African-American Civil Rights Movement (1865–1895)
Encyclopedia
The African-American Civil Rights Movement (1865–1895) refers to the post-Civil War reform movements in the United States aimed at eliminating racial discrimination
against African American
s, improving educational and employment opportunities, and establishing electoral power. This period between 1865 and 1895 saw tremendous change in the fortunes of the black community following the elimination of slavery in the South.
The year 1865 held two important events in the history of African Americans: the Thirteenth Amendment
, which eliminated slavery
, was ratified; and Union
troops arrived in June in Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation
, giving birth to the modern Juneteenth
celebrations. Freedmen looked to start new lives as the country recovered from the devastation of the Civil War
.
Immediately following the Civil War, the federal government began a program known as Reconstruction aimed at rebuilding the states of the former Confederacy
. The federal programs also provided aid to the former slaves and attempted to integrate them into society. During and after this period, blacks made substantial gains in their political power and many were able to move from poverty
into the middle class
. At the same time resentment by many white
s toward these gains led to unprecedented violence and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
.
The year 1896 held the landmark Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson
, , which upheld "separate but equal" racial segregation, which proved a major setback to civil rights efforts. Throughout the post-war period anti-progressives waged efforts to curtail these efforts. This case and other events in the 1890s marked a turning point beyond which the civil rights progress in the 19th century was dramatically reversed.
Much of the early reform movement during this era was spearheaded by the Radical Republicans, a splinter group of the Republican Party
which rejoined the mainstream party after Reconstruction. But, by the end of the century the so-called Lily-White Movement
had managed to substantially weaken the power of blacks in the party. The most important civil rights leaders of this period were Frederick Douglass
and Booker T. Washington
.
, the White League
and the Jim Crow laws
which continued to make them second-class citizens,. Motivated by important figures such as Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, as many as forty thousand Exodusters
left the South
to settle in Kansas, Oklahoma
and Colorado
.
This was the first general migration
of blacks following the Civil War
. In the 1880s, blacks bought more than 20000 acres (80.9 km²) of land in Kansas, and several of the settlements made during this time (e.g. Nicodemus, Kansas
, which was founded in 1877) still exist today. This sudden wave of migration came as a great surprise to many white Americans
, who did not realize that black southerners were free in name only. Many blacks left the South with the belief that they were receiving free passage to Kansas, only to be stranded in St. Louis, Missouri
. Black churches in St. Louis, together with Eastern
philanthropists, formed the Colored Relief Board and the Kansas Freedmen's Aid Society to help those stranded in St. Louis to reach Kansas.
One particular group was the Kansas Fever Exodus which consisted of six thousand blacks who moved from Mississippi
, Louisiana
and Texas
to Kansas. Many in Louisiana were inspired to leave the state when the 1879 Louisiana Constitutional Convention decided that voting rights were a matter for the state, not federal, government, thereby clearing the way for the disenfranchisement of Louisiana's black population.
The exodus was not universally praised by African Americans; indeed, Frederick Douglass
was a critic. Douglass felt that the movement was ill-timed and poorly organized.
Most historians state that the upper class among the black population was largely mulatto
. Apart from sympathetic, liberal whites, these wealthier, mixed-race blacks represented the majority of the leaders in the civil rights movement of the 19th century.
...
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
against African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, improving educational and employment opportunities, and establishing electoral power. This period between 1865 and 1895 saw tremendous change in the fortunes of the black community following the elimination of slavery in the South.
The year 1865 held two important events in the history of African Americans: the Thirteenth Amendment
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...
, which eliminated slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, was ratified; and Union
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops arrived in June in Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with nearly...
, giving birth to the modern Juneteenth
Juneteenth
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States honoring African American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865...
celebrations. Freedmen looked to start new lives as the country recovered from the devastation of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Immediately following the Civil War, the federal government began a program known as Reconstruction aimed at rebuilding the states of the former Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. The federal programs also provided aid to the former slaves and attempted to integrate them into society. During and after this period, blacks made substantial gains in their political power and many were able to move from poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
into the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
. At the same time resentment by many white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
s toward these gains led to unprecedented violence and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
.
The year 1896 held the landmark Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses , under the doctrine of "separate but equal".The decision was handed...
, , which upheld "separate but equal" racial segregation, which proved a major setback to civil rights efforts. Throughout the post-war period anti-progressives waged efforts to curtail these efforts. This case and other events in the 1890s marked a turning point beyond which the civil rights progress in the 19th century was dramatically reversed.
Much of the early reform movement during this era was spearheaded by the Radical Republicans, a splinter group of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
which rejoined the mainstream party after Reconstruction. But, by the end of the century the so-called Lily-White Movement
Lily-White Movement
The Lily-White Movement was an anti-civil-rights movement within the Republican Party in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement was a response to the political and socioeconomic gains made by African-Americans following the Civil War and the Thirteenth...
had managed to substantially weaken the power of blacks in the party. The most important civil rights leaders of this period were Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
and Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
.
