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Henry McNeal Turner, 1834-1915
The Barbarous Decision of the United States Supreme Court Declaring the Civil Rights Act Unconstitutional and Disrobing the Colored Race of All Civil Protection. The Most Cruel and Inhuman Verdict Against a Loyal People in the History of the World. Also the Powerful Speeches of Hon. Frederick Douglass and Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, Jurist and Famous Orator.
Atlanta, Ga.: s. n., 1893.

Summary

In this pamphlet, Turner harshly criticizes the Supreme Court's decision to declare the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional, and condemns the justices who made the decision. Turner reports the events leading up to this landmark Supreme Court decision. He provides the text of the Civil Rights Act, which was approved by Congress on 1 March 1875. He then offers the 15 October 1883 ruling of the Court and the majority opinion overturning the Civil Rights Act, written by Associate Justice Joseph P. Bradley. Next, Turner presents the dissenting opinion, delivered by Associate Justice John M. Harlan. He concludes his pamphlet with a report from the Daily Republican of Washington, D.C., in which an unnamed correspondent describes a mass meeting held on 22 October 1883. This meeting, which was attended by many prominent political, intellectual, and religious leaders, featured speeches by Frederick Douglass and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, a well-known lawyer and orator of the day.

Brent Kinser

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