On July 9, 1868 the 14th amendment to the constitution was ratified. This amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States," which included former slaves recently freed. Although the slaves were freed, there was still discrimination all around them. Discrimination is defined as "differences between things or treating someone as inferior based on their race". In 1800’s through 1900 there was a huge amount of cases that occurred due to violations of the 14th Amendment. Two well known landmark Supreme Court cases involving the 14th Amendment are Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of Education. In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court case upheld the constitution of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case. This case examined one key issue, was it constitutional to make black people sit in separate cars from white people? In 1890, Homer Plessy broke the law in Louisiana, by sitting in the white people car and he was 1/8 black and 7/8 white. The state of Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, which required railway companies to have "separate but equal." There was punishment for not following the law which if a person would sit in the wrong car they had to pay $25 fine or go to jail for 20 days. Plessy was asked to move, but he refused and was arrested. When he was sent to jail he argued that Separated car acts violated the 14th amendment. Plessy took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court and it was
The 14th amendment was ratified by the Supreme Court in 1868 granting numerous the African Americans citizenship, but with citizenship comes equality. The 14th amendment is split into five sections. Section one is the most important of them all and it states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
While it might at first seem superfluous, one of the most important parts of the Fourteenth Amendment was that it provided a definition of who was a citizen of the United States. However, in the infamous Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Taney had held that, “A free negro of the African race… is not a ‘citizen’ within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States,” and thus, only whites were entitled to constitutional rights. The
The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 and the amendment was put in place to protect former slaves and their rights in life. The most important part of the amendment reads, “No state shall ‘deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.’” This simple statement has one of the most profound and incredible parts of the United States today. The equal protection of the laws show that there must be equal treatment for all citizens regardless of race, class, or gender. Although there has been many racial events happening after this amendment was passed this clause still stands to today and has helped shape the United States for the better. Having this clause in the Fourteenth Amendment protects the ‘little guy’ and makes sure that everyone has the same ability to do whatever everyone else is doing.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is commonly regarded as a major victory against racism that further advanced democracy in America. Adopted on July 9, 1868, it attempted to transform the oppressive culture of the Confederacy by granting citizenship rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States and affording equal protection under the law to all U.S. citizens. Nonetheless, in spite of aiming to put an end to discrimination against African-Americans and other minority groups, this important amendment did not entirely succeed in eradicating racism during the Reconstruction era.
In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutionally legal to segregate African Americans with their white counterparts. In the court case of Plessy v. Ferguson an African American man in Louisiana named Homer Plessy refused to follow the mandated Jim Crow laws which enforced that African Americans have to sit in a designated area when riding on a train. Plessy argued that his fourteenth amendment right was violated equal-protection clause, which “prohibits the states from denying “equal protection of the laws” to any person within their jurisdictions”(Duignan, 2016). However, when Plessy’s case moved to the Supreme Court they ruled“ the object of the Fourteenth Amendment was to create "absolute equality of the two races before the law," such equality extended only so far as political and civil rights (e.g., voting and serving on juries), not "social rights" (e.g., sitting in a railway car one chooses) (McBride, n.d. ). As a result, Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court case upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The Court ruled that a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and14th Amendments. Restrictive legislation based on race continued following the Plessy decision, it was not overturned until Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. The case came from Louisiana, which in 1890 adopted a law providing for “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” on its railroads. In 1892, passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car. He was brought before Judge John H. Ferguson of the Criminal Court for New Orleans, who upheld the state law. The law was challenged in the Supreme Court on grounds that it conflicted with the 13th and 14th
In 1890, the Separate Car Act was enacted in the state of Louisiana requiring whites and non-white Americans to travel in separate railway cars. As a result, a passenger, Homer Adolph Plessy took a seat in a “whites only” car in one of the Louisiana trains and refused to move to the “blacks only” car and was subsequently arrested despite being only a eighth black.
