This week’s assignment overview, you will next contribute to a broader class discussion on your experiences as a historian or historian in training. This is an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and share your passions and what you would like most to take from this course.
Horton. Chapter A pgs.198-225
Southern Connecticut Sta. University) Reconstruction Primary Resources 5 Equal Justice Initiative) National Memorial for Peace and Justice 5 Jim Crow Museum of Racist !Remora..
C) Second…. 3-4 sentences (150-200 words) that include two interesting topics that most resonated with you from our class discussions.
• Thought experiment What factors ultimately led to the failure of Reconstruction’s promises to newly freed African Americans? • Thought experiment What event in your opinion is the most telling in unders.nding .e rise of Jim Crow segregation?
Aker submitting your review, you will respond to at least one classmate Ina 100 minimum word reply to their post
Replies should include)
• Feedback on your classmate’s submission and a short explanation of .e source you selected (if diners from the review you are replying to). • A short reflection on what drew you to the source you selected and how your classmate’s review either reinforces Of challenges your choice. C) NOI¢: See below for additional guidances on how best to structure your discussion activity. Now to Write a Response E.. When paraphrasing or quoting from the reading sources, provide in parenthesis either the author’s last name and page number. or (if cwt available)) the title of the article. For assigned documentary videos and certain web sources may not have the author’s name listed, here you can simply write the name of the article in parenthesis.
Factors Leading to Failure and the Rise of Jim Crow
The post-Civil War period of Reconstruction presented both opportunities and challenges for the newly emancipated African American population. While the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments sought to establish equal protection and voting rights, the reality on the ground told a different story. Through an examination of primary sources from the era and historical analyses, two key topics emerge as most illuminating for understanding the shortcomings of Reconstruction and the entrenchment of racial oppression that followed.
Factors Leading to the Failure of Reconstruction
As W.E.B. Du Bois astutely observed in his 1935 work Black Reconstruction, the overthrow of Reconstruction governments in the South stemmed from a concerted effort by former Confederate states to reassert white supremacy through violence and intimidation (Du Bois, 1935).[1] This “counter-revolution” undermined the promises of equality enshrined in the post-Civil War amendments. Additionally, the withdrawal of federal troops from the South in 1877, as chronicled by Eric Foner (1988), removed the primary mechanism for enforcing African Americans’ civil and political rights, paving the way for unchecked discrimination.[2] Both economic issues and racial animus contributed to Northerners’ willingness to abandon the Reconstruction agenda in the late 1870s.
The Rise of Jim Crow Segregation
The establishment of de jure racial segregation in the South is most powerfully exemplified by the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which enshrined the “separate but equal” doctrine. As legal scholar Charles Lofgren (1987) discusses, this ruling effectively overturned the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws by sanctioning racial discrimination.[3] Meanwhile, the rise of white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, as studied by historian Nancy MacLean (2017), instilled terror and helped consolidate Democratic Party rule across the South on an anti-Black platform.[4] These converging political and legal developments cemented the Jim Crow system of segregation and disenfranchisement that persisted into the mid-20th century.
In summary, an analysis of primary sources from the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction eras illuminates how the failure to fully realize the promise of emancipation through federal enforcement, combined with the Supreme Court’s withdrawal of legal protections, paved the way for a new regime of anti-Black legislation and violence across the South in the late 19th century. Both topics raised in this assignment provide insightful lenses for understanding this transformative period in American history. I look forward to further discussion.
References:
[1] W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (New York: Free Press, 1935).
[2] Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (New York: Harper & Row, 1988).
[3] Charles A. Lofgren, The Plessy Case: A Legal-Historical Interpretation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
[4] Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (New York: Viking, 2017).
