The Civil Rights Act Of 1866

On May 17, 1954, in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, the High Court, for the first time in American legal history, challenged the “separate but equal” doctrine previously established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and outlawed racial segregation in public schools. The decision, igniting fierce debates throughout the country, was met with violence and strong defiance in the South. The years after Brown, however, saw the passing of several important Acts: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Today, Americans remember Brown v. Board of Education as a success in African Americans’ struggle for equal rights, a change of sea tide for the civil rights movement. While

The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the U.S. After the Civil War, the withdrawal of the federal troops from the south, and the Fourteenth Amendment was what they emancipated. The reconstruction lasted 12 years from 1871 until 1883 when the Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Cases in which some Acts were invalid because they addressed social as opposed to civil rights. Although Congress responded with legislation that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, States kept on the books laws that continued the legacy of the black codes which were established by white Southerners, seeking to control the freedom of the 4 million black Southerners former slaves and, therefore, second-class citizenship were imposed for the newly freed slaves; being that they were landless and with little money to support themselves. Furthermore, the Court noted that the Fourteenth Amendment protected people against violations of their civil rights by states, not by the actions of individuals. It was aimed to provide the means for the Southern states to recognize that African American and Whites can live in harmony, together, without slavery. That was President Hayes, who in 1877 thought, that it was a new Era having new feelings for respecting each other, but the Southern states did not welcome this. In that same year, South Carolina’s Governor Hampton promoted the full equal protection right to blacks and whites. All good intention to change the

President Lyndon B. Johnson and President John F. Kennedy made many notable advances to outlaw discrimination in America. They fought against discrimination on race, color, religion, and national origin. Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments outlawed slavery, provided for equal protection under the law, guaranteed citizenship, and protected the right to vote, individual states continued to allow unfair treatment of minorities and passed Jim Crow laws allowing segregation of public facilities. America would not be the country it is today without their effort to make this country better and of course without the help of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Brown v. the Board of Education was a case that helped shaped America’s education system into what it is today. ‘Separate but equal’ is phrase well attributed to the civil rights movement in all aspects of life: water fountains, movie theaters, restaurants, bathrooms, schools, and much more. This phrase was coined legal in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Plessy v. Ferguson said that racial segregation of public facilities was legal so long as they were ‘equal.’ Before this even, Black Codes, passed in 1865 under President Johnson legalized the segregation of public facilities including schools. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified guaranteeing all citizens equal protection under the law. Still, though, blacks were not given equal opportunities when it came to voting, schooling and many other inherent rights. 1875 brought the Civil Rights Act that prohibited the discrimination in places of public accommodation. These places of public accommodation did not seem to include educational facilities. Jim Crow Laws become widespread in 1887, legalizing racial separation. These downfalls were paused by development of the Nation Association for the Advancement of Colored People that was founded in 1909. This association began to fight the discriminatory policies plaguing the country, especially in the southern areas. Finally Brown v. the Board of Education fought these decisions, stating that ‘separate but equal’ and discrimination allowed by the latter decisions did not have a

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history's greatest political battles.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was known as an end to racial segregation. It was brought about by a number of things including the effects of major events mostly involving riots. State and federal legislation needed it to be passed along with many social movements that influenced its decision. It is no question that it heavily changed America for the better by turning us into a melting pot and making us see that everyone should be treated as equals. It is important to remember that this act was not only beneficial to the time in which it was enacted, but it has affected our future by sustaining society. Today we continue to fight to outlaw discrimination within our nation, and thanks to the passing of this act we are able to be strong and help support the removal of unequal protection for all citizens. The general public has always deserved to be treated with the same rights that every White American is given. This act needed to be passed in order to see the harm we were causing by segregating people. America has grown so much since the act was established, and with it by our sides everyone can be able to have the rights they all truly deserve. Without this act in effect, the impacts on our country would be dire. We needed this act in order to flourish as one nation and continue to build movements against any discrimination.

