Advancement Of African American Civil Rights Essay
Assess the importance of CONGRESS in the advancement of African American Civil rights during the period 1865-1941?
Congress were very important in the advancement of African-Americans however they were not the most important factor, the Supreme Court and the presidents were also important during the period of 1865- 1941.
Immediately after the civil war, and the emancipation proclamation black people had expected to gain rights. In 1866 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which stated that African- Americans were full citizens even if they had previously been slaves. This shows advancement on a massive scale because they now have citizenship, which is something that looked very unattainable prior to the Civil War, but now they have advanced …show more content…
In 1873 there was the slaughterhouse case, which resulted in the Supreme Court saying that the rights of citizens should stay under federal control and that the fourteenth amendment only protected an individuals rights and not the individuals civil rights, this was under the discretion of the state. This was the start of negative results for black people as far as their civil rights were concerned. In 1896 the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson proclaimed that segregation was constitutional and in this instance Plessy was decided against eight to one. This shows massive negativity towards African-American civil rights. That fact that the Supreme Court took the ‘separate but equal’ principle meant that future cases such as Cumming v. Board of Education could apply that same principle. On the other hand there was some success such as in 1917 with the Buchanan v. Warley, which resulted in residential segregation being found unconstitutional. Further success came in 1923 when the case Moore v. Dempsey failed to uphold the death sentences of twelve blacks. This perhaps shows that black civil rights are being recognised by the Supreme
Congress were very important in the advancement of African-Americans however they were not the most important factor, the Supreme Court and the presidents were also important during the period of 1865- 1941.
Immediately after the civil war, and the emancipation proclamation black people had expected to gain rights. In 1866 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which stated that African- Americans were full citizens even if they had previously been slaves. This shows advancement on a massive scale because they now have citizenship, which is something that looked very unattainable prior to the Civil War, but now they have advanced …show more content…
In 1873 there was the slaughterhouse case, which resulted in the Supreme Court saying that the rights of citizens should stay under federal control and that the fourteenth amendment only protected an individuals rights and not the individuals civil rights, this was under the discretion of the state. This was the start of negative results for black people as far as their civil rights were concerned. In 1896 the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson proclaimed that segregation was constitutional and in this instance Plessy was decided against eight to one. This shows massive negativity towards African-American civil rights. That fact that the Supreme Court took the ‘separate but equal’ principle meant that future cases such as Cumming v. Board of Education could apply that same principle. On the other hand there was some success such as in 1917 with the Buchanan v. Warley, which resulted in residential segregation being found unconstitutional. Further success came in 1923 when the case Moore v. Dempsey failed to uphold the death sentences of twelve blacks. This perhaps shows that black civil rights are being recognised by the Supreme