Chapter 7 Issues of the Gilded Age 1877

Chapter 7 Issues of the Gilded Age 1877 -1900 Chapter focus What political, social, and economic issues, did the nation face during the late 1800’s?

Section Focus Segregation and Social Tensions �How were civil and political rights of certain groups in America undermined during the years after reconstruction?

Why it Matters �During Reconstruction, the federal government sought to secure equal rights for African Americans. By the time of the Gilded Age (1877 -1900), however, African Americans and other minorities experienced a narrowing of heir rights. This turn away from equality for all had a lasting impact on society.

African Americans lose Freedoms � 1876 President Hayes removes federal troops from the South � Ending Reconstruction �Allows Southern States to reassert control over African Americans without fear of federal intervention � Disenfranchise – take away voting rights � Jim Crow Laws - keep blacks and white segregated

States limit voting rights � 15 th amendment – cant deny right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” �How will Southern States get around this? � Poll Tax – pay tax to vote � Literacy Test – most Africans cannot afford/denied education � Grandfather Clause – allowed to vote if ancestor voted prior to 1866

States limit voting rights �Black political participation on Deep South falls dramatically �Louisiana – 1894 registered Black voters 130, 000 - 1904 1, 300 registered black voters By World War II 3% of blacks in the south eligible to vote

New Laws Force Segregation �Jim Crow becomes the way of life in the South � Legal separation of the races �Not all Whites agree its a good idea �Place undue burden on society, to expensive �Separate facilities for “colored” people � Restaurants � Parks � Jury boxes � Bibles � Train cars

Plessy vs. Ferguson � 1896 Supreme Court upheld constitutionality of Jim Crow laws. � “separate but equal facilities did not violate the 14 th amendment” � Facilities were rarely equal � 1915 South Carolina spends $14 for every white student and $3 for every black student

African Americans Oppose Injustices �African Americans refuse to except status as second class citizens �Establish black newspapers, women’s clubs, schools and colleges, �United in determination to “never turn back”

Booker T. Washington �Most famous Black leader of the late 1800’s � Founded Tuskegee, University � Born a slave �Believed that blacks should accommodate themselves to segregation, not focus energy on overturning Jim crow �Called for building up their economic resources and establishing reputations as hard working honest citizens � 1 st African American invited to the White House

J. P. Morgan Andrew Carnegie

W. E. B. Du Bois �Harvard Ph. D. from Great Barrington, Mass � 1 s African American Ph. D from Harvard � Founded NAACP �Strongly disagreed with Booker T Washington � Argued that Washington wrongly shifted the burden of achieving equality from the nation to the “ Negro’s Shoulders” alone

Ida B. Wells �Former slave �Newspaper editor �Railed against practice of Lynching

Chinese Immigrants face Discrimination � 1879 California barred cities from employing Chinese peoples �Segregated schools established �White mobs attack Chinese workers � “They took r jobs” �Chinese Exclusion Act � Prohibits Chinese from laborers from entering the country

Mexican American Struggles in the West �Many Mexican Americans lose land claims in the West. � Difficult to prove ownership of land �Owned land for so long, no paper work �Courts would side with Whites �Las Gorras Blancas � Mexican-American group resisted large property owners � Burned houses � Cut holes in fences � Supported by the Knights of Labor

Women Make Gains �Begin to organize for suffrage �Begin to go to college � 1900 - 1/3 rd of all college students are women � Begin to make advances in Temperance Movement

Section focus Question �How were civil and political rights of certain groups in America undermined during the years after reconstruction? �African Americans were forced to live under segregation, their voting rights were limited. Chinese Americans were discriminated against and Chinese immigration ended. Mexican Americans lost their land. Women were denied the right to vote.