Although the Supreme Court countered the advancements that were trying to be made through cases such as Plessy vs. Ferguson, and their slack enforcement of the southern states implementation of the Civil Rights Laws; as a whole a strong foundation was set for the development of black civil rights. Firstly the American Civil War helped the development of black civil rights as the external factor prompted government in a great chain of beneficial events that were to follow. It caused congress to pass the 13th amendment, the abolition of slavery which was the first step and was a large one as previous slaves now had freedom. This along the 1866 Civil Rights Act which soon became the 14th amendment gave African Americans legal US citizenship and equal protection under the law. This meant that a black man had just as much say as a white man in a court of law and was protected from prejudice and racial segregation as of the 1875 Civil Rights Act.
‘Federal government was the main obstacle to the achievements of African American civil rights between 1865 and 1945.’ How far do you agree? African Americans fight to gain civil rights was a long one; politically they aimed to get the right to vote and to exercise this right. Federal government allowed anti-civil rights groups to deter African Americans from utilising their vote and in 1866 ‘black codes’ were enforced which further prohibited Africa Americans from voting. Federal government allowed states to have control over passing their own laws which states manipulated to prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights won through the fifteenth amendment in 1869. After 1869 federal government remained an obstacle throughout this time period.
Articles to satisfy the North’s desire for the end of slavery were written as to appease the South’s need for it. There were provisions made for the continuation of slavery or else the delegates from the South would not accept the Constitution as there were provisions made for the North so not the alienate those opposing slavery. The document was written in vague enough terms to leave it open for debate later on issues that could not be satisfactorily resolved at the initial drafting. Agreements was reached to later draft and ratify a bill of rights for the people of nation by the federal government that was uniform throughout the county instead of relying on each individual state’s bill of rights. The framers then proceeded to distribute the draft of the Constitution to the states will all accepting the document.
Racism was the reason why northerners had little interest in black’s right except as a means to protect the union or to safeguard the republic. It was also the reason that they were willing to do away with reconstruction and with it the welfare of African American. Congress might of have passed a constitutional amendment that did away with slavery, it could not over turn the social habits of two centuries. The United States is home to people of almost every
Lincoln was associated with this name because he opposed slavery expansion in his debates and speeches before getting elected in 1860. Lincoln viewed that African- Americans should have rights, but whites were and always would be the superior race. Therefore, Lincoln was not an equalitarian. He didn’t agree with the reality that white people could enslave blacks or darker skin toned individuals. He states, “If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B.
Southern state governments also created legislation that restricted and controlled the lives of the ex-slaves, known as the “Black Codes”. “These differed among states, but the Black Codes all shared some general provisions” (Bowles, 2011). African Americans were only allowed to marry within their own race, and they were only allowed to do farm
These laws were referred to as Jim Crow laws. By definition: Jim Crow laws were state and local laws passed from the end of Recon- struction in 1877 through the mid-1950s by which white southerners reas- serted their dominance by denying African Americans basic social, eco- nomic, and civil rights, such as the right to vote. (Chegg Inc.) These laws were unfair and still showed the differences in their economic and social status. The most common types of laws forbade interracial marriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep their black and white clientele separate. The whites enforced these laws by fining, arresting and even by hanging the African-Americans.
For example, in the North Carolina diner, African Americans sat at the lunch counter and demanded to be served. This is important because it forced that diner and diners all over to change their policy of separating Whites and African Americans.Clearly, African Americans were treated unequally and used different methods to try to bring change. During the Civil Rights era African Americans were treated unequal. One way they were treated unequal was African Americans weren't allowed to go to the same schools White people. This is important because it shows how they were denied equal rights.
The reaction of free blacks to slave codes largely depended on where they lived. According to the Library of Congress, many free blacks in the South could do little in the way of opposing the slave codes because they were barred from traveling or assembling peacefully. In Northern cities, free blacks opposed the slave codes through voting, writings and buying slaves who were friends or family members. Question 3: What did abolitionists do in response to the slave codes? Well, the abolitionists started Antislavery organizations and societies.
Ferguson which held up “separate but equal” laws which were established by many states held that African Americans were of no concern. Lynching was on the rise as were the laws to stop them from voting.” These laws were in place along with the atrocities that were plagued on the African Americans in order to keep them down. These laws stated that they were not entitled to the rights given a citizen of the United States. Throughout the history of America the black Americans have suffered at the hands of the white population. From being herded onto ships and brought to the America for sale as a slave.