A civil rights activist named Dick Gregory once said that," This is not a revolution of black against white; this is a revolution of right against wrong. And right has never lost." Black against white court cases of those days were the greatest influence on the civil rights movement. Cases like Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Shelley vs. Kraemer, and Brown vs. Board of Education all greatly affected the Civil Rights Movement and the world as we know it today.
The issue of Civil Rights goes back very far in history. In fact, it goes all the way to 1857, with the case of Dred Scott vs. Sanford. In this time slavery was very common and free black men and women were basically unheard of. Scott and his wife decided to sue for his freedom because
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When a house finally sold to them, 30 out of the 39 current house owners in the neighborhood signed a contract that stated no home could be sold to an "negro" (Shelley vs. Kraemer) family for the next 50 years. In the case, the ruling went in favor of the Shelley 's, giving them their home back. In addition, the whole covenant was ruled over by the owner of the neighborhood, who did not realize that the people buying the house were free blacks until the day of the purchase. Not to mention the multiple angry residents who made the contract in the first place. Shelley v. Kraemer was the first real freedom for African-Americans, however, it took a little over 90 years (the Dred Scott decision was 91 years before this case) for freedom of blacks to be fully recognized. And the freedom continued to prosper, especially in the case of Brown v. Board of …show more content…
The court cases of Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Shelley vs. Kraemer, and Brown vs. Board of Education all helped shape the Civil Rights Movement. Those cases all showed new freedoms to black people, as well as new hope for all Civil Rights Activists. By doing this, they enabled people like Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and John F. Kennedy to try and get rid of most of our ignorance today. But people should see the Movement from perspective of the people fighting to eliminate the horrible judgement and harassment that they face every day." I have a dream, that my four little children can one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Quoted by the famous Martin Luther
" Where the white people had nicer things than those of color. The supreme court was favored to Plessy making segregation legal. It had an impact because it sparked a movement later on which made segregation illegal by the Brown vs. Board of education
The court case Dred Scott vs. Sanford — 1856 to 1857 — was vital regarding the lives of enslaved or non-liberated African Americans. The outcome of this trial changed the perspective of slaves all across the United States. Rights concerning liberated and enslaved Americans from Africa were declared and enforced in this case. In 1833, John Emerson — a medical surgen of the US Army — purchased a slaved named Dred Scott.
In 1857 the Dred Scott case was pulled into the supreme court. Dred Scott was claiming that even though he was a slave, He had been in a free country long enough to be a free citizen for the United States. The Supreme court ruled that blacks, with ancestors that were imported to become slaves weren’t aren’t able to become free american citizens. Therefore they weren’t able to appeal to a jury or able to to sue in federal court.
During the Civil Right Movement lead by Martin Luther King himself protested to defend other races against racial issues and give equal rights as same as white power. This movement woke up many American to fight back against any racial discrimination "condemning racism in all of its forms, including immigration policies (Takaki, pg 418). " America at this time had a serious problem between other races fitting into the society which made people to fight among themselves to see who was the superior race. This affected American society to see that many people were struggling to be on equal term with white people but as well as protecting black and other races from racial prejudice assault. As the time progress through 1954 the Supreme Court announced that segregated school became unconstitutional through numerous marches that Martin Luther King and many others demonstrated why people should be treated equally and fairly as a citizen of the America.
Since the day that America broke away from England’s grip, the rights and freedoms have been ever evolving. During the 1950’s and the 1960’s the rights and freedoms that white American’s enjoyed, were also being fought for by African American’s. They demanded to be treated as equals through various methods which included protests, literature, and speeches
In the years following the decision, the Supreme Court struck down segregation of transportation, public buildings, housing, recreational facilities, and restaurants (“Meaning of Brown”). The Civil Rights Movement was heavily tied in with desegregation and historian Richard Kluger stated in Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s that “This is not to say that Brown began the movement—its heritage in the black community was largely separate from the doings of the Supreme Court. But the decision left an indelible mark on the direction and shape of the movement, especially in its early stages” the Brown movement further propelled civil rights movements and boycotts concerning segregation but it did not directly address issues that began to arise because of civil disobedient acts. The new precedent that Brown had set allowed African Americans to begin to take a stance against now overturned Jim Crow laws and social standards.
