Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

Thomas Dartmouth Rice, a struggling white actor, became famous by performing in blackface makeup as "Jim Crow," an exaggerated, highly stereotypical black character. By 1838, the term "Jim Crow" was being used as a collective racial epithet for blacks, not as offensive as nigger, but as offensive as coon or darkie. The popularity of minstrel shows aided the spread of Jim Crow as a racial slur. By the end of the 19th century, Jim Crow was being used to describe laws and customs that oppressed blacks.

1870
A Virginia law made it illegal for black and white children to attend the same schools.

1875 March 1
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations, including inns, theaters, public conveyances on land or water, and "other places of public amusement."

1877 March 2
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was elected President by the Electoral College after a deal was worked out with leading southern Democrats. The withdrawal of all remaining federal troops from the South marked the effective end of Reconstruction.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

1879

Thousands of southern blacks frustrated with discrimination and poverty in the South emigrated to the West. They met hostility from western whites and Native Americans. This is sometimes called the Exodus of 1879.

1882
In 1882, at least 49 blacks were lynched. According to Tuskegee Institute data, 3,438 blacks were lynched between the years 1882 and 1951.

1883 October 15
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Civil Rights Cases of 1883 that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional. The Court ruled that the 14th Amendment prohibited states, but not citizens, from discriminating. This civil rights reversal was devastating for African Americans.

1890-1908
Southern states adopted new constitutions and voting laws designed to disenfranchise black voters.

1892
Ida B. Wells began writing articles and campaigning against lynching. At least 161 blacks were lynched in 1892, probably the highest number in a single year.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

1896 May 18

In Plessy v. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court established the "Separate but Equal Doctrine," holding that legal racial segregation does not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

1903
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois was published. According to Manning Marable, author of a biography of Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk "helped to create the intellectual argument for the black freedom struggle in the twentieth century."

1909 May 31- June 1
The National Negro Conference met in New York City and founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

1913-1921
Woodrow Wilson institutionalized segregation in the federal civil service. By the end of World War I, the District of Columbia was thoroughly segregated as well.

1914
Every southern state and many northern cities had Jim Crow laws that discriminated against black Americans.

1914
Marcus Garvey established the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica, which promoted black nationalism and pan-Africanism. Later in the decade, Garvey moved his headquarters to New York City and the UNIA became a large grassroots movement.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

1915

The movie Birth of a Nation, based on Thomas Dixon's The Clansman, popularized many anti-black caricatures, especially the Brute. The movie also glorified the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and helped lead to its resurgence.

1915-1930
In the Great Migration, rural southern blacks moved to northern cities, to the West, and to southern cities. Between 1915 and 1920, 500,000 to 1 million moved to the North; another 700,000 to 1 million moved to the North and West in the 1920s.

1917
The United States entered World War I. Approximately 370,000 blacks saw service during the conflict, including about 1,400 officers. Three black regiments received the Croix de Guerre for valor.

1917 July
At least forty blacks were attacked and killed during a race riot in East St. Louis, Illinois. Three weeks later, some 10,000 blacks participated in a silent march down Fifth Avenue in New York City to protest racial oppression, especially riots directed against black communities.

1919
Many whites, resentful of black demands for equality, attacked blacks. Chicago, Houston, Little Rock, Harlem, Washington D.C., New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, and many other cities had outbreaks of rioting as whites attacked blacks throughout the United States. This period is called the Red Summer.

1920 August 18
The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

1920-1935

The Harlem Renaissance was a major artistic awakening among African-Americans. Key figures included Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Jacob Lawrence, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.

1925The Ku Klux Klan had 3 million members during its heyday in the early 1920s. Roughly half its members lived in metropolitan areas, and although it enjoyed considerable support in the South, the Klan was strongest in the Midwest and Southwest. On August 8, 1925, 35,000 members of the Klan marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

1928 November
Oscar DePriest, a Chicago Republican, was the first African American elected to Congress from a district north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

1936 August 9
Jesse Owens became the first American to win four gold medals in one Olympics. His athletic success was a direct refutation of Adolph Hitler's ideology of Aryan supremacy.

