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HSY2601 Assignment 4 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024
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HSY2601 Assignment 4Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30
September 2024
[Company address]
,HSY2601 Assignment 4 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024
Discuss the reasons for the unequal relations between black and white people in the
19th-century US context after the abolition of slavery and beyond.
Recommended Readings:
• The birth of the modern world, : global connections and comparisons / C.A. Bayly.
• Study Guide: HSY2601 HSY2601: THEMES IN 19TH CENTURY HISTORY: POWER
AND THE WESTERN WORLD. 4 OR
The unequal relations between black and white people in the 19th-century United States
after the abolition of slavery were rooted in a complex combination of economic, social,
legal, and cultural factors. The legacies of slavery, reinforced by institutionalized racism
and white supremacy, deeply influenced the dynamics of race relations, particularly after
the Civil War (1861-1865) and during Reconstruction (1865-1877) and beyond. Below
are key reasons that contributed to the continued inequality between black and white
people during this period:
1. Economic Disparities
After the abolition of slavery in 1865 with the 13th Amendment, formerly enslaved
African Americans were left in an economically vulnerable position. Despite being freed,
many black Americans lacked land, capital, and access to opportunities to establish
themselves as independent economic actors. The promise of land redistribution (e.g.,
the "40 acres and a mule" policy) was largely abandoned, leaving African Americans
, reliant on sharecropping and tenant farming systems. These systems kept black farmers
economically subordinate, often forcing them into cycles of debt and poverty as they
worked land owned by white landowners. The unequal economic structure meant that
African Americans had little means to accumulate wealth, while many white Americans
retained their economic advantages from the slaveholding system.
2. Racial Segregation and Jim Crow Laws
Following Reconstruction, Southern states began to institutionalize racial segregation
through Jim Crow laws, beginning in the 1870s. These laws enforced a system of racial
hierarchy that relegated African Americans to second-class citizenship. Segregation in
public facilities, schools, transportation, and housing was legally sanctioned,
maintaining racial inequality in both urban and rural areas. The 1896 Supreme Court
case Plessy v. Ferguson legalized racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but
equal," further entrenching the power disparity between black and white Americans. In
reality, facilities for African Americans were vastly inferior, and this separation reinforced
social and economic inequality.
3. Violence and Intimidation
Violence and intimidation played a crucial role in maintaining unequal relations between
blacks and whites. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other white supremacist groups used
terrorism, lynching, and other forms of violence to suppress African American political
participation and social advancement. Between 1880 and 1930, thousands of African
Americans were lynched in acts of racial terror. This violence was aimed at instilling fear
in the black community, preventing economic competition, and blocking social mobility.
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