Rights, Commerce, and Reform

Illustration shows a “Standard Oil” storage tank as an octopus with many tentacles wrapped around the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the U.S. Capitol, and one tentacle reaching for the White House.

Background

The end of the Civil War in 1865 marked a significant turning point for the United States. Though the fighting ended, major racial, regional, and political conflicts persisted. The federal government addressed these problems over the next 12 years. During this time, known as Reconstruction, the states ratified three new constitutional amendments—the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth—that created constitutional protections for African Americans. Reconstruction ended after the Election of 1876, when the majority-Republican Congress agreed to demilitarize the South. The former Confederate states, which were dominated by the Democratic party, had been under martial law since 1867. In return, both sides agreed to recognize Republican Rutherford B. Hayes as the winner of the closely decided and disputed 1876 election.

At the same time, the Gilded Age began as rapid industrialization generated unprecedented economic growth. Before 1880, over half of the country’s population worked on farms. Between 1860 and 1920, however, the urban population ballooned from 6.2 million to 54.2 million people. Rural migrants and over 12 million immigrants flocked to cities hoping to secure a job in one of the many new factories. Additionally, railroad lines multiplied by nearly six times, growing from 35,000 miles pre-Civil War to over 200,000 miles by 1899. Expanding railroad routes, especially the transcontinental railroad, connected the nation and facilitated the exchange of people, goods, and ideas. Opening these territories to American settlers, however, violated treaties with Native American tribes and threatened their sovereignty.

Between 1874 and 1921, post-Civil War and industrial problems intersected—Reconstruction ended, the Jim Crow era began, the country acquired new territories, and some of the nation’s largest-ever companies rose and fell. The racial conflicts, industrial working conditions, and commercial disputes that occurred during this time presented distinct problems. They centered, however, on the powers of the federal and state governments to protect the interests of individuals and, later, businesses. As these issues manifested themselves as legal challenges, the Supreme Court of the United States interpreted and applied the new Reconstruction Amendments, especially the Fourteenth Amendment, as it considered constitutional questions about rights, commerce, and reform.

Rights

The Supreme Court issued one of the first interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment in Cruikshank v. United States (1875). The case challenged the convictions of several Ku Klux Klan mob members who killed as many as 160 Black voters following a local election in Louisiana. The Supreme Court unanimously overturned their convictions. According to Cruikshank, the Fourteenth Amendment’s rights of due process and equal protection only applied to state actions, not the actions of individuals. The Court applied similar reasoning when it struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The act, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations (like restaurants and theatres) had no constitutional basis since only the states—not private businesses or individuals—needed to uphold the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court cited the Civil Rights Cases (1883) as precedent in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which legalized racial segregation.

The Court also considered how the Fourteenth Amendment applied to other marginalized groups. Lawyer Myra Bradwell, for example, sued the state of Illinois for denying her admission to its bar because she was a woman. The Court upheld the state’s right to deny Bradwell a law license in Bradwell v. Illinois (1873). The decision did not stop women from participating in law, however, and around the same time, Belva Lockwood successfully lobbied Congress to pass a bill banning discrimination against female attorneys. She became the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court in 1880. Additionally, an influx of immigration during the Industrial Revolution generated questions about citizenship. The 1898 decision in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark affirmed that birthright citizenship is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Meanwhile, settlers increasingly moved into western territories, raising questions about the self-governing powers of Native American tribes. By 1903, the Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock decision held that Congress had full legal authority to control tribes through acts of Congress and could disregard any established treaties. In the Insular Cases, heard from 1901 to 1904, the Supreme Court confirmed Congressional authority over all annexed territories gained through U.S. imperialism.

During World War I and the First Red Scare, the Court heard several First Amendment challenges to the Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917, which criminalized any speech or activity that interfered with the war effort. These decisions generally asserted that national security concerns provided grounds to limit civil liberties. The Schenck v. United States (1919) decision, for example, held that free speech may come under scrutiny if the words suggest “a clear and present danger” to the country.

Commerce

During the late 1800s, dramatic advancements in technology and transportation led to rapid urban development. New factories, mass production, steam power, and railroads revolutionized the United States’ economy, transforming it from an agrarian to an industrial one in a matter of decades. To maximize profits, companies across industries—such as steel, oil, railroad, and sugar—eliminated competitors and consolidated their resources into trusts or holding companies. This business tactic often gave one firm a monopoly and led to a concentration of wealth. With total control over the market, monopolies could, and did, exploit consumers by charging prices above competitive levels.

In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to regulate corporate activity and prevent monopolies. The act outlawed any contract or consolidation that resulted in the “restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations.” There was, however, disagreement over the scope of the act. For example, the Justice Department sued the American Sugar Refining Company for forming a monopoly over sugar refining. The Supreme Court, however, held in United States v. E.C. Knight Company (1895) that the act only applied to interstate commerce, which Congress has a Constitutional power to regulate. The act did not apply to manufacturing monopolies, like sugar refining. The decision weakened the Sherman Antitrust Act and limited the federal government’s power to break up large trusts. For the next decade, there were few anti-monopolization cases.