The African Americans were not able to vote because the whites and the government disenfranchised the African Americans; until the 15th Amendment. The African Americans were considered illiterate to the Whites. The 15th amendment states that they could no longer discriminate based on race. Even though this amendment sounded like good news, the Whites still made literacy test and poll taxes that the African Americans had to do even before voting. The African Americans couldn’t run for office either, they still had Democrats and Republicans.
For example, in the south, Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from marrying whites. Also, black literacy rates were low in the south because they were not offered the same educational opportunities as whites; states spent ten times more money on white schools than black schools. Also, blacks were expected to address white men as ‘master’ or ‘sir’ whilst being referred to as ‘boy’ themselves. They faced both de facto and de jure discrimination in the south. Also, black housing was significantly worse than white housing – 40% of black housing was substandard whilst only 12% of white housing was.
Basically all of the South’s resources were going to hell. Uncertain economic times make it pretty hard to make a living. African Americans found themselves to be politically limited during this time as Southern states passed laws that limited their access to exercise their right to vote. Literacy tests were used to keep blacks away from ballot boxes, as some states limited the right to vote to those who could pass a literacy test; a large majority of slaves had never learned to read or write. Not surprisingly, white voters were often given easier passages than blacks.
The War Labor Bond outlawed unequal pay to whites and non-whites doing equal work. Before the war, the African American population had been mainly southern, rural, and agricultural; within a few years, a substantial percentage of African Americans were northern, urban, and industrial. While discrimination in the workplace was hardly eliminated, twice as many blacks held skilled jobs at the end of the war as at the beginning. The northward migration of African Americans accelerated the rising demands for racial equality. As nearly 750,000 blacks relocated to northern cities, many sensed the possibility of political power for the first time in their lives.
Therefore they had no rights as citizens. In the years after the war they did gain some improvements and began to protest for more, but by 1955 this was not enough to make a difference. Black Americans were subjected to segregation. The ‘Jim Crow’ laws meant that they had to use separate diners, separate schools and separate transport. This was
Despite a fair amount of blacks have become middle class, they are still seen as blacks. This unfair treatment seems to keep the blacks and whites separated, or keeping blacks “in their place”, resulting in a lack of upward mobility. Even though this continuously happens, Gans really has no explanation for it. Perhaps a fear of darkness, or people with “negriod” features. Other reasons could be that the majority of blacks were poor for two generations, and one out of every four lives in poverty today.
The Deprivation Freed Blacks Faced In between the years 1820-1860, political, economic and social changes were occurring in America. Free African Americans continued to expand throughout different cities and states. In fact “in the year of 1820, there were 233,504 freed African Americans living in the United States in which free blacks were accounted for only 2.4 percent of the American population.” (Clark-Hine, C-Hine, and Harrold). However, by the year of 1860 the percentage of free African Americans rapidly increased in many cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and Richmond. Because of the expansion of free African Americans, many white people feared the thought of competing with another races.
From Good to Bad The Roaring Twenties was a decade that continued in innovation and invention but also included a great shaping of American culture that had never been seen. Changes in entertainment, living, buying and even the mindset of Americans was quickly changing. During this era the black people of America started to migrate out of the south and into different parts of the nation, mostly west and north. Great flooding from the mississippi forced a lot but many moved by choice. After this migration, 40% of the 12 million blacks lived in cities with 2 million of them in urban areas in the west and north.
During the existence of segregation laws, African Americans lived poor lives. The laws limited them to such things as their choice of schools, the available jobs, which places they could occupy in public, and voting privileges. These limitations made it apparent that African Americans were not viewed as equal, nor were they shown any respect. Although segregation laws lasted for many years, they were not permanent and eventually faded out during the civil rights
In fact, rapid economic development can boost the speed of the urbanization in both The First and Third World. Let us see an example in The First World. Chicago, is home to 2.7 million residents and is the third most populous city in the United States. (U.S. Census Bureau) However, in 1833, Chicago is only a city with the population around 200. (WGBH Educational Foundation And Window to the World Communications) In 1848 , the first railway opened