIII.l.)

Discussion Questions 1.

How successful was the Million Man March? (See Chapter Outline VII.i.)

Points to consider: Organized by Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, the estimated 400,000-strong crowd at the October 16, 1995, march made it a symbolic success and generated positive coverage even in the mainstream media.

It inspired many black men to become more engaged with their communities and to speak out against oppression. The Nation of Islam’s conservative philosophy of . 208

religion, self-respect, family values, community responsibility, and bootstrap capitalism found a responsive audience. Even though many marchers did not support the Nation’s program, the peaceful solidarity of the gathering gave them hope.

2.

What is the extent and impact of escalated rates of imprisonment for blacks in the U.S. during the past forty years? (See Chapter Outline II.i.)

Points to consider: The growth in crime in inner-city communities throughout the 1980s and 1990s combined with a national shift toward aggressive policing and harsher sentencing to vastly increase the imprisonment rates of African-American boys and men. From 1954 to 2005, the black prison population increased by almost 900 percent, from 98,000 to 910,000. While the absolute numbers of both black and white prisoners have begun to fall, African Americans still, in 2011, make up almost half of the nation’s prisoners even though only about 12 percent of Americans are black. The impact of the extra-incarceration of black men has produced increasing poverty, drug use, and broken homes within the African American community.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: Building a Black Christian Community from Scratch, 1999 http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Building_Black_Christian_Community_199 9.html&width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Print out copies of the 1999 journal interview of a black Pentecostal preacher and former gang member. Nine questions are asked in the interview. Divide the class into nine groups and assign each group one of the questions. The goal is for the group to discern the main points of the question and the answer. Reconvene the class as a larger group and move through each group’s response to its segment of the interview. (See Chapter Outline VI.f.)

2.

Document: A Black Sociology Professor Talks about Teenage Pregnancy in the Black Community, 1995 http://auth.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launchViewer.do?bookID=14923& globalBookID=CM97604171&bookEditionID=32190&invokeType=authoring&l aunchType=teacher Assign the lengthy sociologist report and its questions as the basis of a five-page essay on the problem of black unwed teenage mothers in the 1980s. As part of the research paper assignment, students should provide a modern statistical and analytical update of the problem to indicate how it manifests itself today. (See Chapter Outline II.j.)

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3.

Document: Exploring America---“Growing Inequality” http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=ExploringAmerica&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHAR ED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US/flipbooks/30_Growing_Inequality.html&width= 800&height=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes Assign the chapter for students to read at home and compile written answers to the questions from the sections “Stop and Consider” and “Reflect and Respond.”

As a secondary part of the assignment, ask students to interview an adult who remembers the 1980s and 1990s regarding the most pressing domestic issues of the era. Students should be prepared to discuss their research findings from the oral history component of the assignment. Students should be able to connect the reading material and the substance of the interview they conducted. (See Chapter Outline I.g.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a five-page paper based on the relationship between Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan within the Nation of Islam during the 1960s. (See Chapter Outline VII.a.)

2.

Assign a five-page research paper based on student analysis of Afrocentrism. (See Chapter Outline V.f.)

Long Assignments 1.

Assign a twelve-page research paper on the role of African Americans in American art and culture during the 1980s. (See Chapter Outline III.j.)

2.

Assign a twelve-page research paper on the persistence of black poverty in the modern era. (See Chapter Outline II.h.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

OJ Simpson: A Study in Black and White (2002, HBO, 51 minutes).

A production of HBO Sports, the documentary probes Simpson’s life and murder trial in the context of his celebrity and race relations in the U.S.

2.

Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2011, Stacey Peralta, 93 minutes).

This thought-provoking documentary connects the racial discrimination surrounding black life and the Watts riot in Los Angeles after World War II with the rise in gang violence during the 1980s.

3.

Something for Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012, Paul Toogood, 106 minutes).

This new documentary provides an overview of the main performers and groups in rap history, including music from the early days of rap. . 210

4.

Power Broker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights (2012, Taylor Hamilton, 1 hour).

