As the Civil War came to and end in eighteen sixty five, the United States had to face the challenge of reintegrating both the formerly slaved population and the formerly white slave owners back into the country in an era that came to be known as Reconstruction era. However, by eighteen seventy-seven as US forces were removed from the South, the Southerners found new ways to exercise their dominance through acts of violence and intimidation. Slavery was abolished through emancipation proclamation but as years went on, the support of the Northerners faded and the nation retreated from the ideal of equal rights for American citizens regardless of race.
During the years followed …show more content…
This culminated in eighteen ninety-six in the case of Plessy versus Ferguson. The case arouse from Louisiana where the state mandated separate cars for black and white people. The Supreme Court in an eight to one decision upheld the Louisiana law, arguing that the enforced separation of the two races were not against the constitution as long as they are equal and does not mean the inferiority of the colored …show more content…
By nineteen hundred the number of registered voters among African Americans reduced significantly. This was implemented by a series of poll taxes and literacy tests that basically intended to remove the black population from political platform of the country and confine their engagement in the political stage. This has an immense impact of further alienating the black people because if their voices is not going to be heard through their chosen representatives, that means their interest is not going to be served and that means that the States can infringe on the black population’s rights with less resistance. The segregation laws did not stop at the state level. During President Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, the US army and federal offices were also segregated which caused a lot of mutinies and civil riots during nineteen