Southern African Americans: 1877-1915

In 1877 the Federal government gave up the attempt to impose Reconstruction on the South, withdrew Federal forces from the South, and allowed the Southern whites to take over control of their states again. Because of the systematic breeding of slaves, whites were greatly outnumbered by African-Americans in the South, and so lived in fear of a massacre. That the African-American-dominated governments during the Reconstruction era had been quite restrained in dealing with the whites, few of whom had been slave-owners in any significant way, did not seem to make any difference. The whites wanted their power back, and were ruthless in getting it. In addition, many southern whites were still angry over the loss of the civil war and of their previous position as the political leaders of America. There was no way to take revenge against the Yankees, but it was possible to attack those for whom the Yankees had fought: the African-Americans.

They began a reign of terror against African-Americans. Women were routinely gang-raped, and any African-American man who attempted to defend even their own wives were execu

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ties of Beaufort (SC), Natchez (MS), Mobile (AB), and Richmond (VA), for which 1880 census data are available, African-American men had somewhat more diverse occupations, but were as economically depressed and oppressed as their rural counterparts. In Beaufort, which was predominantly African-American, 60 percent of African-American men were either unskilled laborers or service workers. This percentage rose to 70 percent in Natchez, and 80 percent in the other two cities. In all four cities African-American artisans held precarious, declining positions in most urban crafts, and there was also a tiny, insignificant African-American middle class. Whites were simply not going to allow African-Americans to achieve any economic success. Southern African-American rural women almost all worked as field hands; very few worked as domestic servants or washerwomen. The latter occupations were more common for urban women. The typical urban domestic servant was a young, unmarried African-American woman whose income probably went to her family of origin. Married women with children almost all worked as washerwomen. The older black woman serving as a "Mammy" for a white family appears to be largely a myth; it is not supported by the cen
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Approximate Word count = 1493
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)