This documentary follows Young’s career, including the period in which he was head of the Urban League, and provides information on the 1970s and 1980s.

5.

Poor Kids (2013, PBS Frontline, 53 minutes).

This Frontline segment focuses on the plight of modern poor children in the U.S., a large percentage of whom are African American.

6.

Endgame: AIDS in Black America (2012, PBS Frontline, 2 hours).

This documentary offers an overview of the impact of AIDS on the black community and explores how issues of race and gender exacerbate the trend.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Cornel West, Race Matters (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993).

West lays out the centrality of race in the U.S. as a defining part of American culture, politics, and society in the 1980s and early 1990s.

2.

Randall Robinson, The Debt (New York: Plume, 2000).

This is the defining book about the movement for reparations for slavery and other wrongs done to African Americans in U.S. history.

3.

Michael Eric Dyson, Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).

Dyson illustrates the evolution of black culture in the 1980s and 1990s and the cultural tensions developing within the black community over strategies of black uplift.

4.

Molefi Kete Asante, The Afrocentric Idea (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987).

Asante provides the classic text in the field of Afrocentrism and defines the movement.

5.

Clarence Walker, We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument about Afrocentrism (Oxford University Press, 2001).

This book is critical of Afrocentrism as an ideology that obscures more than it reveals about the African-American past.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/

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Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

2.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

3.

The Million Man March http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/megamarch/march.html CNN has compiled a mountain of information on the march, including links to newspaper articles, interviews, and video footage of the event.

4.

The Nation of Islam http://www.noi.org/ The official website of the Nation of Islam provides a host of information on the organization, its values, and its activities in the modern era.

5.

Jet Magazine http://jetmag.com/ The official website for Jet provides links to various articles on modern AfricanAmerican issues.

6.

Michael Jackson http://www.michaeljackson.com/us/home The official website for the Michael Jackson estate provides information on his life, particularly the final two decades of his life. Links to additional materials are included.

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CHAPTER 24: BLACK POLITICS FROM 1980 TO THE PRESENT: THE PRESIDENT OBAMA ERA 1980-2012

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter coves the last thirty years of black political organizing as conservative Republican administrations came into power in the 1980s. The evolution of black politics from the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the election (2008) and re-election (2012) of the first black President of the United States is best understood in four phases.

The first phase was marked by the rise of black elected officials on local and state levels.

In this first post-Civil Rights Movement phase, the black voting bloc solidified in support of the Democratic Party and pushed for policies that would strengthen their communities and secure their recently won citizenship rights. The second phase was highlighted by Jesse Jackson’s two unsuccessful bids for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 1984 and 1988. The third phase witnessed both the rise of black conservatives and the election in 2008 of the first African-American president. The emergence of a fourth phase since 2008 has been characterized by contradictory impulses. In 2008, with the election of Barack Obama and his inauguration on January 20, 2009, black politics came of age. While more than 90 percent of black voters supported President Obama’s re-election in 2012, black progressives debate whether he has significantly improved the lives of black people. They question Obama’s seeming lack of sustained attention to issues that affect African Americans, including chronic economic distress, relentless political assaults, the deterioration of black communities, the social, health, and workplace concerns of black women, and shrinking educational opportunities for black children. High rates of incarceration of black men, the disastrous federal response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the reform of the welfare state

by Democrats are reminders that we have a long way to go before racial discrimination on a massive scale is meaningfully reduced in this country.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 24-1 How did Jesse Jackson rise within the Democratic Party?

24-2 How did Reagan and Bush attempt to dismantle the “Great Society” and undermine social welfare programs?

24-3 What role did black conservatives play in the Republican Party in the 1980s and 1990s?

24-4 What are the “old” and “new” civil rights?

24-5 What were the focal points of black activism during the Reagan and Bush years?

24-6 How did general white perceptions of young black men shape trends in criminal justice in the 1990s?

24-7 Why did African Americans remain supportive of Bill Clinton’s presidency and remain loyal Democrats?

24-8 How did the events of 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and the election of Barack Obama affect black political consciousness?

