Jim Crow Law

The Segregation Era of 1877-1954 began as the Civil War was ending (18__) and was preceded by the Reconstruction Era of 1866-1877. During this era blacks were fighting to not only be free, but equal. Slavery had been abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment, but the white people of the South were determined to keep the Negro in his place socially, politically, and economically. This was done by means of the infamous "Black Codes," Separate but Equal doctrine from the Plessey vs. Ferguson case, and the Jim Crow Laws.

After the Civil War, the government began a program of Reconstruction in the South from 1866-1877. The era lasted ten years beginning with the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 which allowed the 10 remaining Southern states (Tennessee had been readmitted to the union in 1866) were divided into five military districts; and under supervision of the U.S. Army, all were readmitted between 1868 and 1870. Each state had to accept the Fourteenth Amendment or if readmitted after its passage, the Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment, intended to ensure civil rights of the freedman. Through the years of Reconstruction, blacks began to vote and to run for elective offices; they were able to move around freely taking advantage of their newfound freedom. With the right to vote, many blacks were elected to local and state government offices. These office holders worked hard to improve the lives of the people they represented and to achieve equality between the races.

Southern whites regarded the period of Reconstruction with great resentment and were bitter about losing the war which devastated the Southern economy. The Reconstruction Era was aimed to rebuild the former Confederacy and help freed slaves adjust to their new lives. The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, or freeing of the slaves did not change the racist ideas and did not mean equality for blacks. The white ruling class developed laws, rules, and policies to keep blacks "in their place" known as the "Black Codes."

Black Codes: (1865-1867) Laws and proclamations restricting the civil rights of the formerly enslaved African Americans that were passed in most southern states at the end of the Civil War. The Codes also energized the drive for the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U. S. Constitution, extending citizenship to all African Americans and suffrage to black males. These were an attempt to get around the law and reduce blacks to a condition as near to slavery as possible. The Codes severely limited the rights of blacks and segregated them from whites because whites felt blacks were inferior to them. These codes regulated blacks from their civil and legal rights, from marriage to the right to hold and sell property. Blacks were usually prohibited from entering towns without permission; restaurants and parks were prohibited to blacks as were their rights to a quality life after slavery. Whenever a black disobeyed