Explain one impact of the second industrial revolution of American society?
By 1890, the richest 1 percent of Americans received the same total income as the bottom half of the population and owned more property than the remaining 99 percent. Many of the wealthiest Americans consciously pursued an aristocratic lifestyle, building palatial homes, attending exclusive social clubs, schools, and colleges, holding fancy-dress balls, and marrying into each other’s families. One of the era’s most widely publicized spectacles was an elaborate costume ball organized in 1897 by Mrs. Bradley Martin, the daughter of a New York railroad financier. The theme was the royal court of pre revolutionary France. The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was decorated to look
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During the depressions of the 1870s and 1890s, millions of workers lost their jobs or were forced to accept reductions of pay. The “tramp” became a familiar figure on the social landscape as thousands of men took to the roads in search of work. Many industrial workers labored sixty-hour weeks with no pensions, compensation for injuries, or protections against unemployment. Although American workers received higher wages than their counterparts in Europe, they also experienced more dangerous working conditions. Between 1880 and 1900, an average of 35,000 workers perished each year in factory and mine accidents, the highest rate in the industrial world. Most strikes for higher wages failed, as employers found it easy to call on the unemployed to take the strikers’ …show more content…
Laws and local customs requiring the separation of the races had numerous precedents. In 1896, in the landmark decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court gave its approval to state laws requiring separate facilities for blacks and whites. The case arose in Louisiana, where the legislature had required railroad companies to maintain a separate car or section for black passengers. A Citizens Committee of black residents of New Orleans came together to challenge the law. To create a test case, Homer Plessy, a light-skinned African-American, refused a conductor’s order to move to the “colored only” part of his railroad car and was arrested. The lone dissenter, John Marshall Harlan, reprimanded the majority with an oft-quoted comment: “Our constitution is color-blind.” Segregation, he insisted, sprang from whites’ conviction that they were the “dominant race” (a phrase used by the Court’s majority), and it violated the principle of equal liberty. To Harlan, freedom for the former slaves meant the right to participate fully and equally in American society. As Harlan predicted, states reacted to the Plessy decision by passing laws mandating racial segregation in every aspect of southern life, from schools to hospitals, waiting rooms, toilets, and
On June 7, 1892, the law was tested again, when Homer Adolph Plessey, an “octoroon”, a very fair person with white features, purchased a ticket and boarded the Louisiana railroad with the consent of the Citizens Committee with the express purpose of violating the Separate Car Act. He sat in the “whites- only section” and when his ticket was collected by the conductor, Homer Adolph Plessey informed the conductor that he was 7/8 white and was not going to sit in the “black-only car.” Arrested and jailed, Plessey as released on $500 bail the next day. A White New York lawyer, Albion Winegar Tourgee, was retained. Plessey’s case was heard one month later before John Howard Ferguson. Tourgee argued the violation of the 13th and 14th amendments before Justice Ferguson. Tourgee’s argument was for absolute equality of all races. However, on May 18, 1896, Justice Brown, by a vote of 7 to 1, ruled in favor of the State of Louisiana upholding the constitutionality of state laws under the doctrine of “separate but equal" that justified a system of
Supreme Court case upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The Court ruled that a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and14th Amendments. Restrictive legislation based on race continued following the Plessy decision, it was not overturned until Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. The case came from Louisiana, which in 1890 adopted a law providing for “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” on its railroads. In 1892, passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car. He was brought before Judge John H. Ferguson of the Criminal Court for New Orleans, who upheld the state law. The law was challenged in the Supreme Court on grounds that it conflicted with the 13th and 14th
The next critical Supreme Court ruling on the issue of civil rights was in 1892 with the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Homer Adolph Plessy was a shoemaker from the state of Louisiana. Although Plessy was seven eighths white and only one eighth black. According to the law in Louisiana, he was still required to use the facilities designated as "colored". In an attempt to challenge the law, Plessy, with the support of civil rights activists, bought a ticket for the first class coach on the East Louisiana Rail Road. Plessy boarded and sat down in the first class coach. Just after the train departed the station the conductor confronted Plessy. The conductor asked him if he was black, Plessy told him he was and that he refused to leave the coach. The train was stopped; Plessy was arrested and formally charged at the fifth street police station.
In June 1892 Homer A. Plessy bought a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad and sat in the car designated for whites only. Plessy was of mixed African and European ancestry, and he looked white. Because the Citizens Committee wanted to challenge the segregation law in court, it alerted railroad officials that Plessy would be sitting in the whites only car, even though he was partly of African descent. Plessy was arrested and brought to court for arraignment before Judge John H. Ferguson of the U.S. District Court in Louisiana. Plessy then attempted to halt the trial by suing Ferguson on the grounds that the segregation law was unconstitutional.