24-9 In what ways does the election and reelection of Barack Obama represent a triumph of black politics?

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CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition a. In 1983, Jesse Jackson began his campaign for the U.S. presidency. b. Jackson appealed to what he called a “rainbow coalition” of people who felt politically marginalized and underrepresented. c. The Rainbow Coalition was composed of diverse groups of blacks, white workers, liberals, Latinos, feminists, students, and environmentalists. d. Jackson garnered almost one-fourth of the votes in the Democratic primaries and caucuses and one-eighth of the delegates to the convention. (See Classroom Activity 2.) e. In 2007 Senator Barack Obama of Illinois launched his campaign to become the Democratic presidential candidate. f. Throughout the 1980s white conservatives nurtured and mobilized their base of disillusioned southerners, alienated northerners, and wealthy elites. g. Not all black Americans benefited equally from the gains of the civil rights movement. h. By 2000, a white conservative backlash and resource-starved schools dampened the expectations and damaged the health and dignity of many poorer black people. i. The 2008–2010 recession delivered a major blow to black people in every income bracket but those in service professions and in low-skilled jobs fared far worse. j. The high unemployment of black women-headed households, and the so-called welfare-reform policies, especially devastated families and communities. k. African Americans anticipated that the Clinton victory in 1992 represented the rise of the rainbow coalition of progressive forces. l. Clinton was undoubtedly a friend to African America. But many of its hopes were only partly fulfilled. m. The conservative triumph in the 2000 and 2004 elections caused many AfricanAmerican leaders to reassess political strategies. n. A new generation of black politicians addressed the economic, healthcare, education, and security concerns of Americans in a healing new centrist voice. o. The 2008 victory that catapulted Barack Obama into the White House symbolized the triumph of the “Rainbow Coalition” strategy.

II.

Ronald Reagan and the Conservative Reaction a. The turn to the right in American politics had a devastating impact on African Americans, particularly the poor. b. With the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency, the executive branch sought to curtail civil rights, including affirmative action. c. The Reagan administration reduced welfare programs and staffed key agencies and the federal judiciary with opponents of affirmative action. d. An overwhelmingly white Republican Party became increasingly entrenched in the South and ended the Democratic Party’s’ long dominance. e. The political landscape of the 1980s and 1990s was marked by a hardening of ideological conflict between liberal Democrats and radical Republicans.

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f. Many white southerners opposed labor unions, school busing, affirmative action programs, and the tax burden they associated with welfare and entitlements. g. Many blacks invested symbolic importance in making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. h. Reagan resisted the idea but gave in to pressure from blacks and their white allies.

The U.S. officially observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20, 1985.

(See Discussion Question 2.) i. The New Right dismantled the social welfare programs created during the New Deal and President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. j. Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush halved federal grants to cities; innercity neighborhoods became more unstable. k. Reagan and Bush cloaked their intent to undermine rights-oriented policies by appointing black conservatives to key positions.

III.

Black Conservatives a. The role of black conservatives in 1991 was highlighted when President George H.W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. b. The anticipated easy confirmation process derailed when black law professor Anita Hill appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. c. Hill accused Thomas of sexually harassing her when she worked for him at the EEOC. (See Short Assignment 2.) d. Thomas charged that he was a victim of a “high-tech lynching” in the media and that Hill’s accusations were false. Some senators questioned Hill’s integrity. e. Many in the black community supported Thomas, but progressive feminists, white liberals, and some black people supported Hill. f. Thomas won confirmation to the Court by a narrow 52 to 48 majority. g. Justice Thomas remains an archconservative who votes with the conservative majority and opposes affirmative action. (See Lecture Starter 2.)

IV.

Debating the “Old” and the “New” Civil Rights The Reagan and Bush administrations distinguished between the “old civil rights law,” which they claimed to support, and the “new civil rights law,” which they opposed.

Developed between the Brown decision in 1954 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the old civil rights law prohibited intentional discrimination.

The new civil rights law was concerned with discriminatory outcomes, as measured by statistical disparities, rather than with discriminatory intent.

