In the early 1900s, after Reconstruction, African Americans faced extreme injustice and prejudice in society. By being denied the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and being victims of outright racism, African Americans saw their democratic rights gradually taken away from them. Jim Crow laws facilitated this violation of democracy through intimidation, as well as the failures of our valuable justice system. By denying African Americans certain inalienable rights guaranteed to all American citizens, Jim Crow laws were one of the greatest contractions of democracy in American history. The Black Codes were also the predecessor and model for Jim Crow laws. With emancipation recently freeing thousands of slaves from bondage, white Americans now worried about what they would do in the face of the enormous loss of labor. Having no prior work experience, the men and women did not know how to function without the slaves and servants they were so accustomed to. (Wormser) The men were particularly worried about the loss of labor in their fields. (Wormser) With cotton remaining the South's primary crop, farmers needed hundreds of able-bodied men to be able to harvest enough cotton to meet the growing demand. At home, women were terrified of losing their domestic slaves. Having no experience living in a home without servants or servants, wives and mothers did not know how to cook, clean, or even care for their children. (Wormser) To combat this, the Black Codes were enacted to ensure that, regardless of their recent emancipation, African Americans were never truly free (fofweb.com). The "...codes were based on the assumption that freedmen were immature and incapable of...... middle of paper ......s- The Story Behind the Bus", The Henry Ford, last edited 2002, http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/rosaparks/story.asp. “Rosa Parks – The Story”, The Henry Ford. Sandra L. West, ed., “Northern Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),” Facts on File History, last modified 2013, accessed November 16, 2013, http://www.fofweb.com /NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE01.Richard Wormser, “The Emancipation Proclimation,” The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, last modified 2002, accessed November 17, 2013, http://www.pbs.org/wnet /jimcrow/stories_events_emancipate.html. Keesha Gaskins, “Jim Crow Legacy Continues Today,” Brennan Center for Justice, last modified April 12, 2012, accessed November 17, 2013, http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/jim-crow -legacy-continues-today The NAACP tried to garner as much support as possible to prove the inequality behind the Jim.