Source 1
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863
Source 2
Summary of Major Reconstruction Arguments.
The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified by the states on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery “within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Congress required former Confederate states to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment as a condition of regaining federal representation.
Ratified July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including former slaves, and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws,” extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states. The amendment authorized the government to punish states that abridged citizens’ right to vote by proportionally reducing their representation in Congress.
Ratified February 3, 1870, the fifteenth amendment prohibited states from disenfranchising voters “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The amendment left open the possibility, however, that states could institute voter qualifications equally to all races and many former confederate states took advantage of this provision, instituting poll taxes, and literacy tests, among other qualifications
Source 3
Summary of the verdict in the Supreme Court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1898.
In a 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ferguson. The majority rejected Plessy’s Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment arguments, instead putting its stamp of approval on the doctrine of “separate but equal.” The dissent, written by Justice John Marshall Harlan, disagreed, arguing that segregationist laws indoctrinate society with the belief that the two races are not equal.
Justice Henry Brown wrote the majority opinion, which rejected Plessy’s argument that the Louisiana law conflicted with the Thirteenth Amendment, deeming the point “too clear for argument.” The justices then considered whether the law conflicted with the Fourteenth Amendment. They identified the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment as “enforce[ing] the absolute equality of the two races before the law,” but then asserted that “it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social…equality.” According to the Court, the Fourteenth Amendment was only concerned with legal, not social, equality...
Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented from the majority opinion. In an opinion that later became pivotal in the Brown v. Board of Education cases (1954), he argued that segregationist legislation, like the Louisiana law in this case, was based on the assumption that “colored citizens are so inferior and degraded that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied by white citizens.” These laws promoted and perpetuated the belief that African Americans were inferior to whites, according to Justice Harlan. They must be struck down, he argued, because the government could not “permit the seeds of race hate to be planted under the sanction of law.” Justice Harlan believed that the constitution must be “color-blind,” and that it could allow “no superior, dominant ruling class of citizens.” Because segregation had the effect of creating such classes, he judged, it was unconstitutional.
Multiple Choice Question
According to source 1, why was the Civil War being fought?
A.
To "dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live."
B.
To "remember what we say here, [and] never forget what they did here"
C.
To "be highly resolved that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom"
D.
To ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."