The remedies for such historic discrimination, collectively labeled affirmative action, tend to be statistical in nature.

They include increasing the number of minority pupils, employees, or elected officials to correspond to the percentage of the minority population.

In 1969 Arthur A. Fletcher, a black assistant secretary of labor in the Nixon administration, developed the “Philadelphia Plan.”

Firms with federal construction contracts were obligated to set and meet hiring goals for African Americans or be penalized.

a.

b. c. d. e. f. g.

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h. The plan became a model for subsequent “set-aside” programs that reserved some contracts for minority-owned businesses. i. The case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke reflected the white backlash to affirmative action. j. In 1978 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bakke’s favor. k. On June 23, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the law school’s practice of using race as a criterion in admissions procedures to create a diverse student body. l. The Court also banned the university from awarding points based on race as a criterion for admitting undergraduates.

V.

Black Political Activism at the End of the Twentieth Century a. The increased participation of black men and women in the upper echelons of the Democratic Party reflected the success of black electoral politics. b. Hundreds of blacks were elected to higher office at the state and national level in the 1970s and 1980s. c. By the 1990s African Americans had become an indispensable base of the Democratic Party. d. Congressional Democrats passed equal rights legislation to solidify gains that blacks had won. e. The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988 authorized withholding federal funds from an institution if it discriminated against people. f. The Fair Housing Act of 1988 held that an individual or the Department of Housing and Urban Development could bring a complaint of discrimination. g. Many African Americans focused on specific issues in the 1990s, such as reparations for slavery and the spread of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and Africa. h. In 1969 James Foreman, in his “Black Manifesto,” called on America’s churches and synagogues to collect $500 million for reparations for African Americans.

(See Discussion Question 1.) i. In 2000 the issue received widespread attention when Randall Robinson published The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks. j. Increasing numbers of black activists linked black liberation struggles with those that Africans in South Africa and elsewhere waged. k. In 1977 Randall Robinson founded TransAfrica to lobby for black political prisoners in South Africa, chief among them Nelson Mandela. l. The antiapartheid movement enlisted the help of white Americans on college campuses and pressured universities into pulling investments from South Africa. m. In 1986 the Black Congressional Caucus persuaded its colleagues to enact a trade embargo against South Africa and to sustain it over President Reagan’s veto.

VI.

The Rise in Black Incarceration a. The general white perception of black men as criminals increased following Bush’s election. b. Several high-profile cases since the 1991 police beating of Rodney King focused public attention on the relation of black communities to white police forces. c. In 1992, Detroit police officers murdered Malice Green, a 35-year-old black resident of the city. . 216

d. In 1997 a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima, was beaten and sodomized while in custody at a Brooklyn police station. e. In 1999 New York police shot Amadou Diallo, a West African immigrant, 41 times when they mistook his reaching for a wallet for going for a gun. f. In 2006 New York police officers killed unarmed Sean Bell, who was on his way to marry the mother of his two children. g. In each instance an enraged black community protested the police profiling as another instance of bias against black men. h. In 1998 the human rights group Amnesty International reported on police brutality in the United States. i. Crime has transformed once vibrant neighborhoods into virtual ghost towns where only the sound of gunfire disturbs the silence of the streets. j. Black-on-black crime has skyrocketed since the 1980s. k. Blacks have used their growing political power to make the police both responsive to crime and fair in enforcing the laws. l. The appointment of black police chiefs has been one key for changing the behavior of law enforcement officials. (See Short Assignment 1.)

