Gilded Age Essay

However, in 1896 Judge Ferguson of the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroads within state borders and created a “separate but equal” rule that lay the groundwork for future segregation. This shaped America’s future by aggravating the racial discrimination between blacks and whites. Specifically, laws were passed to keep blacks separate from whites in all sections of society, including education, restrooms, hotels, public transportation, and even cemeteries. Blacks were denied the right to vote and even had a curfew in some places. In summary, this court decision significantly worsened race relations and progress in society for many decades.

From 1877 to the mid 1960s the Southern United States enforced a series of rigid anti-black laws known as the Jim Crow Laws. In theory these laws were to create a “separate but equal” treatment, but in reality the Jim Crow Laws only sentenced people of color to inferior treatment and facilities. Under these laws, public organizations such as schools, hotels, restaurants, and the United States Military were segregated. Blacks were even expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Jim Crow Etiquette.

Big businesses were more powerful than the national government due to trusts. Establishing trusts allowed for these big businesses to run their competition out of business and raise the price of a given product. Thus, consumers had no other option but to

The book “To Kill A Mockingbird” is based around how people lived during segregation and during the great depression. The book shows Jim Crow laws by siding with Mr.Ewell even when they knew Tom was innocent because of these laws. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation. These laws were created to separate black and whites in the south region of the US. They were created by state and local governments.

In the 1800’s, African Americans were affected by the Jim Crow Laws in the South because of the discrimination. The Jim Crow Laws were a set of strict rules preventing blacks from having the same privileges as whites. These laws affected blacks and treated them differently because of the color of their skin. From having different ways of transportation for African Americans, to not letting them use the same restroom, the Jim Crow Laws had a tremendous impact across America. Throughout my research, I learned how the blacks were affected after the Jim Crow Laws were passed.

So in 1865, ex-Confederates formed the first Ku Klux Klan which targeted black supporters of Brownlow’s. Freedmen would suffer at the hands of the Klan by having their stuff burned and people beat. In 1873 the Supreme Court undercut the power of the Fourteen Amendment arguing that the amendment only offer few federal protections to citizens.

Plessy v. Ferguson, a case challenging the law reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. Upholding the law, the court said that public facilities for blacks and whites could be “separate but equal.” Soon the South had to be separate according to the

Businesses could not afford to slow downproduction during the Panic, so they continued to keep their prices high, but the people didn’thave access to the scarce money. Not only were businesses charging high prices, but also thePhiladelphia and Reading Railroad went bankrupt, causing less modes of transportation for work-ers and farmers. In total, over 15,000 companies went bankrupt during the Panic and the unem-ployment was the highest in history. Labor Unions were also created during the Gilded Age, which added to the idea of theGilded Age being truly “gilded”. The American Federation of Labor was one of the first laborunions created in the United States.

During the Industrial Revolution many business leaders were very successful. American people at the time were controversial as to if these Big Businessmen were robber barons or captains of industry. This dispute even continues into present time. Business men should be considered captains of industry. A captain of industry is defined as “a business leader whose means of amassing personal fortune contributes positively to the country in some way.”

Each of these aspects of the Gilded Age elevated the prominence of every other. Without the consumer culture, there would not have been nearly enough money being spent on the new products to justify inventing or producing more. The rise of consumer culture played an important role in the enormous economic boom of the Gilded Age, as it provided the demand for

After Bacon’s Rebellion, indentured servitude was no longer an option given to black people. Due to a new set of laws called slave codes, freedom and equity became almost

Life was worse for African-Americans after the Civil War for numerous reasons. There were the legal actions that the Southern whites took. There was also the KKK and the Election of 1876. To begin with, the Southern whites took legal actions against the African-Americans. They created the Jim Crow Laws.

Particularly in the South, they continued to seek opportunities to legal slavery. As a result, Southerners pass a state law, Black Codes, during reconstruction. This law restricted the civil rights and public activities of legally freed African Americans. Owning weapons, freedom of movement, and land ownerships were against Black Codes. Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), the court case that upheld authority of the state law claiming, “separate-but-equal facilities for whites and blacks” , led up to another significant factor, segregation, which arose to be controversy in mid-1900s.

Wells was an African American who saw hope in the African American life to change since she saw it with her parents being former slaves and achieved higher things. That perspective changed when she saw the rights of African Americans being taken away from white Americans. Wells’s goals were to let the world know the horrible things that happened in the South to African Americans. In Memphis, she was editor for the Free Speech and Headlight there she” editorials under the pseudonym "Iola," she condemned violence against blacks, disfranchisement, poor schools, and the failure of black people to fight for their rights.” (PBS)

Ferguson or Brown v. Board of Education reached the Supreme Court, reconstruction after the Civil War ended and the ratified 14th and 15th Amendment, were needed to address the rights former slaves have. The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1870, “forbid the state and federal government from denying the right to vote based on race” (Cornell). The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, “stated the right to vote couldn’t be denied based on color, race or past servitude” (Cornell). Even with the new Amendments, African Americans were treated different than other Americans. When Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) cases reached the Supreme Court, the rights of the African American population took a step back.