American Democracy in Context. Joseph A. Pika

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Chief Justice Roger Taney (left) ruled that Dred Scott (right) and all African Americans were a “subordinate and inferior class of beings” who did not have the right to sue in federal court.

      Hulton Archive / Getty Images

      The Missouri trial court ruled in favor of Scott, but the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the ruling and abandoned earlier “once free, always free” precedents. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that ruling. In so doing, it could have simply declared that the Missouri Supreme Court had the final word on Missouri law. Instead, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the Supreme Court issued a sweeping ruling that deemed African Americans a “subordinate and inferior class of beings” who were—even if they were free blacks—disqualified from U.S. citizenship and therefore unable to sue in federal court.⁷ Moreover, the Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its authority when it passed the Missouri Compromise and explicitly held that slaves were property whose owners deserved constitutional protection.⁸

      Reaction to the Dred Scott decision was fierce. It crystallized attitudes on both sides of the slavery issue and, many argue, made the Civil War inevitable. That war was largely, but not exclusively, a battle over slavery. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1862 freeing slaves in all Confederate states that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. Notably, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in Union states. The complete abolition of slavery did not come until after the Union victory in the Civil War, with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution on December 6, 1865.

      Thirteenth Amendment The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery and other forms of involuntary servitude.

      Fourteenth Amendment The constitutional amendment containing the guarantees that no state shall deprive any person of the equal protection of the law nor deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

      Fifteenth Amendment The constitutional amendment guaranteeing that the right to vote will not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

      Civil Rights for African Americans After the Civil War

      The period from 1865 to 1877, known as Reconstruction, saw various attempts by the Republican-controlled Congress to redress the inequities of slavery and promote the civil rights of African Americans. For example, the Civil War amendments to the Constitution—the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments—did much to lay the groundwork for equal rights. The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery and other forms of involuntary servitude. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) contained, among other things, the equal protection clause stating that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” It also, as discussed in Chapter 4, contained language that has made most provisions of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states through the process of incorporation. The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) guaranteed that the right to vote would not be “denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Likewise, Congress passed sweeping civil rights legislation in the 1860s and 1870s. However, subsequent Supreme Court rulings neutered those laws and minimized Congress’s power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. The end of Reconstruction allowed the passage of new laws that stifled voting rights, perpetuated the lingering effects of slavery, and promoted racial segregation.