America from 1880-1920

America has come a long way since its Independence. Throughout her history she has gone through a number of changes. One of these periods in which number of reforms took place was the progressive era. Many state legislations, federal legislations, and court decisions, passed during this time period, helped to improve societal positions. However there were also a number of state legislations and court decisions that did quite the contrary. In the United States between 1880 …

…and Hammer v. Dagenhart, declared these laws in violation of the 14th amendment and unconstitutional respectively. State legislations such as the Black Codes and the Grandfather laws, and the court cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson dismantled previous legislations, such as the civil rights act and the 15th amendment, which were meant to improve the African American position in society. Meanwhile the Federal government ignored African Americans by making no legislations during this time period.