Why did Black Americans have to fight so hard for the right to vote?
Key Points:
- In March 1857, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision against Dred Scott. In an opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Taney, the Court ruled that people of African descent "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States".
- In 1890, Mississippi held a convention to write a new state constitution to replace the one in force since Reconstruction. The white leaders of the convention were clear about their intentions. “We came here to exclude the Negro,” declared the convention president.
- Mississippi cut the percentage of black voting-age men registered to vote from more than 90 percent during Reconstruction to less than 6 percent in 1892.
Resources:
The Supreme Court . The Court and Democracy . Biographies of the Robes . Roger Taney | PBS
Civil Rights Act of 1875 | United States [1875] | Britannica
Plessy v. Ferguson: Separate But Equal Doctrine - HISTORY
Brown v. Board of Education | Case, 1954, Definition, Decision, Facts, & Impact | Britannica
"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear." Thomas Sowell