The State of Louisiana passed a law “that all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this State shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train … No person or persons, shall be admitted to occupy seats in coaches other than the ones assigned to them on account of the race they belong to.” The Plessy v. Ferguson case was brought before the high court to decide if Mr. Plessy civil rights under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth was violated when Plessy was assigned a seat in the black car and when he refused was subsequently arrested for violating the law. The court felt the Thirteenth Amendment was about abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude which the court proved was not applicable to apply to this case. Since the case Roberts v. Boston, 59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 198 (1850) the states had widely accepted the concept of separate but equal education system, and the separation of races in places of entertainment have become widely approved throughout the country. Based on these examples, the court felt no infringement of equal rights was inflicted on Mr. Plessy as stated in the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court affirms the lower courts ruling that Mr. Plessy civil rights were not
Ferguson case allowed legal segregation to continue for more than 60 years in the south. Homer Plessy, a light-skinned, calm, well dressed, 1/8th black man, entered the first class railroad car on June 7, 1982. “When he took his seat, Plessy triggered a series of legal actions that would eventually reach the Supreme Court of the United States.”(Fireside, 5) Plessy had absolutely no intention of reaching his destination. He was charged with a crime for not moving to the car in which he belonged. This was one of the first sit in’s in the United States. The Louisiana Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court ruled against him. They said that the cars were “separate but equal” even though this was untrue and that it was constitutional. Finally, the ruling was overturned in 1954. Plessy vs. Ferguson was the most criticized decision the court made of all
Ferguson( 1896); one of the most well known civil right cases regarding " equal but separate laws" in relation to public seating. In 1896 Homer Plessy an African American was denied the right to be seated in a white only section. The Supreme court denied Congress the authority to prevent unequal privileges to restraints and inns. Following this statement, the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for, "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races" ( Supreme Court ). Consequently, transportation segregation was not unconstitutional but, “implies merely a legal distinction” (John A. Garraty). Nonetheless segregation in America was then more acceptable than before. Plessy vs. Ferguson, Judgement, Decided May 18, 1896; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; Record Group 267; Plessy v. Ferguson, 163, #15248, National
In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jim Crow Laws and Segregation during the trial of Plessy vs. Ferguson. Homer Plessy, the plaintiff, was considered a free white man, despite having a distant relative from Africa. He challenged segregation when he purchased a
He was seven-eighths white and one-eighth black and had the appearance of a white man. Nevertheless, he was arrested and convicted of violating the 1890 law. He filed a petition against the judge and the Plessy v. Ferguson started. The Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of a Louisiana law passed in 1890 "providing for separate railway carriages for the white and colored races." The law, which required that all passenger railways provide separate cars for blacks and whites, stated that the cars be equal in facilities and banned whites from sitting in black cars and blacks in white cars and reserving the right to penalize passengers or railway employees for violating its terms. The Court expressly rejected Plessy's argument that the law stigmatized blacks "with a badge of inferiority," pointing out that both blacks and whites were given equal facilities under the law and were equally punished for violating the law. "We consider the underlying fallacy of (Plessy's) argument" contended the Court, "to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this is so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the
1712 - The first practical steam engine is invented by Thomas Newcomen. Steam would become an important source of power for the Industrial Revolution. 1760 - The First Industrial Revolution begins around 1760 in the textile industry in Great Britain. Over the next decade, manufacturing will move from hand production in the home to machine production in factories. 1764 - James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny allowing a worker to produce multiple spools of thread at the same time. 1781 - James Watt patents an improved steam engine making it useful as a power source in factories and other applications such as steam boats and trains. 1779 - The spinning mule is invented by Samuel Crompton. 1793 - The Industrial Revolution spreads to the United
Plessy v. Ferguson – is an exceptionally significant legal court case where Homer Plessy approximately ninety percent white who was considered black by Louisiana law was jailed for sitting in a white only designated railroad car. Plessy v. Ferguson is a case where the Supreme Court Judge John H. Ferguson ruled that “Separate but equal” facilities is not a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment as long as they are
Plessy v. Ferguson was a Supreme Court Case regarding the state laws of racial segregation in public facilities and “separate but equal”. On June 7, 1892, Plessy bought a first-class ticket at the Press Street Depot and boarded a "whites only" car of the East Louisiana Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana. When the train stopped
The beginning of the second industrialization era, sparked the migration of people from rural communities to the new for of urban society. In the United States people were attracted by the big cities due to new jobs created .For example Chicago “symbolized the growing urbanization: In 1860, the city 's population was barely 109,000; thirty years later, it swelled to 1.1 million”. (Text) With the construction of a vast railroad system moving goods,cattle and people was a lot easier than ever. After 1880 American cities boomed, power cable cars replaced the horse car, and after the invention of electricity they were replaced too with streetcars and trolleys. Subways were constructed in New York Boston and Philadelphia, in order to prevent traffic jams. People with similar racial or ethnic backgrounds clustered together in the center of the cities. Suburbs were incorporated and formed large metropolis. Railroads companies built terminals gas and electricity were a new source of power for the city dwellers. By the 1920’s “Electricity drove technology in 1920s America, and technology helped drive prosperity. By 1928, two-thirds of the families in towns and cities had electricity in their homes, stimulating a huge demand for new appliances such as irons, vacuum cleaners, and the era 's great economic engine: radio.” (Text) Immigration was another big challenge for the big cities. The one way ticket immigration began, immigrants were defined as males , in search of a good life in a
This essay will discuss my area of research for the industrial revolution. ‘The era known as the Industrial Revolution was a period in which fundamental changes occurred in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England’ (Joseph A. Montagne 2015). My key question that I based my research on is “To what extent did the changes in industry in great Brittan have a negative Effect on family life and society in general from 1750-1850? My research will also discuss my 3 other key questions which I will discuss furtherly in my essay.
This was considered illegal and Plessy got arrested. Plessy chose to fight his case in court, because the segregation laws violated the fourteenth amendment. Four years later, the case was brought to the Supreme Court. The justices ruled against Homer Plessy. Their decision was that segregation is legal as long as equal facilities were provided. Justice Henry Billings Brown summarized, "The object of the [Fourteenth] amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to endorse social, as distinguished from political, equality. . . If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane."