today we talked about how after slavery was abolished, three constitutional amendments were passed to grant newly freed slaves a legal status. blacks were separated from white by law, private action in trasnsportation. public accommodations, recreational facilities, prisons, armed forces, schools- both north and south. in 1896, the supreme court approved legal seperation of the races by its ruling in plessey vs ferguson. womens social changes gave women get better paying opportunitites became available in towns, women had new options for finding jobs, mens labor unions excluded them from membership, turn of century- 1 out of 5 women had a job, 25% of women worked in manufacturing, and garment trade claimed half of all women workers. they recieved half or less amount of pay than their male counterparts. many women were single and were assumed that they supported themselves. women began to take new jobs in offices stores and classrooms. jobs required high school education. 1890 women high school graduates outnumbered men. some women did domestic work like cleaning for other families. after 2million some african american women were freed, poverty pushed nearly half of them into the work force, worked on farms and as domestic workers. migrated by thousands to big cities. women lead reform, women pushed for reform due to:dangerous working conditions, low wages, long hours.factory fire in 1911 over 146 women had died. many women started attending colleges, vassar college accepted its first female students in 1865, smith and wesley colleges followed in 1875, and columbia, brown and harvard refused to accept women, but opened separate colleges for women.
it was really interesting how it only took three constitutions to abolish slavery, how newly freed slaves were finaly granted legal status.i thought it was really messed up because although slaves were freed, blacks and whites were still segregated.
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