brown v. board of education (1954) Case Background directions Read the Case Background and Key Question. Then analyze Documents A-K. Finally, answer the Key Question in a well-organized essay that incorporates your interpretations of Documents A-K, as well as your own knowledge of history. After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed to grant citizenship to former slaves and protect them from civil rights violations in their home states. Public schools were relatively rare throughout the United States, but were often segregated by race where they existed.
The time before the Jim Crow laws had been passed. Jim Crow Laws were laws that were established between 1874 and 1954 to separate the white and black races in the American South. In theory, it was to create "separate but equal" treatment, but in reality and in practice, Jim Crow Laws condemned and restricted black citizens to inferior treatment and facilities. The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were ratified six to seven years before the Jim Crow laws were passed which means that African Americans were citizens and had the right to vote. However the Jim Crow laws were created after the ratification of these amendment for the sole purpose to restrict African Americans from the rights they had been granted.
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Tennessee passed laws requiring railroads to separate the races. Mississippi and South Carolina already denied the vote to Blacks and many other states were preparing to take the same steps. The 14th amendment plays a viable role in both Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of Education. While the 13th abolished slavery and the 15th established the right to suffrage, it was the 14th, which supposedly guaranteed civil rights. The requirements of section 1 of the 14th Amendment left much of the jurisdictional issues (intentionally) vague as to the limits of federal and state laws.
Brown v. Board of Education During more than half a century black and white children were separated and didn’t go to the same school. Everything changed with the court decision of the case Brown v. Board of Education. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954, was a United States Supreme Court decision that declared that the state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. This decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed the segregation. Released on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
In this essay, I will talk about methods used by black civil rights organizations, and the changes brought as a result of this in the United States from 1954 to 1957. One significant method used by the black civil rights activists was legal approach. Many states of USA had segregated schools for white children and black children. Schools for black children often had fewer and lower quality equipments and supplies for students. Oliver Brown, a black parent, was not happy with this inequality that he brought a case in the US District Court against the Topeka Board of Education.
In order to bring this action Dred had, of course, to aver his citizenship of Missouri, which averment was traversed by his adversary in what is known as a plea in abatement, which denied the jurisdiction of the court upon the ground that Dred was the descendant of African slaves and was born in slavery. The plea in abatement the circuit court overruled, but then proceeded to find the law on the merits of the case for the defendant Sandford; and from this decision Dred appealed to the United States Supreme Court” (Corwin, 1911, p.52). In the ruling of the Supreme Court case Scott v. Sandford (1857), the decision was that Dred Scott was to remain a slave, and since he was a slave he is not a citizen of the United States, and because he is not a citizen he is not eligible to file a suit in a federal court. It is also decided that slaves are personal property and as a result have never been free. Furthermore the court declared that the United States Congress lacked constitutional authority in the provision of the Missouri Compromise, which prohibit slavery in the territories.
They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. A couple examples of Jim Crow laws in state of Pennsylvania and in the city of Pittsburgh were, 1869: Education [Statute] Black children prohibited from attending Pittsburgh schools and 1956: Adoption [Statute] Petition must state race or color of adopting parents. It is also important to know that it is also illegal to discriminate against someone because they have opposed illegal discrimination, filed a complaint, or assisted in an investigation. This is called retaliation, and the law protects those who oppose illegal
The case, Brown vs. The Board of Education after making its way through the lower courts, was heard by the Supreme Court in 1953. Plaintiffs argued that public school segregation violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth Amendment in that the segregation of public schools was in no way conducive to the equality that was supposedly guaranteed to accompany the “separate but equal” principal established under Plessey v. Ferguson (Brown & Valk, 2004). John W. Davis, the lead defense attorney in Brown, argued that not only had segregation been put in place maintaining equal standards for blacks and whites, but also that segregation was an entrenched practice that was best for wellbeing of both blacks and whites (Brown & Valk, 2004). The Court unanimously sided with the plaintiff.
The Color of Crime Catherine M. Piraino English 122, English Composition II Instructor Mary Louise Phillips January 21, 2013 The Color of Crime The history of Black Americans has certainly been a challenging one. Brought to America in chains, slavery was their only option. It would not be until The Civil War that Blacks would attain the freedom they deserved. Although President Lincoln freed the slaves, oppression and predjuice against Blacks was widespread. It would be nearly 100 years before many of the injustices faced by the Black population surfaced into the public’s awareness.
Even though African Americans have shown that they can do what Caucasian Americans can do there is still De Jure segregation in the south which is commonly known as the Jim Crow law. The Jim Crow law states that black and white people should be segregated, but the facilities should be of the same standard; ‘separate, but equal’ although many of the facilities given to African Americans were usually nowhere near as luxurious as the Caucasian’s facilities. In 1954, the Brown vs Board or education case overturned the Plessy Vs Ferguson case which stated that public schools should be separated. This is a huge improvement to the status of American