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Review Of C. Vann Woodward's The Strange Career Of Jim Crow

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When the Civil War ended in 1864, African Americans thought that their lives would progress, but their lives dramatically changed when Jim Crow Laws were put into effect. The Jim Crow Laws legalized separation between blacks and whites. The Civil Rights Act stated that all races were permitted to equal treatment, but the Courts explained that this rule did not apply to those of higher power. There was confusion about the validity of segregation until the court case of Plessy v. Ferguson disputed it. In Journal of Southern History, Larry Rivers claims that “In a 7-1 decision, the Court assigned constitutional legitimacy to the burgeoning system of Jim Crow racial segregation.” After the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, Jim Crow Laws became more …show more content…

Vann Woodward, examines the Jim Crow Laws after the Civil War had taken place. Majority of the book is a series of lectures by Woodward, himself, that are directed towards the South. The historical context which “The Strange Career of Jim Crow” is written took place during the Civil Rights Movement. Several legal cases, such as the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, played a prominent role in race relation issues. C. Vann Woodward used a tremendous amount of precise, historical evidence throughout his book. Woodward also used many facts and other resources, such as The Reconstruction Act and The Civil Rights Act, to support his …show more content…

Vann Woodward discusses the downfall of the Jim Crow Laws. In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case ruled that segregation of public schools was unlawful. Woodward notes in his book that “the court’s decision of 17 May was the most momentous and far-reaching of the century in civil rights. It reversed a constitutional trend started long before Plessy v. Ferguson, and it marked the beginning of the end of Jim Crow.” Implementation was something new to everyone. The North and the states that lie between the North and South accepted implementation, and, although there was no outburst, the Deep South was on the edge about the decision to integrate both

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America’s history has been marked by periods of tumult and periods of stability within its borders, C. Vann Woodward’s book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, chronicles the events that happen after the Reconstruction period, showcasing the problems that Americans went through. The Strange Career of Jim Crow attacks segregation starting with its foundations and then records the laws and codes that the African-American population lived under during that time period. In his book Woodward points out the origins of Jim Crow laws and the segregation that goes with it, stating “One of the strangest things about the career of Jim Crow was that the system was born in the North and reached an advanced age before moving South in force. ”1 This book review

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672 Words | 3 Pages

Book Review In C. Vann Woodward’s, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, C. Vann Woodward gives his complete insight of the historical events, the racially proclaimed issues that took place, and his analysis of the history of Jim Crow laws, during the end of the Civil War all the way to the ending of the Civil Rights. Summary of Book The Strange Career of Jim Crow is written in six detailed chapters, in which the introduction of Jim Crow is evolving and becoming more apparent to the South. “Of Old Regimes and Reconstructions” elaborates on the segregation of the South right after the Civil War and the North being blamed for the cause of segregation.

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1805 Words | 8 Pages

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is known as one of the most important books of out time. This is a book that makes the reader appreciate the magnitude of the crisis faced by communities of color as a result of mass incarceration. As noted, this book is not for everyone. It’s for people who are interested in seeing the injustice that many people of color have to face in the United States. In this book, we will see many similarities about our criminal justice system and something that looks and feels like the era of Jim Crow, an era we supposedly left behind.

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Brown v. Board (1954) was a landmark decision which overturned the previous “separate but equal” verdict. Accordingly it arguably helped civil rights immensely as it set a legal precedent for desegregation across America. It did not remedy rampant racist attitudes nor did it stop the states from completely disregarding the legislation entirely. Continuously by states, this legal precedent remained ignored and challenged. Most famously being the Little Rock Nine (1957) which black students had restricted access to a white high school.

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770 Words | 4 Pages

Annabelle Wintson Bower History 8A March 12, 2018 Title Although the slavery was abolished in 1865, the rights given to African Americans were not nearly equal to those of white Americans. After slavery was abolished, inequality in American society ran high, and many laws were put in place to restrict the rights and abilities of African Americans. Some laws include the Jim Crow Laws (1870 to 1950s) and the Supreme Court Ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that ruled that there could be “separate but equal” facilities and services for people of color and white Americans.

