The Racial Wealth Gap: Reconstruction
Learn about the racial wealth gap, era-by-era:
Summary - Wikipedia
Reconstruction, in U.S. history, the period (1865–77) that followed the American Civil War and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war.
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“It was not, then, race and culture calling out of the South in 1876; it was property and privilege, shrieking to its own kind, and privilege and property heard and recognized the voice of its own.”
― W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880
Articles
Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle (teachreconstructionreport.org)
EJI's Reconstruction in America Report Changes Picture of Lynching in America
How Reconstruction Still Shapes Racism in America (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
How the Failure of Reconstruction Destroyed Progress in America (Annette Gordon-Reed)
What Everyone Should Know About Reconstruction (Tiffany M. Patterson)
Reconstruction - Civil War End, Changes & Act of 1867
Revisiting Reconstruction (Matthew Wills)
Reconstruction | American Civil War Museum
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 (Eric Foner)
The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy | Facing History and Ourselves
Reconstruction | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
150 Years and Counting | National Museum of African American History and Culture
The Battle of Liberty Place: White League Uprising Sept. 14, 1874 - The Reconstruction Era
About | Mapping The Freedmen's Bureau
Books
Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 (W.E.B. Du Bois)
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 (Eric Foner)
The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (Eric Foner)
The Souls of Black Folk: (W.E.B. Du Bois)
Podcasts
Reconstruction podcast, with Jamelle Bouie and Rebecca Onion
Podcast: Eric Foner on the "Fake History" of Reconstruction - The Reconstruction Era
Deconstructing The Myths Of Reconstruction
Film/Video
Reconstruction America After the Civil War
Reconstruction: America After the Civil War - PART 1
America After The Civil War....Reconstruction Pt 1 & 2
Henry Louis Gates Jr & Paula Kerger on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War | SXSW EDU
The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy | Facing History and Ourselves
African American History in the Lowcountry: The Reconstruction Era
Reconstruction: The Vote | Black History in Two Minutes
Eric Foner on Reconstruction - Short
Questions for Research and Reflection:
- How does Field Order 15, the "40 Acres and a Mule" provision for land redress for freedmen initially affect Black self-sufficiency?
- What happens to freedmen's net worth when this order is rescinded?
- What happens to the land that had been awarded and then taken back?
- Do planters receive compensation for emancipation of their slaves? How does this affect their net worth?
Summary - Wikipedia
Black codes were strict local and state laws that detailed when, where and how formerly enslaved people could work, and for how much compensation. The codes appeared throughout the South as a legal way to put Black citizens into indentured servitude, to take voting rights away, to control where they lived and how they traveled and to seize children for labor purposes.
Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Named after a Black minstrel show character, the laws—which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death.
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“You can’t ‘get over’ something that is still happening. Which is why black Americans can’t ‘get over’ slavery or Jim Crow.”
― Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race
Articles
United States Slavery Laws and Restrictions
Constitutional Rights Foundation – Black Codes
Black Codes - Definition, Dates & Jim Crow Laws
Black Codes and Pig Laws | Slavery By Another Name
The Code Noir (The Black Code) · LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION
Opinion | The ‘Lost Cause’ That Built Jim Crow (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
Jim Crow Era - A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States
Jim Crow laws created ‘slavery by another name’ (Erin Blakemore)
Jim Crow Laws: Definition, Facts & Timeline
Books
American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow (Jerrold M. Packard)
Jim Crow Laws (Leslie V. Tischauser)
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (Richard Wormser)
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
Life Under the Jim Crow Laws (Charles George)
The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in United States History (David K. Fremon)
Podcasts
Remembering Jim Crow | American RadioWorks
Jim Crow, Lynching and White Supremacy | Teaching Tolerance
Film/Video
Jim Crow and America's Racism Explained
History in the First Person: Living Under Jim Crow Laws
What was it like growing up in Alabama under Jim Crow?
Museum
Jim Crow Museum - Ferris State University
Questions for Research and Reflection:
- How do Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws limit Black economic progress?
- How does the threat of violence and the prevalence of lynching repress Black advancement in society?
- How did Jim Crow laws benefit white families?
- Did your white family live in the Jim Crow South? What was the economic impact of Jim Crow laws for your family?
- Research Jim Crow type laws where your parents grew up. What laws were in place?
- Are there any Jim Crow era laws still on the books in your state?
