Question

Explain the emergence and purpose of jim crow laws and customs in the south. what methods did white southerners use to suppress the economic and political mobility of african americans?

Answer 1

Jim Crow laws were used to prevent african americans from voting, through the use of poll taxes and literacy tests, and they were used to stop african americans from being able to work in most places, practically forcing them to sharecrop.

Answer 2

The Jim Crow laws were used as a way to keep African Americans from having the freedom that the end to slavery brought them. The Jim Crow Laws would prohibit them from entering certain places, they had to give up their seat on the bus, kids couldn't go to a school with white children, etc. Southerners would often use violence. During this time there were many lynchings, not to mention that the Supreme Court wasn't doing anything when they ruled that "separate but equal" was lawful. The Jim Crow Laws were just another way to keep African Americans from having the freedom that they wanted.