VII. Black Politics, 1992-2001: The Clinton Presidency a. During his first campaign for the presidency in 1992, black Americans embraced Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton’s candidacy. (See MyLab Activity 2.) a. Most black people considered Clinton the best president on race issues since Lyndon Johnson. Writer Toni Morrison called Clinton the first black president. b. Clinton appointed many black women to positions in the White House and federal bureaucracy. c. Clinton’s economic programs were supported by the Congressional Black Caucus. d. Many black people who feared they would never gain a foothold in the economy found work during the Clinton years, some for the first time. e. Black voters were disappointed when Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a welfare reform bill. f. Many African Americans did not vote in the congressional elections in 1994, and the Democrats lost control of Congress. g. Progressive Democrats understood that race was no longer a matter of just black and white people. h. Many other groups were emerging, including Asian/Pacific Island-Americans, Arab-Americans, and Native Americans. i. Immigrants, especially migrant workers from Mexico, were forming labor organizations to fight for immigrant rights and social justice. j. Black community leaders and organizations worked hard to register voters and increase turnout for the 2000 election. k. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission found that tens of thousands of African Americans were disfranchised in Florida during the 2000 election.

VIII. Republican Triumph a. President Bush was aware that few African Americans had voted for him. .

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b. Bush made black appointments to key posts which tended to mute black criticism and placate white swing voters who disdained racial exclusion. c. Bush named General Colin Powell to be secretary of state and Condoleezza Rice to be his national security adviser. d. The No Child Left Behind Act has devastated inner city public schools to the detriment of thousands of black children. e. Hundreds of African Americans were among the more than 3,000 people murdered on September 11, 2001, in New York City and Washington, D.C. f. In 2004, African Americans would play a key role in determining the outcome of the presidential election. g. The black star of the Democratic Party national convention was the little-known state senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, who was running for the U.S. Senate.

(See MyLab Activity 1 and Lecture Starter 1.) h. In the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats regained control of Congress and several African Americans became chairs of House committees. i. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts became the second African American to be elected a governor in history. j. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in August of 2005, devastating black low-income neighborhoods. (See Long Assignment 2.) k. An inept government response compelled individuals and groups to use their own resources to bring relief to those trapped in New Orleans. l. New Orleans no longer possesses a black-majority population.

IX. Black Politics in the Present Era: Barak Obama, President of the United States a. Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party as its presidential candidate, the first black person to do so in U.S. history. b. Approximately 67 million people voted for Obama, giving him one of the largest winning percentages in American history. c. Obama’s victory signaled that “race” or “blackness” was no longer a barrier to the highest political office. d. In the presidential reelection of 2012, white women voted overwhelmingly for Obama, as did younger voters and black people. (See Classroom Activity 1.) e. Republican politicians went to great lengths to enact voter identification laws to suppress the black vote and reduce black electoral clout. f. The voter suppression movement had the opposite effect, and black voters turned out in a higher percentage than any other demographic group to reelect Obama.

(See Long Assignment 1.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1.

Start class by showing the 2004 Democratic Party convention nominating speech

by Senator Barak Obama. Ask the students why they think it helped him become president in 2008. (See Chapter Outline VIII.g.)

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2.

Start class by bringing in a copy of Clarence Thomas’s biography as listed on the Oyez website (see Suggested Websites, below). (See Chapter Outline III.g.)

Classroom Activities 1.

Bring in a blank map of the U.S. during the 2008 election and guide students through a process of placing information about the election on the map to explain why Obama won and how his election reconfigured national politics. (See Chapter Outline IX.d.)

2.

Screen the documentary The Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson and create a series of questions for students to answer verbally in class. (See Chapter Outline I.d.)

Discussion Questions: 1.

What is the argument for and against reparations for blacks? (See Chapter Outline V.h.)

Points to consider: In 1969 James Foreman, in his “Black Manifesto,” called on America’s churches and synagogues to collect $500 million as “a beginning of the reparations due us as a people who have been exploited and degraded, brutalized, killed, and persecuted.” In 2000 the issue of reparations for slavery received widespread attention when Randall Robinson published The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks. Robinson reasoned that because Jews and Japanese Americans have been compensated for the indignities and horrors they experienced in World War II, African Americans are also due financial indemnification for slavery.

Some black writers and journalists reject arguments that reparations are a realistic resolution of the nation’s slave and racist legacy.

2.

How did the holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., reach fruition in the 1980s? (See Chapter Outline II.h.)

