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Disfranchisement In The Late 1800s

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Segregation and Disfranchisement in the late 1800s
In the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1875, African-Americans took huge strides towards gaining equality. Within the next year, all of these achievements were turned against them. African-American’s right to vote was stolen from them with unfair and unnecessary laws; their fundamental rights as citizens of the United States were stripped from them, creating setbacks that lasted for decades.
When the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, all citizens were defined the ability to vote despite their race, color, or if they had previously been a slave. This monumental step forward was taken away with the introduction of Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws are local laws that southern cities created to fortify segregation. The Grandfather clause, which was one of the worst Jim Crow laws introduced, said that if your grandparents couldn’t vote, then neither could you. Because …show more content…

These facilities ranged from bathrooms to corporations and even to simple water fountains. White individuals were given clean, upgraded facilities to use, while anyone of colored skin was given disgusting, broken-down facilities. On the other side of the spectrum, the lynching of these people was a public display and occurred often. African-Americans were publically killed, commonly by hanging, to atone for crimes they supposedly committed. These killings were done without a trial to prove their guilt, and could be claimed by anyone, similarly to the witch accusations in the 1600s. Another form of segregation could be seen in the workforce. Certain jobs were reserved for white individuals, typically desk jobs, while people of color were given degrading jobs such as farming to remind them of their previous slave status. This form of segregation was both psychological and physical, and very

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