1940-1960
The coming of World War II signaled the beginning of another wave of black migration from rural areas to urban areas, and from the South to the North and West. By 1960, 40% of African Americans lived in the North and West, and nearly three-quarters lived in cities.

1941
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which eliminated hiring discrimination in the defense industry and established the Fair Employment Practices Commission. In response, black leaders, including A. Philip Randolph, canceled a planned march on Washington.

1942
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in Chicago.

1945
World War II ended. Approximately 1,150,000 blacks were inducted into the military, with most serving in support units.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

1950

Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for Annie Allen, a volume of poetry. She was the first African American to win the award.

1952
The Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year with no reported lynchings since it began keeping records.

1953
Malcolm X became a minister in the Nation of Islam.

1955
The Maryland legislature passed a law that imprisoned any white woman who birthed a mixed-race child. The white woman would be incarcerated up to five years. The law was renewed in 1957.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

1956

An Alabama law barred blacks and whites from playing cards, dominoes, checkers, pool, football, baseball, basketball, or golf together. A North Carolina law required factories and plants to maintain separate bathrooms for black employees. A Louisiana law mandated that movie theaters and all places of public entertainment separate white and black patrons.

1958
The Virginia legislature voted to close any school that enrolled both black and white students.

1959
An Arkansas law required all state buses to designate whites-only seating areas.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

SUMMARY

The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 were a group of five cases consolidated by the Supreme Court because of their similarity. Each case involved Black Americans being denied entrance to a public area that was privately owned. According to the Civil Rights Act of 1875, it was illegal to discriminate against citizens based on their race. In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled this act unconstitutional and Justice Bradley proclaimed that private business owners should have the right to regulate who has access to their business. According to the ruling, the federal government cannot make private business owners serve black patrons constitutionally. Their reas

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?
oning was that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was not backed by the 13th or 14th amendments and therefore could not be enforced.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was established to protect all citizens’ human and civil rights. Most importantly, it provided protection of equal rights to newly freed Black Americans. It stated that all native born or naturalized citizens have equal rights regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity. This Act caused uproar for some because of the regulation on public places. Many white business owners did not want the presence of black patrons and wanted to continue business as “white only”.

The decision of ruling The Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional, paved the way for “Jim Crow” laws to exist and years of despair for Black Americans, until the Civil Rights Act of 1965. The ruling also allowed the future “separate but equal” system to be logical and constitutional. The decision of SCOTUS in these cases was very significant in the history of US civil rights.

FIRST TIMELINE

BACKGROUND

After the civil war, black representatives were preoccupied with passing the Civil Rights Bill because the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Ku Klux Klan Acts didn’t seem effective enough. Opponents of the bill argued the bill was redundant and was beyond the scope of Congress’ power.1 Black congressional representatives were able to give anecdotal stories of racism in hotels, southern railroads, and theaters to highlight the necessity of the bill.1 After 5 years and several revisions, the Civil Rights Bill of 1875 passed 162 to 99. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 mandated that owners of public facilities, such as inns, restaurants, railroads, and other carriers, not discriminate against blacks who sought access to, or service from, them on the basis of their race. Anyone who violated the law was subject to criminal prosecution.2 As many opponents of the bill that prophesied, no law could force social equality, especially in the south. 1 Five cases regarding the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act were consolidated into one. 2 These cases could be grouped together because in each case a black person was denied the same accommodations as a white person in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.3

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The cases entered the court system as 5 separate cases from multiple states. The cases included United States v. Stanley, United States v. Ryan, United States v. Nichols, United States v. Singleton, and Robinson and wife v. Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company. Each case included the discrimination and lack of admittance of a Black American. Two of the incidents were at theatres, two at hotels and one at a transit. Each entered the court systems on the grounds that this discrimination was illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1875. When the cases reached the Supreme Court, they were consolidated into one because of their similarity in nature. The SCOTUS combined these five cases naming them “The Civil Rights Cases.” It was soon decided, in an 8-1 decision, that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional and the Black Americans had no recourse against their discrimination. The court ruled that it is unconstitutional to regulate private businesses and that such businesses have the right to deny entrance as they please. SCOTUS announced their decision on October 15, 1883.