Summary - Equal Justice Initiative
After the Civil War, slavery persisted in the form of convict leasing, a system in which Southern states leased prisoners to private railways, mines, and large plantations. While states profited, prisoners earned no pay and faced inhumane, dangerous, and often deadly work conditions. Thousands of Black people were forced into what authors have termed “slavery by another name” until the 1930s.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, but explicitly exempted those convicted of crime. In response, Southern state legislatures quickly passed “Black Codes” – new laws that explicitly applied only to Black people and subjected them to criminal prosecution for “offenses” such as loitering, breaking curfew, vagrancy, having weapons, and not carrying proof of employment. Crafted to ensnare Black people and return them to chains, these laws were effective; for the first time in U.S. history, many state penal systems held more Black prisoners than white – all of whom could be leased for profit.
Examples
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Chattahoochee Brick Company (Atlanta, Georgia): The Chattahoochee Brick Company used convict labor, including African American prisoners, in the production of bricks.
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Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary) - Parchman, Mississippi: Parchman Farm, also known as the Mississippi State Penitentiary, was notorious for its use of convict leasing. African American prisoners were subjected to harsh conditions and forced labor. For more information, you can visit the official website of the Mississippi Department of Corrections: www.mdoc.ms.gov.
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Sugar Land (Imperial State Prison Farm) - Sugar Land, Texas: Sugar Land, located in Texas, was the site of the Imperial State Prison Farm where African American convicts were leased out for labor, primarily in the sugar cane fields. The site has since been repurposed, and the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation provides historical information: www.slheritage.org.
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Angola Prison (Louisiana State Penitentiary) - Angola, Louisiana: Angola Prison in Louisiana had a history of convict leasing, with African American prisoners working in agriculture and other industries. The official website of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections provides information about the prison: www.doc.louisiana.gov.
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Cummins Unit (Arkansas Department of Corrections) - Grady, Arkansas: The Cummins Unit, part of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, employed convict labor, including African American prisoners, in various industries. The official website of the Arkansas Department of Corrections offers information about the facility: www.doc.arkansas.gov.
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Rikers Island (New York City Department of Correction) - New York City, New York: While not specifically associated with convict leasing, Rikers Island in New York has a history of utilizing inmate labor, including African American prisoners, for various work assignments within the facility.
Articles
What is convict leasing? · Sugar Land Convict Leasing
The Origins of Modern Day Policing
Inside Mississippi’s notorious Parchman prison (Hannah Grabenstein)
Local historians honor forgotten railroad workers | Mountain Xpress
Books
Slavery Revisited: Blacks And The Southern Convict Lease System, 1865 1933 (Milfred C. Fierce)
One Dies, Get Another: Convict Leasing in the American South, 1866-1928 (Matthew J. Mancini)
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Michelle Alexander)
Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice (David M. Oshinsky)
Parchman Farm: Photographs and Field Recordings: 1947-1959 (Bruce Jackson)
Podcasts
Episode 8: Zebulon Ward and Convict Leasing – The Reckoning
Black History for White People - Convict Leasing
Reframing History: Mass Incarceration - NPR Throughline
Film/Video
Slavery by Another Name: The Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
Convict Leasing | Slavery By Another Name
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Convict Leasing | Black History in Two Minutes
Convict Leasing in America: Unearthing the Truth of the Sugar Land 95
Joseph House Lecture Series: Florida's Convict Lease System and its Legacy of Prison Abuse
Crucial Conversations: Burial Grounds
Convict Leasing, Forced Labor, Theft of Black Wealth: The Case of the Chattahoochee Brick Company
Sacred Site Ceremony - Chattahoochee Brick Company Consecration 4/3/2021
Museums
History of Angola — The Angola Museum at the Louisiana State Penitentiary
Questions for Research and Reflection:
- Do you agree that convict leasing is 'slavery by another name?' Why or why not?
- Do you think using prison labor to enrich for-profit employers should be allowed? State employers? Why or why not?
- How does convict leasing set the stage for post civil-rights era mass-incarceration programs? The "War of Drugs?"
- How does convict leasing compare to the modern-day criminal justice system in your area?
- How do sundown and vagrancy laws aid convict leasing schemes?
- In what ways are modern 'driving while Black' police stops similar to laws limiting Black travel from prior eras?
- Research whether there was convict leasing in place where your ancestors lived. What were conditions like?
- How does being arrested for vagrancy or sundown law or violation of other Jim Crow laws affect the ability to earn an income?