Points to consider: Many African Americans invested symbolic importance in making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday, elevating him to the stature of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Reagan resisted the idea for the first four years of his administration, but he eventually gave in to pressure from African Americans and their white allies. On January 20, 1985, the United States officially observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the first time as a national holiday.

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Audio: The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, excerpt http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Audio&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/US/audio/the_audacity_of_hope_by_barack_obama.html&width =600&height=600&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes

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Play the twenty-second segment of President Barak Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” address to the Democratic Convention a few times for the class. Use the segment as a way to generate a discussion about the role Obama has played in shaping race relations during his time in office. Ask students how Obama negotiated the difficult terrain of balancing competing racial and ethnic interests in the context of his own mixed racial identity. You might also consider bringing written segments of Obama’s book to further understanding of his role in and impact on U.S. history. (See Chapter Outline VIII.g.)

2.

Video: The Clinton Years http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/visual_tool/PostColdWarAmerica_3.html Show to the class the overview of the Clinton presidency by a prominent historian. Use the five minute mini-lecture to launch a discussion about the goals and accomplishments of the Clinton administration in terms of American society, politics, and economy. At the end of the discussion, pass out an assignment for a five-page research paper based on a historical analysis of selected portions of the Clinton presidency, such as foreign relations, welfare reform, healthcare reform, and domestic scandals. (See Chapter Outline VII.a.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1.

Assign a four-page research paper on the interactions of police and the black community in the 1990s. (See Chapter Outline VI.l.)

2.

Assign a four-page paper based on the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill controversy in the early 1990s. (See Chapter Outline III.c.)

Long Assignments 1.

Create a ten-page oral history project based on student interviews of African American people with knowledge of a host of issues that the instructor and students can brainstorm on the board. The interviews should be supplemented by secondary sources on the topics. (See Chapter Outline IX.f.)

2.

Assign a ten-page research paper on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on southern blacks and the federal response to the disaster. Screen part of the lengthy documentary by Spike Lee to get students interested in the subject. (See Chapter Outline VIII.j.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Anita (2013, Freida Lee Mock, 95 minutes).

This long-awaited docudrama reveals the details of the Supreme Court controversy; it also includes interviews with Anita Hill. . 220

2.

Sex and Justice: Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas (1993, Julian Schlossberg, 77 minutes).

This documentary narrated by Gloria Steinem contains footage of the hearings and biographies of Hill and Thomas.

3.

Roads to Memphis: The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010, PBS, 2 hours).

This documentary probes the many theories surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and includes interviews with the King family.

4.

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006, Spike Lee, 4 hours).

This work by Spike Lee is by far the best documentary concerning the impact of Hurricane Katrina on black people in New Orleans and the inept federal response to the natural disaster.

5.

Dreams of Obama (2009, PBS Frontline, 56 minutes).

This Frontline documentary explores the life and times of Obama with a particular emphasis on his pre-Senate years.

6.

Inside the Obama Presidency (2013, PBS Frontline, 53 minutes).

This Frontline documentary focuses on the workings of the Obama presidency during his first term in office.

7.

The Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson (1996, PBS Frontline, 56 minutes).

The documentary covers Jackson’s life from childhood to the mid-1990s.

8.

Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2011, Stacey Peralta, 93 minutes).

This thought-provoking documentary connects the racial discrimination surrounding black life and the Watts riot in Los Angeles after World War II with the rise in gang violence during the 1980s and 1990s.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Barak Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006).

This is the inspiring book that won Obama the presidency in 2008.

2.

Colin Powell, with Tony Koltz, It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership (New York: HarperCollins, 2012).

One of several books that Powell has written with others, this volume yields insights into his role as Secretary of State.

3.

Roger Bruns, Jesse Jackson: A Biography (New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005).

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This book probes the role of Jackson in the major events of his era, including the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections.

4.

Condoleezza Rice, No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington (New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2011).

Rice’s autobiography provides an overview of her days in the White House as Secretary of State under George Bush.

5.

Demico Boothe, Why Are So Many Black Men in Prison? (New York: Full Surface Publishing, 2007).

