In 1867, Congress overrode Johnson's presidential veto and passed the Reconstruction Act. The purpose of the reconstruction act was to supervise the return of Southern States to the Union. In theory, the act was intended to federal officers establish new government in the South and to grant the civil rights, or rights as full citizens to equal opportunity and equal treatment of Freedmen, or former slaves, were protected as their transition was made to freedom. Initially, reconstruction was successful. Blacks and whites were equal. Blacks were even allowed to vote. In Mississippi, there were two black men elected as senators. Although there was a period of time in which the ideals of equality were practiced, the mood of the south changed when Hayes was elected as president and the troops in the South were withdrawn. Without the military protecting blacks, things took a turn for the worst. Soon afterwards, the Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment unconstitutional. This declaration initiated the outbreak of intense racism in the United States.
One example of the outbreak of racism in the South can be vividly seen through the Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow laws were laws that imposed racial segregation. They came into being after the collapse of the Reconstruction Plan and mainly thrived in the South. The Supreme Court is said to be indirectly responsible for the Jim Crow Laws because of many of its decisions. The Supreme Court's decision to declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional and declare that the Fourteenth Amendment did not prohibit individuals or private organizations from discriminating based on Race triggered racism. However, it was the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896) which could be said to be the engine behind the Jim Crow Laws and discrimination.
In 1892, Homer Plessy, a carpenter of Louisiana, was chosen to test the constitutionality of the law and sat in a train car that was reserved for whites. He did not give up his seat for whites and consequently, was arrested. After a lower court had already ruled against him, the Supreme Court declared “separate but equal” accommodations did not violate Plessy’s right and the law did not impose inferiority on the colored race. During the time period of the court case, the New Orleans Times-Picayune commented,
“It is hoped that what [Judge Ferguson] says will have some effect on the silly negroes who are trying to fight this law. The sooner they drop their so-called crusade against ‘the Jim Crow car’…the better for them.”
In the South, laws were passed in order to deny the access of African-Americans to school schools, restaurant, hospitals, and public places. Signs labeled “Whites Only” and “Colored” were put up at entrances and exits, waiting rooms, water fountains, and restrooms. Although the specific laws varied from state to state, the nature of the laws remained constant an denied Black a great deal of rights.
Jim Crow Laws oppressed colored people for many years and was the major cause of tension in the United States. However, by 1915, the Laws of Jim Crow were slowly beginning to fade away. In 1915, the Supreme Court declared that the Oklahoma law that constricted the right to vote only to certin citizens was unconstitutional. In 1917, also ruled that residential segregation was unlawful. How ever, it was the Brown vs. Ferguson that overturned the decision of Plessy vs. Ferguson when it declared that separate school were unequal. It was through this ruling, in combination with the Civil Rights Movement, that eventually led to the end of segregation.
In concluding the Jim Crow Laws imposed segregation on African-Americans. It inferred that Blacks were inferior to Whites with regard to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior. Whites went as far to state if necessary, violence must be used to keep Blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy. This was a very tense period of time for the United States. It was not until the Supreme Court began to make crucial rulings against certain Jim Crow laws that segregation was diminished. The Jim Crow Era in America was a time of negativity in its history that should never be repeated.
Bibliography
1) Creation of the Jim Crow South. “African American History” <> (18 March 2003)
2) Fremon, David. The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in American History. Enslow Publishing, Inc., Berkeley Heights: 2000.
3) What was Jim Crow? “Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia” <> (17 March 2003)
4) Wyss-Lockner, Jack. The Union Reconstruction: Criteria Handout. American International School of Johannesburg, South Africa. (10 March 2003).
Wyss-Lockner, Jack. The Union Reconstruction: Criteria Handout. American International School of Johannesburg, South Africa. (10 March 2003).
Fremon, David. The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in American History. Enslow Publishing, Inc., Berkeley Heights: 2000.
