Reconstruction Period
At the end of the American Civil War, Alabama, a former Confederate state had to reconstitute its legislature. Instead of guaranteeing equal rights, drafters promoted the protection of freed slaves and suggested to the state legislature to create a new form of second class status for African Americans. In result, later in December of 1865, the Alabamian state legislature passed their prominent Black Codes which harshly controlled and managed the almost every aspect of the lives of Black citizens.
The cruelty of these codes in addition to the remaining northern bitterness over the civil war resulted in major Republican victories in the national elections. The Northern Republicans at the time were often individuals who greatly opposed inequality based on race, while the southern Democrats, such as those in Alabama, still believed in denying African Americans their basic civil rights. Because of the strong Republican control that would soon be established in federal government, many of the black codes in the southern states were suspended forcing Alabama into a new wave of constitutional writing.
As these constitutional changes were occurring the Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court were struggling to enforce the the legacy of emancipation, southern states and localities (districts) quietly began to implement the first building blocks of racial segregation. Separate railway cars, and streetcars for black and whites were one of the first segregated laws passed in the South. Later laws were passed in Alabama criminalizing interracial marriage, and other forms of interracial intimacy (relations).
As these constitutional changes were occurring the Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court were struggling to enforce the the legacy of emancipation, southern states and localities (districts) quietly began to implement the first building blocks of racial segregation. Separate railway cars, and streetcars for black and whites were one of the first segregated laws passed in the South. Later laws were passed in Alabama criminalizing interracial marriage, and other forms of interracial intimacy (relations).
As the federal government attempted to challenge these racial laws according to the basis of the 14th amendment, they were involuntarily confronted with the 1883 case Pace v. Alabama, which indicated that such laws were actually legal. And for the first time since the end of the Civil war, the federal government was beginning to lose its will to enforce equality.