Black Americans During The Civil War - 1732 Words

Between the years 1900 and 1919, Black Americans were able to see very few but significant changes in terms of the social, political and economic condition. In December 1865, eight months after the Civil War ended, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted: slavery was abolished. However, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the majority of white Americans continued to strongly believe in ‘racist theories of black biological inferiority’ and therefore were able to justify the need for segregation and the ideology of discrimination between black and white people. This treatment of African American communities led to limitations in terms of public health, poor health status and medical and social problems.†¦show more content†¦Looking further down the historical timeline, it is also worth considering the fact that the struggle for equality continued for many decades after and for many black Americans life continued to be very difficul t without the same access to basic facilities and living conditions. Therefore, the significant changes during this period should be viewed more as being a small step towards the struggle for black freedom and equality. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, African Americans were suffering under ‘Jim Crow’ laws in the South. This law meant that there were segregated restaurants, hotels, hospitals, rail roads, schools and even hospitals. Black Americans were also ‘effectively’ stopped from voting as a result of the introduction of a law which required a literacy test and a poll tax. This meant that you had to pay and be able to read in order to have been able to vote. White Americans were exempted from either one of the tests by the â€Å"grandfather clause†. This clause meant that you were able to vote if you could show any evidence of the fact that your grandfather had also voted. As it was very difficult for many black Americans to show any evidence of their ancestors, to have the ability to