Black People In The 1800s

Black people made many contributions to the United States in the 1800s. They faced discrimination, but they always tried to make life better for other Black people and themselves. They had booming businesses, fought for education rights, and even helped start the gold rush.
Black people had almost no rights. In fact, they couldn’t “testify in court against a White person, receive a public education, homestead public lands, or vote.” (Five Views) However, they believed that they could change that by educating themselves. The African Methodist Episcopal Church of California became the first school that Black children could go to. They held lessons in the basements. In the 1860s, actual school buildings were built, however, there were too few and many did not meet the educational requirement that Black parents wanted for their children. In a famous court case Ward v. Flood, the supreme court ruled that segregated schools were legal and equal. This was not true and many students were forced to have
Thriving Black companies were mostly patronized by White people. In fact, Black-owned barber shops were almost a monopoly. Racist White people hated that Black people were thriving, so they narrowed their businesses to limited services. The racist campaign was so successful that White patronage stopped coming and went to White-owned businesses. Black people lost their jobs and were forced into the service business. The once Black-owned luxury barber shop was no longer successful, and Black people were forced to wait on tables or shine shoes. By 1920 White businessmen destroyed the prosperous Black-owned businesses. In addition to losing their businesses, Black people were also denied health care by White hospitals and doctors. In 1923, three Black doctors saw this problem and decided to open the Dunbar Hospital. Two more hospitals and a pharmacy operated by Black women were opened shortly