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Slavery of african americans
The impact of the civil war
The impact of the civil war
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During the 1800 and 1900s there was at least three significant amendments that occurred during this occasion. Fluctuating the lives of all African American was a big deal. Becoming free from the slavery was the main commitment for all the African Americans. The 13th Amendment indicated the abolishment of slavery, 14th Amendment specified everyone born in the U.S. were born with expected rights and the 15th Amendment indicated that residents of the U.S. had the right to vote nonetheless of color or earlier slavery. A little background before the civil war amendments, there was slavery widespread during this time. The slave families were abused, their wives were raped, lastly their children were sold to any of the white families. They made one thing clear that slaves had no rights what so ever where they lived. Dred Scott, a slave in Missouri shadowed his master to a state free of captivity making him a free man. Few years has passed, Dred Scott and his ruler revisited to Missouri and soon after his master passed away. The wife of the master specified that Scott should remain her slave ongoing till future notice. Dred Scott was under the impression that …show more content…
Ferguson case which is about a man Homer Plessy who was half African American and half Caucasian. Homer declined to sit in the color portion of the train plenty of times for his own personal reason. He identified that constraining him to sit in the colored portion of the train would have dishonored the 14th Amendment. The judge in his case was clarified on how the independent car act was unauthorized when the train is roaming through all the states. Since Homer was only settling within the state, the judge offered the authority to the state to resolve how to standardize the railroad establishments. The state of Louisiana itemized that the Separate Car Act was legitimate which made Homer’s appeal was
In 1896, the Supreme Court was introduced with a case that not only tested both levels of government, state and federal, but also helped further establish a precedent that it was built off of. This court case is commonly known as the case that confirmed the doctrine “separate but equal”. This doctrine is a crucial part of our Constitution and more importantly, our history. This court case involved the analysis of amendments, laws, and divisions of power. Plessy v. Ferguson was a significant court case in U.S history because it was shaped by federalism and precedent, which were two key components that were further established and clarified as a result of the Supreme Court’s final decision.
...h and 15th Amendments were made to improve the lives of African Americans and give them equal rights with white citizens. While the intention of the lawmakers was good, the amendments failed because of the strength of the feelings of former slave owners and their ability to influence the people that enforced the law.
In 1846, a slave living in Missouri named Dred Scott, sued for his freedom on the basis that he had lived for a total of seven years in territories that were closed to slavery. Scott's owner had been an army doctor named John Emerson. Emerson's position had required him to move several times in a relatively short amount of time. During his time with Emerson, Scott had lived in the state of Illinois, which was free, and the Wisconsin territory which was closed to slavery according to the Missouri compromise. After Emerson's death in 1843, Scott became the property of Emerson's wife.
The history behind this case is just as important as the case itself. In 1890, Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act which forced all railroad companies to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and nonwhite passengers. If someone sat in the wrong section, the punishment was a fine of $25 or 20 days in jail. A group called the Citizens Committee, made of mostly black activists decided to challenge the law. To prove the unconstitutionality of the law they created a plan and Homer Plessy was chosen go against the segregationists by disobeying the law.
Plessy v. Ferguson was the first major inquiry into the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal-protection clause, which prohibits states from denying equal protection of the laws to any person within their jurisdictions. Although the majority opinion did not contain the phrase separate but equal, it gave constitutional sanction to laws designed to achieve racial segregation by means of separate and supposedly equal public facilities and services for African Americans and whites. It served as a controlling judicial precedent until it was overturned by the ...
The court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson created nationwide controversy in the United States due to the fact that its outcome would ultimately affect every citizen of our country. On Tuesday, June 7th, 1892, Mr. Homer Plessy purchased a first class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad for a trip from New Orleans to Covington. He then entered a passenger car and took a vacant seat in a coach where white passengers were also sitting. There was another coach assigned to people who weren’t of the white race, but this railroad was a common carrier and was not authorized to discriminate passengers based off of their race. (“Plessy vs. Ferguson, syllabus”).Mr. Plessy was a “Creole of Color”, a person who traces their heritage back to some of the Caribbean, French, and Spanish who settled into Louisiana before it was part of the US (“The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow”). Even though Plessy was only one eighth African American, and could pass for a full white man, still he was threatened to be penalized and ejected from the train if he did not vacate to the non-white coach (“Plessy vs. Ferguson, syllabus). In ...
