Roll of Thunder Portfolio Emily McDaniel period 5
Jim Crow Laws
Voting
In the Sothern states, they made rules such as the literacy test, poll tax, and the grandfather clause so the Blacks would not be able to vote. Each of these were meant to prevent the Blacks from having the chance to vote. When one of these systems didnt work, the goverment came up with a new one.
Segragation
Segragation was used through out all of the United States. You can find it at buses stops, train stations, water fountains, schools, and even hospitals. This means that there are seperate places for the Black men and women to go so the White people aren't near them. Most to all of the time, the places where the Black people had to go were dirty, uncleaned, and not in the best shape.
The Great Depression
The Great Deppresion was a hard time for everyone in the U.S. especially for Aferican American. It was caused when the stock market went down and many men lost their jobs. Not only did the minority loose their job, but white men also were fired. During the Great depression, people had no money because, the man in the family, didn't have a job and most people became hobos. There was also a drought which meant that now barley any farming was going on so food was scarce and many times people would have to wait in a long line to be fed. During this drought the land became knows as the Dust Bowl. The Great Deppresion affected the characters in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Abolishment of Slavery
Slavery in the Untied States was harsh but finally ended on December 6, 1865. This was a relief for most Black people because they were mostly the slaves working for their master. The abolishment of slavery was just after Abraham Lincon issued his Emancipation Proclamation on Jan 1, 1863. One part of his Emancipation was "On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State of rebellion against the United States, shall be forever free..." Even though the Blacks were freed, they were still not treated fairly and we can even see this today in the 21st century. In the book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mama tells Cassie, “even though seventy years have passed since slavery, most white people still think of us as they did then—that we’re not as good as they are." (Taylor 231)
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Lynching
Lynching is punishing a person without a fair trial. Most of the time Black people were lynched if they broke a Jim Crow law, went against the goverment, or for no reason at all. It was common in the United states to lynch Black people and most of the time they did it for fun or to teach the Black people where they stand. This occured in Roll of Thunder when TJ, a young boy, was thrown out of his house and beaten for stealing a gun and money from the mercantile and hurting two white people. There was no trial at all but still TJ was beaten and almost killed, until a white man stepped in, and told his assailants to let the law decide who is guilty or not. Eventually this generous white man was able to free TJ from his attackers and take him away with the police. Another black man named Jim Lee Barnett was lynched because he was accused of looking at a white women. He was thrown in tar, covered in feathers, and burned by the white men. This nearly killed and badly injured the innocent man, as Cassie said, "...The face had no nose, and the head no hair; the skin was scarred, burned, and the lips were wizened black, like charcoal.”