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The effects of Jim Crow were deeply imbedded into the culture of America. Jim Crow became a powerful force in white America through legislation, racism, and housing differences. After the falling out of the white supremacist ability to hold power, the elite whites found “loopholes” to pass legislation in order to maintain the racial hierarchy to oppress. A major turn in this was the Supreme Court decision of Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896, ruling that “separate but equal” is constitutional.

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Sure, this has been more than a century long battle, but education is important. This book serves it purpose, and Michelle Alexander’s aim of educating people on the oppressive legal systems in America, is met. Alexander says, “Arguably the most important parallel between mass incarceration and Jim Crow is that both have served to define the meaning and significance of race in America. Indeed, a primary function of any racial caste system is to define the meaning of race in its time. Slavery defined what it meant to be black (a slave), and Jim Crow defined what it meant to be black (a second-class citizen).

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1551 Words | 7 Pages

For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and

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Jim Crow was not a person, it was a series of laws that imposed legal segregation between white Americans and African Americans in the American South. It promoting the status “Separate but Equal”, but for the African American community that was not the case. African Americans were continuously ridiculed, and were treated as inferiors. Although slavery was abolished in 1865, the legal segregation of white Americans and African Americans was still a continuing controversial subject and was extended for almost a hundred years (abolished in 1964). Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South is a series of primary accounts of real people who experienced this era first-hand and was edited by William H.Chafe, Raymond

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In his 1915 book, The Negro in the United States, W.E.B. DuBois wrote, "There was one thing that the white South feared more than negro dishonesty, ignorance, and incompetency, and that was negro honesty, knowledge, and efficiency” (“The Negro” Par. 41). After the end of the Civil War, white southerners were faced with one of the worst nightmares coming to true: African Americans were freed from slavery, granted equal protection, and given the right to vote. As Reconstruction progressed, African Americans were confronted with significant change for the fist tim in the history of the United States. After the removal of the Federal Troops following the corrupt bargain of 1877, there was a period of relative calm in the South which was ended by the Supreme Court decision to legalize segregation in the Plessy v.

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199 Words | 1 Pages

As current time and social status are being challenged and pushed, the Jim Crow Laws were implemented. These state and local laws were just legislated this year, 1877. New implemented laws mandate segregation in all public facilities, with a “separate but equal” status for African Americans. This may lead to treatment and accommodations that are inferior to those provided to white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational, and social disadvantages.

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Segregation is the separation between people based on the color of their skin. Brown v. the Board of Education was a race-based case in Topeka, Kansas in 1952. There were five other cases regarding the segregation between students that led up to the most impactful case with plaintiff Oliver Brown. The case had an immense impact on segregation between schools in the 1950s and later generations. On May 17, 1954 society changed forever, by not allowing race to determine the way the school systems accepted students.

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1706 Words | 7 Pages

The Jim Crow laws were passed in 1914 and continued to segregate society throughout the 1960s. This movement for racial segregation deemed the races “separate but equal”. The set of laws supported the concept of white supremacy and created a division in towns, states, and society. Jim Crow laws impacted the lives of children and adults and, because of this, schools, hospitals, orphanages, and workplaces were divided. African Americans were forced to survive through oppressive conditions where they would not be hired due to their skin color and where they were looked down upon as individuals.

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393 Words | 2 Pages

These supreme court cases continued to strengthen the Black Codes. African Americans not only suffered in injustice laws, but also the threat from white community

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1383 Words | 6 Pages

From their beginnings in 1877, the Jim Crow laws, both codified and uncodified, greatly affected the African- American way of life. Despite popular belief, the Jim Crow laws were not named after an actual human rather a made up character that was a big hit in the North. The play started in New York City. It had a famous scene called “Jump, Jim Crow.”

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