KKK Services, 1925
KKK Group with Children, 1912-1930
Post-Civil War America
"...all persons held as slaves within any State...in rebellion against the United States, shall be...free..."
~ Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, which initiated the growth of the Black community in post-war America.
Visuals of Emancipation Proclamation, 1865
In 1865, the House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment, constitutionally abolishing slavery.
Scene of Passing the 13th Amendment in the House, Harper's Weekly, 1865
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States..."
~ 13th Amendment
The Reality: Jim Crow Era
Plessy v. Ferguson
Despite previous efforts, Plessy v. Ferguson, a Supreme Court case in 1896, asserted the constitutionality of Jim Crow segregation laws.
Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Jim Crow Segregation Laws in Effect
"We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it."
~ Justice Henry Brown, Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Jim Crow Laws
These laws, which lasted for about 100 years, denied Black Americans the right to vote and live without daily prejudices.
Jim Crow Segregation Laws, Oklahoma
Bus Segregation, Jim Crow Era
Colored Entrance of Movie Theater in Mississippi Delta, Mississippi, 1939.
Ku Klux Klan
Additionally, The Ku Klux Klan was reawakened during the Jim Crow Era, terrorizing Black communities to encourage traditional segregated values.