supreme court cases and 13th, 14th, 15th, amendments
During the Lincoln presidency, the Union won the Civil war in 1865. During this time some 4 million slaves were granted freedom, yet Blacks in this country were still treated as second-class citizens. In 1866, new Southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor and behavior of former slaves and African Americans.[1] The 13th Amendment, 14th and 15th Amendments that were passed by the government should have expanded civil rights of Americans, yet Southern states denied African Americans equal rights in the Southern States.[2]
The Thirteenth Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1964, and the house on January 31, 1865. President Lincoln knew that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery. Supreme Court helped undermine the Constitutional protection of blacks with the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case, which legitimized the Jim Crow Laws and Jim Crow way of life.[3]
Plessey v. Ferguson case was a striking case, which showed that Whites and Blacks weren’t treated equally. During the proceedings of this case, in 1896, a 30-year-old homer Plessey was jailed for sitting in the “White” car of the East Louisiana Railroad. Louisiana had passed the Separate Car Act, legally separating common carriers in 1892, when Plessey challenged the law by sitting in the white section, he was arrested for sitting in the white car. Plessey’s lawyer challenged in court that he could not be denied of this right but the Supreme Court decided that the Louisiana segregation was constitutional. The Plessey decision set the precedent that “ separate” facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were “equal”. [4]
The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. Blacks were still not given equal rights and people continued to feel that blacks were inferior because they weren’t good enough to use the same facilities as whites. Although, the Supreme Court ruling said that segregation is ok as long as the facilities for both blacks and whites were equal, we know that the facilities for blacks were much inferior and in poor conditions.[5]
African Americans, post Civil War, decided to leave the South and move to North for work. But Whites would not hire them, so a lot of Blacks mostly worked as servants or in hard, dirty jobs like cleaning the streets and building railroads. The Black codes placed taxes on free blacks who tried to pursue nonagricultural professions, restricted the abilities of Blacks to rent land or own guns. Blacks ended up working as tenant farmers, sharecroppers or in the steel or turpentine industries. Most freed slaves never had access to “free” land. Most Blacks in South received far lower wages than white workers, which prevented them from buying land and otherwise becoming financially independent. Since the slavery days, blacks weren’t allowed to get education by their owners, therefore, even with abolishment of slavery, blacks could not move forward in society due to lack of education and resources. The social control of blacks may be traced to the denial of access to education during slavery. Therefore, whites were holding all the prestigious jobs and blacks were left for the menial labor jobs. Blacks were not given the right to vote and therefore, did not have much representation in the government to change policies.
These examples show us that Southern blacks faced daunting challenges in the aftermath of the Civil War. They faced a largely hostile white population who tended to blame many of their tribulations on black people. Even though, the Amendments were put in place to provide equal rights to blacks, it did not rectify the situation fully. African Americans still continued to suffer and face greater challenges such as hard jobs, no land ownership and unequal rights post Civil war. On a Macroscopic level, these three amendments allowed some constitutional rights but at a microscopic level, we know that blacks were not treated as equals.
[1] American History Battleground. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/battleground.html
[2] Our Documents- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40
[3] Ferris State University. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
[4] Fitzgerald, Terence. 2006. "Control, Punish, and Conquer: U.S. Public Schools' Attempts to Control Black Males." Challenge (1077193X) 12, no. 1: 38-54. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 12, 2014).
[5] History : American Civil War Reconstruction. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction
The Thirteenth Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1964, and the house on January 31, 1865. President Lincoln knew that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery. Supreme Court helped undermine the Constitutional protection of blacks with the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case, which legitimized the Jim Crow Laws and Jim Crow way of life.[3]
Plessey v. Ferguson case was a striking case, which showed that Whites and Blacks weren’t treated equally. During the proceedings of this case, in 1896, a 30-year-old homer Plessey was jailed for sitting in the “White” car of the East Louisiana Railroad. Louisiana had passed the Separate Car Act, legally separating common carriers in 1892, when Plessey challenged the law by sitting in the white section, he was arrested for sitting in the white car. Plessey’s lawyer challenged in court that he could not be denied of this right but the Supreme Court decided that the Louisiana segregation was constitutional. The Plessey decision set the precedent that “ separate” facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were “equal”. [4]
The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. Blacks were still not given equal rights and people continued to feel that blacks were inferior because they weren’t good enough to use the same facilities as whites. Although, the Supreme Court ruling said that segregation is ok as long as the facilities for both blacks and whites were equal, we know that the facilities for blacks were much inferior and in poor conditions.[5]
African Americans, post Civil War, decided to leave the South and move to North for work. But Whites would not hire them, so a lot of Blacks mostly worked as servants or in hard, dirty jobs like cleaning the streets and building railroads. The Black codes placed taxes on free blacks who tried to pursue nonagricultural professions, restricted the abilities of Blacks to rent land or own guns. Blacks ended up working as tenant farmers, sharecroppers or in the steel or turpentine industries. Most freed slaves never had access to “free” land. Most Blacks in South received far lower wages than white workers, which prevented them from buying land and otherwise becoming financially independent. Since the slavery days, blacks weren’t allowed to get education by their owners, therefore, even with abolishment of slavery, blacks could not move forward in society due to lack of education and resources. The social control of blacks may be traced to the denial of access to education during slavery. Therefore, whites were holding all the prestigious jobs and blacks were left for the menial labor jobs. Blacks were not given the right to vote and therefore, did not have much representation in the government to change policies.
These examples show us that Southern blacks faced daunting challenges in the aftermath of the Civil War. They faced a largely hostile white population who tended to blame many of their tribulations on black people. Even though, the Amendments were put in place to provide equal rights to blacks, it did not rectify the situation fully. African Americans still continued to suffer and face greater challenges such as hard jobs, no land ownership and unequal rights post Civil war. On a Macroscopic level, these three amendments allowed some constitutional rights but at a microscopic level, we know that blacks were not treated as equals.
[1] American History Battleground. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/battleground.html
[2] Our Documents- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40
[3] Ferris State University. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
[4] Fitzgerald, Terence. 2006. "Control, Punish, and Conquer: U.S. Public Schools' Attempts to Control Black Males." Challenge (1077193X) 12, no. 1: 38-54. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 12, 2014).
[5] History : American Civil War Reconstruction. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction
Bibliography
American History Battleground. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/battleground.html
Ferris State University. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
Fitzgerald, Terence. 2006. "Control, Punish, and Conquer: U.S. Public Schools' Attempts to Control Black Males." Challenge (1077193X) 12, no. 1: 38-54. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 12, 2014).
History : American Civil War Reconstruction. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction
Our Documents- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/battleground.html
Ferris State University. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
Fitzgerald, Terence. 2006. "Control, Punish, and Conquer: U.S. Public Schools' Attempts to Control Black Males." Challenge (1077193X) 12, no. 1: 38-54. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 12, 2014).
History : American Civil War Reconstruction. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction
Our Documents- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Accessed May 9, 2014
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40