ISSUES

Does Congress have the power, under the 13th Amendment, to regulate private acts outside of slavery?
Does Congress have the power, under the 14th Amendment, to regulate private acts in order to provide equal protection?

ARGUMENTS BY PETITIONER

The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 were brought to the courts attention by several African American citizens who felt as if their rights were being violated as they were denied service by several white business owners. Though this was reviewed as one Supreme Court Case it did not come to the Supreme Court in said fashion. This case consisted of five lower appellate court cases that all shared the commonality of using the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to support their arguments of discriminatory acts brought against them. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 stated that all people shall be granted equal rights when dealing with services being provided by a business or establishment. After not receiving the same privileges as white Americans the journey of the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 began as black Americans decided to file suits.

ARGUMENTS BY RESPONDENTS


Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?
Privately owned businesses serve as the defendants in this case. As the case began white business owners clearly had the upper hand as the case took place during an era when discrimination was something that was not foreign to American culture. The defendants of this case provided a counter argument stating that their constitutional rights were being infringed upon as the Civil Rights Act of 1875 required that they serve everyone. Being that these businesses were privately owned and not state businesses the defendants felt as if they did not have to abide by the rules implicated by the federal government; they felt that the decision of who they welcomed or did not welcome was a private matter. The court agreed.

DECISION

In an 8-1 decision The United States Supreme court decided that The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional. Given that each of the cases involved in the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 were all based upon this act the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the businesses that refused to provide services to African Americans stating that privately owned businesses had the right to refuse service to those that they did not want to serve. Justice Joseph P. Bradley wrote the majority opinion stating that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional and that it was not protected by neither the 13th amendment nor the 14th amendment. The 13th amendment while applying to private service

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?
s only involves those services that involve slaves stating that one person is not allowed to own another. It says nothing about behavior that involves discriminatory acts. The 14th amendments equal protection clause is one that could not be implemented because it states that equality must be distributed in state affairs but says nothing directly about private affairs. Justice Bradley goes further to say that private acts of racial discrimination are ones that are privately wrong and that the federal government has no control over said businesses that choose to display such behavior. The decision concludes that by allowing this act to pass would simply be running the idea of discrimination in the ground giving blacks special treatment.

MAJORITY OPINION 

Justice Joseph P. Bradley wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by Justice Waite, Justice Miller, Justice Fields, Justice Woods, Justice Matthews, Justice Grey, and Justice Blatchford. The decision to declare the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional was based on the accusation that the law violated the United States constitution in that it attempted to force privately owned businesses to serve all people without taking discriminatory actions based on race. In his writing, Bradley writes that neither the 13th nor the 14th amendments justify the law. The courts declared that the equal protection clause upheld by the 14th amendment was one that did not apply in this case given that it states that equal protection must be carried out by the states; the 14th amendment does not give congress the right to force individuals to practice the constructs of equal protection as an individual. While writing Bradley also addresses the 13th amendment stating that it protects people against slavery, not discriminatory acts that are against them. The court felt as if the argument of slavery was being run into the ground and that it was being used as a crutch to address every act of discrimination that appeared before the court.

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?
Justice Joseph P. Bradley

DISSENTING OPINION

Chief Justice Harlan wrote a dissenting opinion stating that the 13th amendment was put in place to abolish slavery including acts causing one race to feel inferior to another. Harlan states the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was put in place to assure that blacks were given the same rights as any other citizen not to provide them with special privileges. Justice Harlan felt that the 13th and 14th amendments gave congress the ability to provide equal protection to all citizens.

