ipl-logo

Essay On Disenfranchisement

1027 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in america short explonation

The system of racial domination known as "Jim Crow" worked to oppress African Americans economically, socially, and politically through the use of the law and violence. Jim Crow was essentially a series of laws that went against African Americans, a system specifically made to keep blacks segregated in the United States. This almost made it impossible for black people to live peacefully with their newly found "freedom." African Americans were economically, socially and politically abused through the uses of sharecropping, racial segregation, and disenfranchisement in societies. To begin, sharecropping was a type of farming that allowed people to rent small plots of land from landowners in exchange for a portion of their crop during harvesting …show more content…

Disenfranchisement was a system that took the vote away from blacks resulting in taking away a black man 's political power. White political leaders initially used this as a way to take the vote away from African Americans without seeming to violate the fifteenth amendment. 95 percent of blacks were forced to be excluded from the ability to participate in many political elections and conventions. In reading #3 on page 4, the writer explains some key aspects pertaining to the use of disenfranchisement. "And then, from roughly 1890-1908, southern states implemented de juire, or legal, disenfranchisement. They placed laws requiring voters to pass literacy tests (which could be judged arbitrarily) and pay poll taxes (which hit poor whites and poor blacks alike), effectively denying black men the franchise that was supposed to have been guaranteed by the 15th amendment"(page 4, reading #3). Since many blacks were poor and uneducated, the government used methods such as literacy tests and poll taxes to ensure that blacks would not be able to vote. Literacy tests were usually unnecessarily long and if a voter answered one question wrong, their entire participation in the election process was taken away. Blacks didn 't receive the best education, some received no education at all, making them more likely to not pass the test taking away their privilege to vote.

Show More
Related
1218 Words | 5 Pages

Although African Americans were free, they were treated as less than a white U.S Citizen. Up until 1870, black people were unable to vote. Ulysses S. Grant despised these injustices and made it his presidential goal to fight for civil rights. On February 3, the 15th Amendment was passed giving African Americans the right to vote. This empowered a new collective of people to voice their opinions.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

The system of sharecropping was only a modified alternative for slavery considering the workers would always have debt owed to the landowner and they were not treated much better. They would rent a small portion of land and then they would give the landowner the majority of the crops. Document D shows how sharecropping was spread widely throughout the South, replacing slavery. This prevented freedmen from being completely free, even after slavery had been abolished. In addition, many African Americans in the North were limited when it came to getting jobs.

Read More
156 Words | 1 Pages

Pertaining to the rights of African Americans a new south did not appear after the reconstruction. While they were “free” they were often treated harshly and kept in a version of economic slavery by either their former masters or other white people in power. Sharecropping and the crop-lien system often had a negative impact on both the black and white tenants keeping them in debt with the owner. Jim Crow laws, vigilantes and various means of disfranchisement became the normal way of life in the South. It was believed that white people were superior to black people and when they moved up in politics or socially they were harassed and threatened.

Read More
491 Words | 2 Pages

Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.

Read More
1017 Words | 5 Pages

The voting act was an act that supported that african americans have the right to vote like any white man. Another tactic used was the idea of Black Nationalism. African Americans united together was under Malcolm X and islam. Malcolm X gave African Americans a idea of black nationalism and that they are good and better than white people. Also SNCC, which used to have white members purged them all so that the African Americans can do things themselves without the help of any white men.

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

For years, laws have justified white supremacy in America, and the oppression of black people as well. Before there were Jim Crow laws, there were black codes. Before there were black codes, there were slave codes. These three things were all used to provide white people with a sense of supremacy and protection, while subjugating and oppressing black people. Slave codes began in 1705 to validate the treatment of black slaves and to divide and conquer.

Read More
1639 Words | 7 Pages

The disenfranchisement of Black Americans is as old as their presence in The United States. This disenfranchisement manifests itself in many different ways and is perpetuated on an institutional and individual levels. The oppression that blacks face have been consistently resisted by Black people and our allies. One of the more favorable ways of resistance towards institutional racism in the past and in the present has been to create legal reform. Laws such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment, also referred to as Reconstruction Amendments, are some laws that alleviated the oppression black people faced.

Read More
1468 Words | 6 Pages

'Sharecropping ', a new agricultural system, made plantation owners divide their properties to allow both black and white people to work the

Read More
563 Words | 3 Pages

The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

African Americans were allowed to vote however they were intimidated fear their lives to both so it was useless. Newly freed slaves were aided through the usage of federal laws and constitutional amendments. Former slaves were enabled to vote, own property, legally marriage, receive and education and file lawsuits. This extended the power of the newly freedmen. Women were jealous because they still weren't allowed to vote or have a say in

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

5th Hour Cause and Effect Essay Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were unfair and unjust to all African-Americans by making them unequal. The Jim Crow laws are laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. It used the term separate but equal, even though conditions for African Americans were always worst than their white counterparts. They could not eat at the same restaurant as white people, they could not used the same restrooms, and they couldn't even use the same drinking fountain.

Read More
645 Words | 3 Pages

But, when these officials were elected to Congress, they passed the “black codes” and thus the relations between the president and legislators became worst (Schriefer, Sivell and Arch R1). These so called “Black Codes” were “a series of laws to deprive blacks of their constitutional rights” that they were enacted mainly by Deep South legislatures. Black Codes differ from a state to another but they were stricter in the Deep South as they were sometimes irrationally austere. (Hazen 30) Furthermore, with the emergence of organizations such as the Red Shirts and the White League with the rise of the Conservative White Democrats’ power, efforts to prevent Black Americans from voting were escalating (Watts 247), even if the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S constitution that gave the Blacks the right to vote had been ratified in 1870.

Read More
930 Words | 4 Pages

Many people were brutally beaten and there were also some that lost their lives, because of it. Lyndon B Johnson begins his speech his by convincing his listener that he will flight for what is owed to the Negros. That is the equal right to vote regardless of your race. The speech “We Shall Overcome”, speech gets to the core of the problem within the Legislation itself. He wants to see that everyone will abide by the 15th Amendment that gives Negros the right and the privilege to vote without any recourse, without worrying

Read More
1821 Words | 8 Pages

Even though the government adopted the Voting Rights Act in 1965, African Americans’ suffrages were still restricted because of southern states’ obstructions. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was important for blacks to participate in political elections, but before this act was passed, there were several events led to its proposal. The government gave African Americans’ the right to vote by passing the 15th Amendment, but in the Southern States, blacks’ suffrages were limited by grandfather clauses, “poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions” (ourdocuments.gov). As times went on, most African Americans couldn’t register their votes.

Read More
650 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine living in a society where the tone of one’s skin subjected them to unfair treatment and rules. This was the reality to African-Americans in the South from the end of the nineteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century. Richard Wright describes the experiences of living with Jim Crow laws in his essay “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow.” African-Americans were oppressed, especially the women, and forced to follow absurd rules. Many times, the police only encouraged these unlawful rules and targeted Blacks.

Read More

More about Essay On Disenfranchisement

Related Topics

Open Document