These court cases are a big impact to African American rights and their lives. Dred Scott v. Sanford, Dred Scott and his slave owner went to Illinois (which is a free state) then came to Missouri (which is a Slave state) but unfortunately the slave owner died, Dred Scott thought since he just came from a free state he can get freedom so he sued and his case went up 2 the Supreme Court which he loss cause a slave that 's below a regular person can 't sue the government and stayed a slave. The importance of this case is that slaves are not citizen and can 't sue the government and congress had a lack of power ban slavery in U.S. Territories As to the second case Shelley bought a house in Missouri but in that neighborhood there was a there was a agreement not all has sign to keep the colored away from the neighborhood so some of the neighbors were angry and wanted to kick Shelly out of the neighborhood so she sued the head of the neighborhood and won the case because the neighbors thought her there violated he 14th amendment which didn 't and was able to live in her house. The importance of this case was the case didn 't violate the 14th amendment and it changed for black people to buy a house
Ferguson, Scott vs. Sanford, and Plessy vs. Ferguson guarantee that the black community will fight for their rights when the time comes. Many of these cases started off as small tests of the law like sitting in the wrong racial compartment or just straight up starting a court case to fight for equality. Along with leading to the civil rights movement some of the cases were also the most notorious. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -Martin
The supreme court has made many decisions to impact civil rights: Plessy vs. Ferguson, Shelley vs. Kraemer, and Loving vs. Virginia. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/andrewyoun574910.html#Q85p26MiKPp7yZDL.99 To begin with, Plessy vs. Ferguson was about a law that required that public places needed to serve colored people separately. Restaurants, theaters, etc. had to serve colored people separately. Tourgée argued that the law requiring separate but equal accommodations was unconstitutional. "
So later he was arrested. In the court room he said that separate but equal was unconstitutional, but was overruled by judge John H. Ferguson. The court later ruled in favor of judge Ferguson. Finally, a case that had a big impact on the civil rights movement was Brown vs. Board of Education.
In the Plessy v Ferguson case, it resulted in the agreement of ‘separate but equal’ which is the opposite of what was needed to bring the Civil Rights movement forward. This is opposition to African American’s because they ruled for segregation. The Strauder v West Virginia case is also an opposition to African American’s as it was ruled that only White American’s were to serve as judges in the Supreme Court. Finally, the Williams v Mississippi case was opposition to African American’s because it ruled that to be able to vote, you had to be able to pass a literacy test. This was opposition to African American’s as a lot of them would not be able to pass a literacy test as they would not have been educated well enough if at all to be able to pass a literacy test.
Thus, the decision prevented free blacks from advancing in society. The constitution did not apply to them, which consequently developed a lot of confusion and created problems the future free blacks and slaves in the United States. Last of all, even though free blacks were considered as free men, the court failed to recognize them as citizens. This meant that free blacks still did not receive the rights they deserved. The Dred Scott decision was to define the free black’s status and define what rights they did and did not have, since the constitution did not apply to them.
The impact in this cases that effected civil rights was that this case "moved the nation a step closer to the civil war"(Dred Scott vs
Introduction The story of the Civil Rights Movements of African Americans in America is an important story that many people knew, especially because of the leadership Martin Luther King Jr. Black people in America, between 1945 and 1970 had to fight for rights because they had been segregated by white people, they didn’t have equal laws compared to white people. So they initiated the Civil Rights Movements to fight for getting equal civil rights.
In order to look at the impact that the Civil Rights Movement had on society today it is important to first look back at where it all began. The author will base her opinion around the change in American culture, as America is one of the most powerful countries in today’s modern society and many countries follow the lead of America. The fight for justice and equality went on for many years in America and it has become one of the most well known movements in history. The note to take action all started when the African-American citizens decided that they