The abolition of slavery in 1865 did not bring about the kind of progress free Black men and women in America were hoping for. In fact, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were some of the darkest and most disturbing decades for African Americans in the United States. They could not participate in political life-not as voters and certainly not as politicians or legislators. They could not attend the same schools, serve in the same military brigades, work in the same factories, sit on the same buses, or drink from the same water fountains as their white counterparts. And their migration out of the Jim Crow South and into Northern cities was met with rampant economic discrimination and extreme violence.

Although the institution of slavery had been destroyed, its logic remained a powerful force in American life. While white supremacy continued unabated, politics, the economy, and society reflected this idealogy for decades to come.

In African American History: From Emancipation through Jim Crow, investigate the complex period between slavery and lunch counter sit-ins. A new 12-part course designed and presented by Associate Professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries, of The Ohio State University, African American History: From Emancipation through Jim Crow tracks the spread of Jim Crow laws across the South. You will learn about Northern racism as well, from violence against migrating Black families to housing discrimination. You will examine the fights waged by ordinary and notable Black people to protect key rights, eliminate segregation in schools, secure good jobs, overturn bogus convictions, and integrate the US military. You will dig into the rich culture of the period by learning about African American religious life, Black Nationalism, and the Harlem Renaissance. You will focus on the individual life experiences of famous Black figures from socialist activist A. Philip Randolph to baseball legend Jackie Robinson. And you will discover just how men and women in this period laid the groundwork for major civil rights victories in the 1950s and 1960s.