Alabama Legislature

Giles v. Harris: Supreme Court Refuses to Enforce Black Voting Rights Against Alabama Constitution

1903-04-27 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Giles v. Harris that federal courts cannot enforce Black voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment, effectively sanctioning the wave of disenfranchisement sweeping the South. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., writing for the majority, acknowledged that …

Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Jackson Giles Alabama Legislature Booker T. Washington voting-rights supreme-court racial-discrimination institutional-capture disenfranchisement

Alabama Constitutional Convention: White Supremacy Constitution Becomes Blueprint for Southern Disenfranchisement

1901-05-21 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The Alabama Constitutional Convention adopted a new state constitution explicitly designed to eliminate Black voting while maintaining white political supremacy through facially neutral provisions. Convention president John Knox declared in his opening address that the convention’s purpose was …

John Knox Alabama Legislature Democratic Party Black Belt Planters voting-rights disenfranchisement alabama constitutional-convention jim-crow +1 more