1875 Civil Rights Essay Sample

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The US Supreme Court encouraged Racism by striking down the Civil Rights Act of 1875
Morrison Waite. Samuel Miller. Stephen Field. Joseph Bradley. Stanley Matthews. Horace Gray. Samuel Blatchford. and William Woods. make these names mean anything to you? If they don’t so let me to present them to you. this is the US Supreme Court Justices that one-sidedly struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and encouraged racism in the United States of America. I have intentionally left out one of the Justices because he was the lone dissident ; his name was Justice John Marshall Harlan. The Civil Right Act of 1875 was a great measure in the right way after the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution. abolished bondage. The Congress of America passed a enormous piece of statute law that should hold bought more unity to this state but alternatively was fundamentally removed from our Torahs as a consequence of an absurd reading of the jurisprudence by eight persons who would alter the class of history. One must inquire how the eight Justices who had served in different capacities of authorities before being appointed to the Supreme Court could get at such an flagitious determination. a determination that would hold branchings for more than a century and in today’s society still has important radioactive dust.

In the resulting old ages following the abolishment of Slavery and the terminal of the Civil War there was a period of clip in America called Reconstruction. Brook Andrews studies that “Reconstruction refers to the period instantly following the Civil War in which efforts were made to politically. economically. and socially “reconstruct” the Union and the 11 defeated ex-Confederate states” Although these attempts were echt by some politicians. Andrews states that “the epoch was marked by hideous racial force. widespread southern poorness. and general political unrest” . In 1870 the 15th amendment to the fundamental law granted voting rights to African Americans and it was during this clip African Americans made important paces in the South. deriving political office as reported by Leslie Fishel:

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Black work forces … voted. [ and ] they were elected to federal and province offices. Two black U. S. senators. Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce. represented Mississippi. while four African Americans were elected to the Congress from South Carolina and Mississippi. At the province degree. P. B. S. Pinchback served as moving governor of Louisiana for a short clip. Three provinces elected black secretaries of province. and four elected black province overseers of instruction. James Lynch. secretary of province for Mississippi ( 1869–72 ) … Pressured by divisions within and outside the race and by favoritism. Lynch and other black public functionaries were non ever able to recognize their full potency. As noted by Fishel. African Americans were truly non able to do a significant difference because of the favoritism they suffered at the custodies of southern Whites.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 forbidden favoritism on history of colour. race or old status of servitude harmonizing to the Civil Right Act. The Act “ [ was ] designed to forbid societal favoritism against inkinesss. passed by Congress on March 1. 1875. The act guaranteed to all citizens—regardless of race. colour. or old status of servitude—equal rights in public topographic points. such as hostel. theatres. eating houses. and public conveyances” ( 335-337 ) . Throughout the South. Whites fundamentally refused to follow this jurisprudence. “disenfranchised southern Whites violently opposed the Reconstruction authoritiess and their protagonists. They focused their aggression chiefly on inkinesss. and through lynchings. whippings. incendiarism. hooliganism. and a host of other bullying tactics. sought to maintain black electors off from the polls” ( Andrews ) . This bullying worked as African Americans were less likely to vote and shortly the inroads that they had accomplished several old ages back were all but gone. Rutherford B. Hayes. a Republican. won the1876 Presidential Election and “Historians have characterized Hayes’s triumph in the disputed election of 1876 as the consequence of an understanding between him and Southern Democrats to retreat the staying military personnels from the South” ( Fishel ) . After Hayes triumph. the last of the federal military personnels were pulled out of the south “formally stoping Reconstruction. White Southerners rejoiced and easy began the procedure of exerting entire control over the black minority ab initio by fraud and intimidation” ( Fishell ) . This was the signal of the escalation of absolute horrific times for African Americans in the South.

Some would reason that the US Supreme Court was right in their determination to turn over the Civil Right Act of 1875 and that the Act was unconstitutional: Joseph Bradley declared for the bulk that the Thirteenth Amendment. which abolished bondage. was non applicable to the jurisprudence and that the Fourteenth Amendment “interdicted prejudiced action merely by the provinces and non by private individuals. ” … the act of denying adjustment by an proprietor of an hostel. a public bearer. or topographic point of amusement is non equivalent to “imposing any badge of bondage or servitude upon the applicant … bondage could non be cited as the cause of every act of favoritism because inkinesss were no longer slaves nor were they any longer “the particular favourite of the Torahs ( Seraile ) .

The bulk would reason that African Americans were in fact disparaged because of this opinion. we need merely look at the events taking up to the 1883 determination which when analyzed clearly one can see the unfairness that a sector of America was slated to digest. The facts speak for themselves. Justice Harlan wrote in his dissenting sentiment that “Bradley’s sentiment of the tribunal was “narrow and artificial” and that the 13th amendment non merely abolished bondage but in confabulating freedom gave Congress the power to destruct the badges of bondage. He noted that railway corporations. hostel. theaters. and other public installations were “agents or instruments of the state” and thereby liable” ( Seraile ) . Justice Harlan saw the unfairness in this determination and tried to ordain alteration with his dissent. but unfortunately it had small or no impact on the multitudes.

America in this period was traveling through a hard clip as the Civil War restructured the United States into a different state that was seeking to happen its individuality. We had merely abolished bondage and were doing inroads in the battle for equality to all. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was really clear in that it wanted to allow the same rights to African Americans as the Whites. The US Supreme Court in 1883 decided that freedoms given to African Americans were “social customs” and non portion of their Civil Rights as Congress had intended. In composing the sentiment for the Majority Justice Joseph Bradley stated that “blacks were no longer the particular favourite of the laws” .

This statement was the prototype of racism. It is clear that the US Supreme Court wanted to go on to enslave African Americans and guarantee that the white race reigned supreme. They wanted to guarantee that the basic rights afforded to White persons were ne’er given to African Americans. It is black that the United States Congress waited about one hundred old ages to ordain a new Civil Rights Act which granted the basic human rights that should hold been upheld in the 1875 Civil Rights Act. America needed more Justices like Justice John Marshall Harlan who stood up for the rights of African Americans. A inquiry to chew over. how would America look today had the 1875 Civil Rights act been upheld? Possibly it would be one that offers more equality and equity for all.

Plants Cited

Andrews. Brook B. “Reconstruction. ” Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. ( 2006 ) American History Online. Web. 22 Sept. 2012
Fishel. Leslie H. . Jr. “African Americans. 1870–1900. ” Encyclopedia of American History: The Development of the Industrial United States. 1870 to 1899 VI ( 2010 ) . American History Online. Web. 24 Sept. 2012

Seraile. William. “civil rights instances. 1883. ” Encyclopedia of American History: The Development of the Industrial United States. 1870 to 1899 VI. ( 2010 ) . American History Online. Web. 25 Sept. 2012

U. S. Congress. “Civil Rights Act. 1875. ” United States Statutes at Large. 43rd Cong. Sess II. Chp. 114 ( 1875 ) : 335-337. American History Online. Web 21 Sept. 2012

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