Saturday, July 4, 2015

Was Jim Crow Born On July 4, 1876?

feeling rebloggy
On July 4, 1876 a Black militia gathered in Hamburg, South Carolina, a center of Reconstruction and Black power, to celebrate the nation's centennial. A white farmer arrived on the scene and ordered the militia to move aside for their carriage. 

Although the militia eventually opened ranks, the next day the farmer demanded to a state justice that the leader of the militia, Dock Adams, be arrested for obstructing “my road." 

Meanwhile, the Black militia again gathered in Hamburg, but this time there was also a large group of white men. The outnumbered Blacks attempted to flee, but 25 men were captured and five were murdered in cold blood. African American shops and homes were also ransacked. The Hamburg Massacre launched the 1876 Democratic campaign for South Carolina's “Redemption,” inaugurating single-party white supremacist rule, and leading to nearly a century of "Jim Crow" denial of civil rights. 
-Zinn Education Project
 

Hmmm...Maybe not so much born as conceived on that July 4th?




Read more about the Hamburg massacre and other July 4 people's history stories from throughout U.S. history here: http://bit.ly/1JDtrkk


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