...dom and right to vote established by the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, blacks were still oppressed by strong black codes and Jim Crow laws. The federal government created strong legislation for blacks to be helped and educated, but it was ineffective due to strong opposition. Although blacks cried out to agencies, such as the Freemen's Bureau, declaring that they were "in a more unpleasant condition than our former" (Document E), their cries were often overshadowed by violence.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are the amendments adopted to the United States Constitution after the Civil War. In succession, these amendments were adopted to the Constitution. Thirteenth Amendment The 13th amendment was adopted speedily in the aftermath of the Civil War, with the simple direct purpose of forbidding slavery anywhere in the United States. The 13th Amendment took authority away from the states, so that no state could institute slavery, and it attempted to constitutionally grant the natural right of liberty. Thought that this amendment would suffice, Congressional Republicans pushed the amendment through.
...ious slaves the right to citizenship, meaning they were able to do anything that a normal citizen could do, for example hold seats of power. The Fifteenth amendment ensured that they were given the right to vote. However, the reason that their accomplishments were in vain was because they did not get rid of racism. Whatever advancement they made was taken back due to whites still believing in racism. After the Reconstruction era, the South feared an African American with power so they formed hate groups and technicalities to get around amendments. Even though the Fourteenth amendment ensured that slaves were given the right to citizenship, the whole ideal of “separate but equal” came into play. With the Fifteenth amendment, the South was able to justify the racist action of enforcing a literacy clause or a grandfather clause by writing it into their constitution.
Dred Scott was born as a slave in Virginia. As a young man he was taken to Missouri, where he was later sold to Dr. John Emerson. A military surgeon, Dr. John Emerson moved Scott a US Army Post in the free state of Illinois. Several years later Dr. Emerson moved once again, but this time to the Wisconsin Territory. As part of the massive Louisiana Purchase the Wisconsin Territory under the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery. While in the Wisconsin Territory and also later in St. Louis the Emersons started to rent the Scotts out as servants. Under several state and federal laws this was an illegal act in direct violation of the Missouri Compromise, the Northwest Ordinance, and the Wisconsin Enabling Act. Scott bounced around from several military posts including one in Louisiana before ending up again in St. Louis, Missouri. After the death of Dr. Emerson, ownership of the Scotts reverted to his wife. Through out 1846 Scott tried several times to by the freedom for him and his family. After several failed attempts he resorted to the legal r...
Dred Scott was a slave. His master was an army surgeon who was based in Missouri. In the early 1830's and 1840's his master and him traveled to Illinois and the Wisconsin territory. It was in 1846 that Scott sued his master's widow for freedom. His argument was that the state of ...
Through his dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice Harlan takes a definitive stance against the laws that deny African Americans equal rights in any form, whether it be through the denial of voting rights or the formation of segregated communities. Harlan was a strong supporter of civil rights for all people, regardless of race. He argued that segregation laws violate the 14th Amendment because the Constitution is “color-blind” and has neither “caste” nor “class”. He also claimed that they encourage the idea that African Americans are both unequal and inferior to whites. Harlan condemned his fellow justices, who composed the majority for the case, for allowing the “seeds of race hate to be planted under the
Plessy’s case was heard before Judge John Howard Ferguson a month after his arrest. His lawyer argued that his civil rights were violated; however, Ferguson denied the argument saying the railroad business could set what rules they wanted to. The Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed Ferguson’s ruling and refused to grant a rehearing for the case, but allowed a petition for writ of error. The United States Supreme Court
take his case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then opposes Plessy’s lawyer, which caused for him to lose the case.
Diversity, we define this term today as one of our nation’s most dynamic characteristics in American history. The United States thrives through the means of diversity. However, diversity has not always been a positive component in America; in fact, it took many years for our nation to become accustomed to this broad variety of mixed cultures and social groups. One of the leading groups that were most commonly affected by this, were African American citizens, who were victimized because of their color and race. It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s during the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place yet, it is the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools. Integration in white schools played a major role in the battle for Civil Rights in the South, upon the coming of independence for all African American people in the United States after a series of tribulations and loss of hope.