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) was a landmark Supreme Court Case that overturned the separate but equal ideology established by the earlier Supreme Court Case Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896). The Plessy vs. Ferguson court case had a profound affect on the social interaction of racial groups in the late 19th to early 20th century causing tension between the two most prominent races within the United States, the Caucasians and the African Americans, which included Hispanics and other non-white citizens. The Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education eradicated legal racial discrimination given to the state government by the implementation of Jim Crow Law in schools and public settings leading to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement which fought to put an end to the white supremacy and give all people especially those of color equal rights and protection under a court of law and in the eyes of government.

The 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling ultimately led to the desegregation of public schools in the United States. The decision was a stepping-stone for the civil rights movement and one of many efforts made to reach racial equality, efforts that initially began with the Civil War Amendments to the United States Constitution. These Amendments included but were not limited to the Thirteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1865 and banned slavery in the United States, the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and assured equal protection under the law despite race, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1870 and gave African-American men the right to vote.

The civil rights movement and its many successes emerged in the 1950s. In 1952, Thurgood Marshall attacked the principle of segregation through the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka lawsuit, arguing that segregation was unequal and harmful to black children. Unlike before in Plessy v. Ferguson where the court ruled that segregation was constitutional as long as the facilities were “separate but equal”, the Brown case was a success. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment and ordered for public schools

Necessary and Proper Clause: This is a clause within the United States Constitution specifically in Article I Section 8. It grants Congress the power to create laws or take certain actions that are not explicitly seen in the Constitution and allows flexibility within Congress. The Necessary and Proper clause allows Congress to use enumerated powers that are implied within the text of the Constitution.

On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee, the exceptional mastermind and commander of the Confederate Army, never appeared so vulnerable in his life. On this day in his home state of Virginia, Lee surrendered to the Union Army, thus commencing the end of the American Civil War.

Another win for African Americans was in 1954, with the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, where the Supreme Court called segregation unconstitutional and consequently banned it. This was only the ending of a 16 year struggle for the ruling out of segregation. The abolishment of segregation in public schools did not rely exclusively on this case, but as well as on other cases which contributed to this ban. The case of Brown v. Board of Education was said to have been divided into two cases known as Brown I and Brown II. The Brown I case, was the 1954 abolishment of segregation, in 1955 Brown II, “held local school districts responsible for implementing Brown I and ordered them to desegregate schools ‘with all deliberate speed,’” (Unger). In previous years before the Brown cases, the National Association for the Advancement of Color People (NAACP), were accountable for the pro anti-segregation cases against school boards in

Due to the pure outrage of this law the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was created in 1909. This organization’s primary goals are to safeguard and secure social, educational, political, and economic equality amongst all people. Also they attempt to destroy racial disgust and discrimination. For years before the Brown versus Board of education case came about, the NAACP was trying to persuade Congress on other laws to help protect blacks from lynchings and other racist actions.

Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a case that also involved discrimination and inequality. It was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in May, 1954. This case focuses on the segregation of white and black children in public education. In this case Brown argues that segregation based on race, violates the Constitution because in public schools’ African American children were denied equal rights. White children were considered inferior to the black children. The Supreme Court decided that segregated public schools provided unequal schooling for students, and that school segregation was therefore unconstitutional. The “Separate but Equal” law continued to open wider gaps between blacks and whites. Blacks used separate water fountains, restrooms, hospitals, etc. All Public facilities were segregated. Restrictions were also placed on voting rights for blacks. They were granted the right to vote earlier in the 15th Amendment but it was limited by asking for literacy tests, and the redrawing of lines by southern state legislators. A racist ideology was still implanted in the minds of many; blacks were still inferior to the white color. Another attempt to freedom was the opening of the National Association for the advancement for colored people (NAACP). The goal of this organization was to end public segregation and regain the right to vote. The case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), also influenced the

A man once stood in front of a crowd of thousands of people both black and white. He delivered a speech that fought for the possibility of an America where both black and white citizens were truly equal; this man was“Martin Luther King Jr”(Martin Luther King Jr.). One might fight back and argue that the laws during this time did make the African Americans equal but this was not true, as one of the laws stated the two as being Equal but separate. This law was one of the Jim crow laws, in which African americans were in theory separate and equal, but in reality were given second hand treatment after the prioritized white citizens (Richard). The Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional and took away many African Americans chances at being considered