Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson and those who fought back

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   A ruling and a made-up law (cards A to C). Card A: "Justice Brown on the Fourteenth Amendment". Who made it: Justice Henry Billings Brown, writing the opinion of the Supreme Court. When: 1896. Where: Washington. For whom: the parties, other courts and the public. Why: to explain and justify the Court's decision. Excerpt (Plessy v. Ferguson, opinion of the Court; United States Reports vol. 163, 1896, p. 544): "The object of the amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute 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 enforce social, as distinguished from political equality, or a commingling [mixing] of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either." Card B: "Justice Harlan on the Constitution and race". Who made it: Justice John Marshall Harlan, dissenting from the Court's decision. When: 1896. Where: Washington. For whom: the parties, other courts and the public. Why: to explain why he disagreed with the Court. Excerpt (Plessy v. Ferguson, dissenting opinion; United States Reports vol. 163, 1896, p. 559): "But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste [fixed rank] here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved." Card C: "A made-up library law". Who made it: us, for this sheet. When: written today. Where: a made-up town. For whom: students. Why: to give an example. Made-up example, not a real town and not a quotation: A town law says its public library must have two entrances, one for white readers and one for Black readers. The two entrances are the same size, with the same doors and the same walkway to the reading room.

2. 1.

   Ari checks the cards. Card A is Justice Brown's reasoning in Plessy. Applying it, would the majority uphold the library law on card C, and why?

   • Yes: the amendment ensures political equality, not social, and the entrances are equal in size.
   • No: absolute equality before the law means no separate entrances can be allowed by a state.
   • No: the entrances are equal just in size, and Brown requires equal books and staff as well.
   • Yes: because the law is passed by a town, a ruling about states does not apply to it.
3. 2.

   Card B is Harlan's dissent. Applying his reasoning, how would the library law on card C fare, Bo asks?

   • It would fall because the entrances are different sizes, which the dissent measures.
   • It would stand, since entrances of equal size treat readers equally, as the dissent allows.
   • It would stand, because a library is not a civil right under the dissent's wording.
   • It would fall: the law sorts readers by color, which the dissent says is not tolerated.
4. 3.

   Both justices would see the two library entrances as equal in size. What do they disagree about on card C, Esme asks?

   • Whether the entrances are equal, which Brown denies and Harlan accepts.
   • Whether equal facilities are enough, or sorting citizens by color is itself the wrong.
   • Whether the library is public, which decides whether the Fourteenth Amendment applies.
   • Whether a town may pass the law, which Brown denies and Harlan accepts.

5. Use this

   Registered voters in Louisiana, 1897 to 1900. Card A: Table "Registered voters in Louisiana, 1897 to 1900", columns Year | Black voters | White voters: 1897 | 130,344 | 164,088; 1898 | 12,902 | 74,133; 1900 | 5,320 | 125,437. Data: Janet Allured, "Louisiana Constitution of 1898," 64 Parishes (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities). The 1900 Black figure is the source's count of voters of color.

6. 4.

   Black registration in Louisiana fell from 130,344 in 1897 to 12,902 in 1898. What can Jun say about the fall?

   • It fell about 90 percent, and white registration fell by the same share, so the rules were race-neutral in effect.
   • It fell about 90 percent, large enough that the 1898 rules plausibly mattered, though the table gives no cause.
   • It fell about 90 percent, which shows the reading test alone caused the fall.
   • It fell about 10 percent, found by dividing the 1898 count by the 1897 count, so the rules had little effect.
7. 5.

   Between 1897 and 1898, white registration also fell, from 164,088 to 74,133. Which statement fits both groups, Kira asks?

   • White registration fell more in count, 89,955 against 117,442, so white voters were hit harder.
   • Both fell, but Black registration fell about 90 percent and white about 55 percent.
   • Both fell by about the same percent, since each lost tens of thousands of voters.
   • Black registration fell more in count and white more in percent, since white began from fewer voters.
8. 6.

   A student says: "The 1898 rules were fair in effect, because white registration fell too." What can Luz say from the table?

   • White registration fell 55 percent but rose to 125,437 by 1900, while Black fell to 5,320.
   • The claim fails, since white registration fell more than Black registration in 1898.
   • The claim holds, since the table gives no counts for 1899 and cannot show a difference.
   • The claim holds, since both groups lost voters between 1897 and 1898.