FULL TEXT OF OPINIONS

  • Syllabus
  • Majority Opinion (Bradley)
  • Dissent Opinion (Harlan)

SIGNIFICANCE/ IMPACT

The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 had a large impact on American culture as it has helped the United States evolve over decades. Curiosity emerged when discussing whether or not The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was constitutional and whether or not it violated the constitutional rights of American citizens. This United States federal law stated that African Americans are granted equal protection when involving public accommodations, public transportation, and to prohibit exclusion from jury service. After careful consideration the 43rd United States Congress decided that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was one that was not in violation of the United States constitution. Congress passed the bill and President Ulysses S. Grant signed it allowing it to become a law on March 1, 1875. When the Civil rights Cases of 1883 surfaced the United States Supreme Court then decided that there were certain components within the act that did violate the constitution. It was argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was protected by the 13th and 14th amendments; the courts disagreed stating that these two amendments were ones put in place for other means of protection that did not include the services in which the Civil Rights Act of 1875 wanted to enforce. This decision was based upon the consensus that the federal government does not have the power or ability to force privately owned businesses to provide equal rights to anyone that wants to benefit the services of a business. The 14th amendment involves rights that pertain to the

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in 1883 called the civil rights cases?
states, not to individuals who act on their own merit. The federal government may only force regulations on state businesses. While reviewing the validity of the act in writing the majority opinion Justice Joseph P. Bradley addresses the 13th amendment stating that in the writing of the 13th amendment the idea of racial discrimination in public places was one that was not included. The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 was the result of several protests that took place within the United States. These protests were organized to bring awareness to the treatment that African American citizens received when entering establishments that were owned by white people who refused to provide services to African American people solely based upon racial discrepancies. These protests that took place effected the social construct of the United States as the American people’s attention was brought to the idea of equality in other aspects of the everyday life of the American people. By bringing awareness to these issues the idea of unity was also established as white Americans also spoke out against the inequality that the courts decided to support in their 8-1 decision. This resulted in Indignation meetings. Southern states later took advantage of the overturn of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This influenced them to begin writing laws that implemented segregation making it harder for African Americans. This led to influential laws like Jim Crow laws that would later cause an even larger uproar amongst the American people. As southern states implemented these efforts northern and western states instead went in the opposite direction implementing laws that fought for equality nationwide not treating African Americans as second class citizens but instead as people of equal value. As a result of The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 overturning the constructs of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 the efforts laid out by the Civil Rights Act of 1875 will later be address in a new law, The Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act bands discrimination with public facilities across the United States. Congress justified implementing this law based on several sections of the constitution (Article 1 section 8, the 14th amendment, and the 15th amendment).

SECOND TIMELINE 

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS 

Congress lacked the authority under the enforcement provisions of the 14th amendment to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals because that power is reserved to the states. In turn undermining the authority that was given by section 2 of the 13th amendment. 4   

MAJOR STATUE(S) UNDER REVIEW 

Civil Rights Act of 1875

IMPORTANT PRECEDENTS 

  • United States v. Stanley
  • United States v. Ryan
  • United States v. Nichols
  • United States v. Singleton
  • Robinson v. Memphis & Charleston Railroad

IMPORTANT SUBSEQUENT CASES 

  • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
  • Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)
  • Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1954)
  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
  • Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority (1961)
  • Moose Lodge 107 v. Irvis (1972)

WEB RESOURCES 

1. History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Historian,Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008. “Legislative Interests,” Retrieved April 28 2016 http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Fifteenth- Amendment/Legislative-Interests/

2. West Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. S.v. "Civil Rights Cases." Retrieved April 28 2016 from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Civil+Rights+Cases

3. Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Tech. “The Civil Rights Cases.” Oyez Retvrieved April 28 2016 from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/109us3h

4.“Civil Rights Cases, 1883.” American Eras. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (April 12, 2016).http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2536601661.html

CONTRIBUTORS  

Spring 2016: Veronica Macias, Kelly Barber, Olivia Copeland, Anna Kimbrough, Ridge Pierre

TASKS FOR FUTURE CONTRIBUTORS

  • Decision analysis
  • As for the decision, the case was 8-1 it would be beneficial to elaborate each justice’s individual decision. (Whether any justices were hesitant to their decision)
  • More elaboration of the five cases before they were consolidated into one for SCOTUS
  • Scholarly Commentary and Debate
  • Academic books articles and law reviews
  • Properly Cite Photos