This book takes a hard look at the problem of over-incarceration of black men within the context of the controversial War on Drugs campaign by federal officials since the 1980s.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

The White House of President Barak Hussein Obama http://www.whitehouse.gov/ This site provides many links to Obama’s daily operations in the White House and his latest statements, speeches, and travels.

2.

Jesse Jackson http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/jesse/ This website accompanies the PBS Frontline documentary on Jackson and contains links to his speeches and interviews.

3.

Anita Hill Interview http://news.stanford.edu/news/2002/april3/anitahill-43.html This Stanford University site contains a lengthy and significant 2002 interview with Hill and provides links to videos of her talks on the Clarence Thomas controversy.

4.

Clarence Thomas Biography http://www.oyez.org/justices/clarence_thomas This website provides a lengthy biography of Thomas and his role on the Court.

5.

African American Odyssey http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/ Part of the American Memory series created by the Library of Congress, this site contains many documents on a wide range of subjects in African-American history.

6.

African American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html

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This Library of Congress site provides a research guide for the primary documents relating to African-American history in the Library of Congress. The site is useful for the entire range of black history subjects and timelines.

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END-OF-BOOK RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS Project 1: Debating the Concepts of Separatism vs. Integration Towards the end of the semester, divide the class into several groups and organize an in-class debate based on student response to the following question: How have African Americans addressed the complex issue of separatism vs. integration in the past three hundred years of U.S. history? Allow the students to take two weeks to meet in groups, conduct research, and arrive at various positions and answers on the subject. Historical evidence from the text as well as films shown in class should be marshaled by each group to explain how black institutions, people, and movements have responded to racism and segregation over time.

Project 2: Connecting Current Events to Historical Themes Design an assignment covering the entire semester that asks students to collect contemporary and recent news article on a wide range of issues in black history from the internet or other useful sources of historical current events. Students should designate a special folder to collect the articles and provide a written summary of each article in a journal during the semester. The students should collate their articles with the idea of writing both an essay and designing an oral presentation on how current news stories reflect the relevant themes, trends, and findings in black history presented in the textbook.

Project 3: Analyzing Web Pages Divide the class into several groups and assign a web-based project that asks each group to locate and analyze 25 scholarly-based websites that focus on any subject related to African American history. Each group will need to divide up the work fairly for all students involved in the project. Be sure to either explain to students or have them read an article about the important differences between scholarly vs. amateur websites. The instructor or the class as a whole will need to develop a set list of criteria in which to analyze the websites. Some of the criteria may include: How does the site use visual imagery to convey historical information? What elements does the website omit from its presentation of black history? What qualifies as an excellent vs. mediocre black history-based website? Each student will turn in a sixpage essay based on their findings. Each group will also provide a group presentation on the various types of sites they found, and the usefulness of each site.

Project 4: Understanding Museum Presentations Locate the relevant history-based museums and other institutions in your community that cover black history and provide students with a map or internet link to find the sites. These museums should range from county and town institutions to larger state and national sites if available in the local community. The assignment consists of students visiting the locations, taking notes in visual and written form, and writing a six-page essay based on how museums convey information about black history.

Assign a relevant article that will assist students in analyzing museum displays.

Students may discover that museums omit or downplay black history in favor of other

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subjects in U.S. history. Students should also be prepared to present their findings in an oral presentation of fifteen to twenty minutes conducted at the end of the semester.

Project 5: Discovering Oral History At the start of the semester, assign a lengthy oral history project for individual students to complete through the writing of a research paper of eight or more pages.

The assignment also includes a fifteen to twenty minute oral presentation at the end of the semester based on student findings. Students will need to locate one or more people of African American descent willing to participate in an interview about the history of their family. Students will also need to design specific questions to ask their subject regarding family history and its intersection with overall trends in black history. Be sure to have students read an article on the ethics and mechanics of conducting oral history interviews before assigning the project. Hold a class discussion about the proper methods of doing oral history, and the problems to avoid in the process.

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