Hey APUSHers, let’s chat about Reconstruction Supreme Court Cases as part of my series- APUSH in 1 Minute Daily!

“Worse than Slavery,” Wikimedia Commons

Through efforts to restore white supremacy, Southerners brought cases before the Supreme Court which continually stripped rights away from African Americans.

The Slaughterhouse Cases Ruling, Oyez

The Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873 restricted the scope of the 14th Amendment. The Court declared that the amendment only applied to state deprivation of equal rights and not access to economic privileges.

Judgment in U.S. v. Cruikshank, Records of Rights

The ruling in United States v. Cruikshank, left African Americans vulnerable to hostile state governments. It determined that states, not the federal government, held the responsibility to safeguard citizens against private acts of violence and discrimination.

“Everything Points to a Democratic Victory this Fall,” Library of Congress

United States v. Reese narrowed the interpretation of the 15th Amendment, ruling that it did not grant suffrage but rather prohibited race-based exclusion. This led to many African Americans being disenfranchised by state laws like poll taxes and literacy tests.

Through a series of Supreme Court decisions, African American civil rights that had been gained during Reconstruction, were progressively stripped away by hostile efforts to reinforce white supremacy.

Join me tomorrow as I explain Sharecropping in the next APUSH in 1 Minute Daily!