How Did The Struggles Faced By African Americans During The Progressive Era?

The Progressive Era in the United States lasted from 1880 to 1920 and started as a response to the change brought on the country after the Civil War and Reconstruction era. The Progressive Era was a period of social reform caused by industrialization, urbanization, and social inequality that lingered from the Civil War. After the Civil War, when the slaves gained their freedom, the Reconstruction Era occurred. A major goal of this time was to guarantee rights to former slaves and create new relationships between African Americans and white people. The Reconstruction Era paved the way for the Progressive Era by expressing the need for equal rights for African Americans. During the Progressive Era, many African American leaders spoke out for their civil rights and economic opportunities.
Disenfranchisement is deprivation of the right to vote and during this time, it was very uncommon for African Americans to have the opportunity to vote. African Americans were kept from voting because of literacy tests, poll taxes, and constitutional quizzes that were made to keep blacks from registering to vote. A lot of poor Southern whites were at risk of losing their rights because they couldn't meet these expectations. To fix this, 6 states passed laws that made men eligible to vote if they had been able to vote before African-Americans were given the franchise or if they were descendants of voters back then. By protecting whites from restrictions, it discriminated against African Americans and stopped them from voting. One African American activist who supported agitation to stop disenfranchisement was W.E.B. DuBois. He advocated for the development of a group of elite African Americans called the "talented tenth," to provide leadership for the race. He also believed African Americans needed an aggressive strategy for black integration into American political and economic