Although the primary aim was to secure citizenship for African Americans, the debates on the citizenship provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment indicate that they were intended to extend U.S. citizenship to all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction regardless of race, ethnicity or alienage of the parents. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared that “all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United
“The purpose that brought the fourteenth amendment into being was equality before the law, and equality, not separation, was written into the law,” says Robert Bork. After the civil war in the US ended in 1865, the fourteenth amendment or the Equal Rights amendment was written in July 9th of 1868. Since the civil war was between south and north, and the south was defending its Black Codes, it was necessary to give the colored people a sensation of belonging to their country. Thus, the fourteenth amendment was established. Of course, the circumstances past then are surely different than the circumstances now a day. However, the Equal Rights amendment is surely still valid till our days. The amendment consists of five sections, and start by defining whom is American. Then, In the first section it clearly states that all citizens of the united states are protected and their rights should not be abridged. Obviously, the amendment does give a feeling of security to all
First off, Plessy v Ferguson is a prime example for the use of the fourteenth amendment’s equal protection clause protecting Homer Plessy, enforcing a “separate but equal” mindset among the people touched by this court case, and demonstrated the strength of the equal protection clause. Homer Plessy In the 1892 incident, Plessy refused to sit in Jim Crow car (expression meaning Negro, racial segregation directed toward African Americans), breaking Louisiana law. At first the Supreme Court didn’t believe his constitutional rights were violated. Their reason behind this is that it was a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and people of color. To them, it did not violate the 13th or 14th amendment. This state law was Louisiana's, the law was about providing “separate but equal accommodations for the
After the Civil War, following the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction, the protection for the rights of African American ended if there was any. Southern States had moved to impose a system of segregation on nearly all areas of life. New laws that required segregation that stirred “separate but equal” doctrine that disenfranchise African Americans for almost six decades. It is hard in this days and age to be able to imagine segregation as a law, but the remnants just change form and name. A petition file on June 7, 1892, in the supreme court Louisiana by a local shoemaker named Homer Plessy against Honorable judge John H. Ferguson. His filling set a test case to challenge Separate Car Act that prompt Plessy v. Ferguson case perhaps one of the most noticeable actions to nullify “separate but equal” doctrine.
The 14th amendment was established after the American Civil War. It addresses the equal protection and rights for everyone. In addition to equal protection under the law to all citizens, the amendment also prohibits citizens from being deprived of life, liberty, and property. Although our laws guarantee equal treatment for all citizens, we often judge people based on their color, religion, and gender.
It is July 28, 1868, Lincoln is dead and the US is in full reconstruction. With Ulysses S Grant as president, the US legislature was trying to pass the 14th amendment to the constitution. This would be a key piece in the reconstruction process. The fourteenth amendment states that: People born or naturalized in the U.S. are American citizens, and individual states cannot deprive them of their constitutional rights (the "equal protection" clause). This amendment ensured that all citizens from all states enjoyed not only rights on the federal level but on the state level, too. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was proposed on July 9, 1868, and on July 28, 1868, it was added to the condition. It was added to address of racism more specifically
In 1890, the Supreme Court passed a Louisiana law that stated that all passenger railways provided separated cars for blacks and whites. They separated whites and blacks and punish passengers or employees for violating this law. On June 7, 1892 Homer Plessy took a vacant seat in a white only car on his trip between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Plessy was arrested because he was mixed, but was preferred as black and was put to trial for violating a law that was passed by the Supreme Court in 1890. Plessy felt that the Supreme Court was treating blacks unequal, so he filed an authority against the judge, Hon John H. Ferguson.
In the Court case Plessy V. Ferguson the Court said that requiring blacks and whites to be transported in different railroad cars was alright as long as the different cars were equal in all ways. (Plessy V. Ferguson 1896) But in a later case (Brown V. Board of Education 1954) It was proven that having segregated schools was damaging the psychological development of young African Americans. The separate but equal doctrine was removed for violating the 14th Amendment.