- Did any of your ancestors pass down stories from this era? What happened?
Summary - Slavery by Another Name, PBS
After the Civil War, former slaves sought jobs, and planters sought laborers. The absence of cash or an independent credit system led to the creation of sharecropping.
Sharecropping is a system where the landlord/planter allows a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop. This encouraged tenants to work to produce the biggest harvest that they could, and ensured they would remain tied to the land and unlikely to leave for other opportunities. In the South, after the Civil War, many black families rented land from white owners and raised cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and rice. In many cases, the landlords or nearby merchants would lease equipment to the renters, and offer seed, fertilizer, food, and other items on credit until the harvest season. At that time, the tenant and landlord or merchant would settle up, figuring out who owed whom and how much
High interest rates, unpredictable harvests, and unscrupulous landlords and merchants often kept tenant farm families severely indebted, requiring the debt to be carried over until the next year or the next...
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What rent do you pay here?" I inquired. "I don't know, - what is it, Sam?" "All we make," answered Sam. It is a depressing place, - bare, unshaded, with no charm of past association, only a memory of forced human toil, - now, then, and before the war. They are not happy, these black men whom we meet throughout this region. There is little of the joyous abandon and playfulness which we are wont to associate with the plantation Negro. — W.E.B. Du Bois
Key laws and factors related to sharecropping:
1. Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws: Following the end of the Civil War, Black Codes and later Jim Crow laws in Southern states limited the economic opportunities and mobility of newly freed African Americans. These laws restricted land ownership, limited employment options, and reinforced a system that pushed many African Americans into sharecropping.
2. Crop Lien Laws: Crop lien laws, prevalent in Southern states, allowed landowners or merchants to provide credit to sharecroppers, often at high interest rates, using the anticipated crop yield as collateral. This system often resulted in indebtedness and dependency for sharecroppers.
3. Debt Peonage: Debt peonage, a practice prevalent in the South, allowed landowners or merchants to keep sharecroppers in perpetual debt by manipulating crop prices, charging inflated prices for goods, or using exploitative accounting practices.
4. Tenant Farming Acts: Some states enacted tenant farming acts to provide limited protection for sharecroppers and tenants. These laws regulated aspects such as contracts, evictions, and the rights and obligations of both landowners and sharecroppers.
5. Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA): The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, a federal law enacted during the Great Depression, aimed to support agricultural recovery. However, it often excluded sharecroppers and tenant farmers from receiving benefits, exacerbating their economic struggles.
It's important to note that sharecropping and related laws and practices were complex and varied regionally. Understanding the nuances and specific dynamics of sharecropping requires further research into state laws, local practices, and historical records from the relevant time periods and regions.
Articles
Sharecropping | Slavery By Another Name
Sharecropping Contract.pdf (gilderlehrman.org)
Sharecropping contract| NCpedia
Microsoft Word - reconstruct_formatted.doc (uh.edu)
Slavery by Another Name: The Economy of Sharecropping
Sharecropping - Definition, System & Facts
Sharecropping, Black Land Acquisition, and White Supremacy (1868-1900)
Books
The Origins of Southern Sharecropping (Edward Royce)
Revolt Among The Sharecroppers (Howard Kester)
Podcasts
American Capitalism: A History: 14.1. Sharecropping
Seal The Seasons, The History of Black Farmers
Film/Video
MOOC | Origins of Sharecropping | The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1865-1890
Lest We Forget: The Lost Story of Southern Sharecroppers
American Voices / Black America 01 - Sharecroppers
Sharecropping American History
Mary and Early Williams on Life as A Sharecropper : Voices of the Movement, Fayette County Tennessee
Sharecropper Life on a Plantation
Questions for Research and Reflection:
- If your family owned a plantation, did they engage in sharecropping agreements after emancipation? Do you have family records from this era?
- Did your family purchase or import goods from white farmers or sharecroppers?
- If your family were sharecroppers, were any stories passed down about that era? What happened?
- What are typical stipulations of sharecropping contracts? Are these arrangements fair?
- How does Black illiteracy compound the problem of sharecropping fraud?
- Does sharecropping allow Black farmers to amass wealth? Why or why not?
- How does sharecropping benefit white farmers?
"It was never the case that a white asset-based middle class simply emerged. Rather, it was government policy, and to some extent literal government giveaways, that provided whites the finance, education, land and infrastructure to accumulate and pass down wealth."