9. Use this

   Card A: "Du Bois in the Forethought". Who made it: W. E. B. Du Bois. When: 1903. Where: Chicago. For whom: readers of his book. Why: to introduce the book and name its main idea. Excerpt (The Souls of Black Folk, The Forethought; The Souls of Black Folk, 1903, unnumbered front matter): "Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." Card B: "The Niagara Movement, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In July 1905, twenty-nine men met in Ontario, Canada, after hotels in Buffalo, New York, refused them rooms. W. E. B. Du Bois had called them together. They wrote a Declaration of Principles. In 1906 the group met at Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where women were admitted as full members.

10. 7.

    The Niagara group met in Ontario after Buffalo hotels refused them rooms. What does card B let Milo say about that?

    • They chose Canada to avoid Washington's supporters, as the card says about the meeting.
    • They met in Ontario because Du Bois's book had been published there in 1903.
    • The men met to oppose the color-line after meeting it, since hotels turned them away.
    • They met in Ontario because women were admitted there as full members of the group.

11. Use this

    Louisiana's rules and two made-up men. Card A: "Louisiana's voting rules, 1896 to 1900, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1898 Louisiana adopted a new constitution. It set a yearly poll tax of one dollar, a reading test given by a local official, a rule about property worth $300, and a grandfather clause. The clause let a man register if his father or grandfather had been on the voter rolls in 1867, when Black men in Louisiana could not vote. The House of Representatives' history office says about 130,000 Black voters were registered in 1896 and 5,320 are counted in 1900. Who gained: officials and white voters who kept their place on the rolls. Who lost: Black voters, and some poor white voters. Card B: "Two made-up men". Who made it: us, for this sheet. When: written today. Where: Louisiana, 1898. For whom: students. Why: to give an example. Made-up case, not real people: in this simplified case a man could register by meeting any one of three tests: passing the reading test given by the local official, owning $300 of taxable property, or having a father or grandfather on the 1867 rolls. All must pay the poll tax, and each of these men has paid it. Tom cannot read and owns no property, but his grandfather was on the 1867 rolls. Sam reads well and owns no property, but his father was enslaved until 1865. Abe cannot read, but he owns $400 of taxable property. Ben owns no property and reads well, but the local official says he failed the test.

12. 8.

    Ren checks the cards. Under card B's simplified rules, can Tom (cannot read, no property, grandfather on the 1867 rolls) or Sam (reads well, no property) register?

    • Neither, since both rules need property worth $300 to register.
    • Tom, by the grandfather clause; Sam must pass the test, judged by the local official.
    • Both, since the rules name no race and so treat each man alike.
    • Sam, since he reads well and the test is about reading, so he qualifies at once.
13. 9.

    Abe cannot read but owns $400 of taxable property. Ben owns no property and reads well, but the official says Ben failed. What do the rules mean for Tala to say?

    • Neither qualifies, since each lacks a grandfather on the 1867 rolls.
    • Both qualify, since Ben reads well and the test is about reading, not about the official's view.
    • Ben qualifies and Abe fails, since reading is the main test and property counts little.
    • Abe qualifies by property; Ben's result depends on the official who decides who passes.

14. Use this

    Keeping people from voting, 1889 to 1908. Card A: "Ways of keeping people from voting, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Between 1889 and 1908, southern states wrote new voting rules into their constitutions. A poll tax was a fee a person had to pay to vote. A literacy test made a person show they could read, and sometimes explain, a section of a law before registering; the official who gave it decided who passed. A grandfather clause let a man register if his father or grandfather had been able to vote before a set date, such as 1867 in Louisiana. A white primary was a party election to choose candidates that only white voters could join. Most of these rules did not mention race, but they fell hardest on Black voters. The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) already said that a state may not deny the vote because of race. Card B: "Louisiana's 1898 rules and who could meet them, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The 1898 constitution gave a literacy test to a local official, who decided who passed. Its grandfather clause counted men whose father or grandfather had been on the voter rolls in 1867. Its property rule counted men who owned $300 of taxable property. Louisiana did not allow Black men to vote in 1867. The Fifteenth Amendment barred denying the vote because of race, so the rules named no race.

15. 10.

    Louisiana could defend the 1898 rules by saying they named no race. What does that defense assume, Zee asks?

    • That a rule naming no race cannot work as a race test, which the numbers challenge.
    • That the Fourteenth Amendment protected the reading test, so it could not be challenged.
    • That each voter faced the same poll tax, so the tax fell on the whole electorate alike.
    • That the Fifteenth Amendment allows race-based rules, so naming race would have been lawful.