Kansas Exodus
Following the end of Reconstruction, many blacks feared the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, the White League
White League
The White League was a white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and political organizing. Its first chapter in Grant Parish, Louisiana was made up of many of the Confederate veterans who had participated in the...
and the Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
which continued to make them second-class citizens,. Motivated by important figures such as Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, as many as forty thousand Exodusters
Exodusters
Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who fled the Southern United States for Kansas in 1879 and 1880. After the end of Reconstruction, racial oppression and rumors of the reinstitution of slavery led many freedmen to seek a new place to live....
left the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
to settle in Kansas, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
This was the first general migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
of blacks following the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the 1880s, blacks bought more than 20000 acres (80.9 km²) of land in Kansas, and several of the settlements made during this time (e.g. Nicodemus, Kansas
Nicodemus, Kansas
Nicodemus is a small unincorporated community in Graham County in North Central Kansas, located 2000 ft above sea level in the middle of the Great Plains region of the United States. The community was founded in 1877 and is named for an African American who escaped enslavement...
, which was founded in 1877) still exist today. This sudden wave of migration came as a great surprise to many white Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, who did not realize that black southerners were free in name only. Many blacks left the South with the belief that they were receiving free passage to Kansas, only to be stranded in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Black churches in St. Louis, together with Eastern
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
philanthropists, formed the Colored Relief Board and the Kansas Freedmen's Aid Society to help those stranded in St. Louis to reach Kansas.
One particular group was the Kansas Fever Exodus which consisted of six thousand blacks who moved from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to Kansas. Many in Louisiana were inspired to leave the state when the 1879 Louisiana Constitutional Convention decided that voting rights were a matter for the state, not federal, government, thereby clearing the way for the disenfranchisement of Louisiana's black population.
The exodus was not universally praised by African Americans; indeed, Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
was a critic. Douglass felt that the movement was ill-timed and poorly organized.
Leadership
...Most historians state that the upper class among the black population was largely mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
. Apart from sympathetic, liberal whites, these wealthier, mixed-race blacks represented the majority of the leaders in the civil rights movement of the 19th century.
...
Key figures
- Norris Wright CuneyNorris Wright CuneyNorris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, was an American politician, union leader, and African American activist in Texas in the United States. He became active in Galveston politics serving as an alderman and a national Republican delegate...
(1846–1898), Galveston, TexasGalveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
union organizer and chairman of the Republican Party of TexasRepublican Party of TexasThe Republican Party of Texas is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. State of Texas. It is affiliated with the United States Republican Party. The State Chairman is Steve Munisteri, a retired attorney and businessman from Houston, and the Vice-Chair is Melinda Fredricks of Conroe....
. - Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
(circa 1818–1895), prominent abolitionist before the war, an author, publisher, and diplomat afterward. Douglass is considered the first black lead of national stature. - John Mercer LangstonJohn Mercer LangstonJohn Mercer Langston was an American abolitionist, attorney, educator, and political activist. He was the first dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University. In 1888 he was the first African...
(1829–1897), Virginia attorney, U.S. House representative, and president of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State UniversityVirginia State UniversityVirginia State University is a historically black and land-grant university located north of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield, in the Richmond area. Founded on , Virginia State was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans...
). - Robert SmallsRobert SmallsRobert Smalls was an enslaved African American who, during and after the American Civil War, became a ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician. He freed himself and his family from slavery on May 13, 1862, by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, the Planter, to freedom in Charleston harbor...
(1839–1915), Civil War Union hero, U.S. House representative from South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and founder of the Republican Party of South Carolina. - Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
(1856–1915), educator, author, and first head of the Tuskeegee Institute.
See also
- American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
- 19th-century African-American civil rights activists
- Nadir of American race relationsNadir of American race relationsThe "nadir of American race relations" is a term that refers to the period in United States history from the end of Reconstruction through the early 20th century, when racism in the country is deemed to have been worse than in any other period after the American Civil War. During this period,...
- American Civil Rights Movement
- African American HistoryAfrican American historyAfrican-American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of captive Africans held in the United States from 1619 to 1865...
- Timeline of the American Civil Rights MovementTimeline of the American Civil Rights MovementThis is a timeline of African-American Civil Rights Movement.-Pre-17th century:1565*unknown – The colony of St...
- Timeline of Racial Tension in Omaha, NebraskaTimeline of racial tension in Omaha, NebraskaThe timeline of racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska lists events in African-American history in Omaha. These included racial violence, but also include many firsts as the African- American community built its institutions. Omaha has been a major industrial city on the edge of what was a rural,...