Martin Luther King Jr. once said " We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools". African Americans never had it easy since the day they were forced onto United States soil. They were worked as slaves, they were beaten until they could hardly stand. Never had any rights until 1954 but still then no one ever thought they should have been aloud rights. The Supreme Court decision on the cases of: Dred Scott v. Sanford, Plessy v. Ferguson, and brown v. Board of education effect the way people live today. The Dred Scott case was about a slave who lived in free territory for a short time.When he went to the court system to tried to be freed. This case involves Dred Scott and his wife, and his master. The court ruled that Dred and his wife were to remain as a slave and that he was his masters property. This ruling is unfair because of the Missouri compromise (1821). It Deprived slave owners of their property.( full citation-Judgment in the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sanford, March 6, 1857; Case Files 1792-1995; Record Group 267; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; National Archives.) …show more content…
Ferguson case was about how the slaves had to use a separate door, restroom, hotels, hospital and other public services to serve equal but separate accommodations for African Americans. This doctrine was making a step toward equality but yet it was still unfair that the Africans couldn't eat or do anything with the white people.In the sole dissent, Justice John Marshall Harlan -- a former slaveowner -- said the ruling would "stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal, upon the admitted rights of colored citizens.”( full citation-Plessy vs. Ferguson, Judgement, Decided May 18, 1896; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; Record Group 267; Plessy v. Ferguson, 163, #15248, National
The two parties in this case are Dred Scott and John Sanford. Scott, a former slave bought by Dr. John Emerson, argued that when him and the Emerson family moved to Illinois, which was a free state, that he became a free man and no longer could be held as a slave to the Emerson family when they moved to the slave state of Missouri. Sanford, Mrs. Emerson’s brother, argued that since he went to Missouri with Mrs. Emerson, and that it was legal in Missouri to hold slaves, that he was still considered to be Mrs. Emerson’s property. Once Dr. Emerson died, Scott and his family sued Mrs. Emerson for false imprisonment, but Mrs. Emerson won the case in a Missouri Circuit court when Scott’s lawyers were unable to prove that Emerson was holding him as a slave. Scott’s lawyers argued for a retrial and it went to the Missouri Supreme Court.
The witness goes on to argue that due to the fact that Dred Scott was part of a free state, that he has the right to be considered free. In response, the Supreme Court questioned if Dred Scott was still in a free state, which the witness answered with a negative. Then the court inquired if property could sue its’ owner, which again was replied to with a negative response. In conclusion, the Supreme Court and the defence witness debated the difference between a slave suing and a horse suing their owners. Once the defence witness took a seat, the next witness for prosecution made their argument.
Linda Brown was the child associated with the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. Due to racial segregation, she was forced to travel a further distance to her elementary school, while there was one a few blocks away from her house. Linda Brown is significant because due to her father’s determination and fight for civil rights along with other NAACP members, public schools were integrated and African Americans were permitted attend schools with better educational systems and black middle class students were given a fairer educational experience. The case Brown v. Board of Education is significant because it ruled de jure racial segregation, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. De jure segregation is segregation due to the
Dred Scott’s case had also intensified national divisions over the issue of slavery. In 1834, Dred Scott, a slave, had been taken to Illinois, a free state, and then Wisconsin territory, where the Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery. Dred had been “left” by his master for a long time with no word from his master. Dred Scott has decided to challenge for his freedom because he had built a “new life” and his master suddenly one day decided to call him back to him after not hearing from him for months. The court had ruled that African Americans were not citizens, but rather property, and could not sue in
Scott without a doubt was not giving up his fight for freedom this easily because his case could also help other African American slaves stand up for themselves. Sandford was so angry with the fact that Scott won the second trial, Mrs. Emerson, Sanford’s sister took it upon herself to appeal the ruling which then went to the Missouri Supreme Court where Scott had lost in court again (William, 2014). Scott shows that the case was not about money but simply because he had been held illegally by Sanford which is why he sued to make Sanford pay for lost time over the years that he could never get back. In fact, this case was so powerful many believed that it was the cause which leads the Civil War to occur (150 Years Ago, 2007). With the help of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendment the Dred Scott decision was overturned, which now allows American citizens in the United States to sue in federal court (PBS,
Despite the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, the southern state legislatures passed their own laws to continuously oppressing the blacks because they believed in their white supremacy. For example, they passed the Jim Crow Laws in the late of 19th century, that was right after the Reconstruction time in which the laws separated and prohibited freed blacks from sharing public areas and transportation. Because of many disadvantages, black people started to fight back the unjust law system and demanded to be treated equally even though it was not an easy task because of the legality of racial discrimination. For example, the Supreme Court set its ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1892 that protect state racial isolation and the policy of “separate but equal” with the vote 8-1. In the argument of the majority, Justice Henry Billings Brown affirmed the distinction of race cannot be eliminated, and therefore, they cannot stay at the same place as the Fourteenth Amendment’s suggestion.
“All men are created equal…” a statement written in the US constitution that would not be true until 1954 when the U.S Supreme Court reviewed the case of Brown v Board of Education. Although the civil war ended, history reveals that blacks in America would continuously have to fight for equal rights. Pessy v Ferguson and Brown v Board of Education are two landmark cases that impact America immensely. Each case indefinitely describes and defines segregation and racism. In government, as in anything in life, things only change when people take a stand.
Brown v Board of Education was a landmark supreme court case. In the 1950s, most of the schools in the United States were racially segregated. This was legal due to Plessy V Ferguson, which stated that segregated schools were constitutional as long as they were equal. However, by the mid-twentieth century, civil rights activists began to take a stand. They began to challenge racial segregation.
America’s founders created the constitution in order to create unification and order in the United States. However, there have been controversy surrounding the interpretation of the constitution, this has caused debate over many issues within the country. These issues and the lack of wartime policy within the constitution directly lead to the Civil War, which was one of the worst alterations this nation has faced. The Missouri compromise, the Dred Scott decision, and Bleeding Kansas were controversial issues surrounding the constitution that directly lead to the Civil War.
He stated that Topeka's racial segregation conflicted the Constitution's “Equal Protection Clause” The federal court did not concur with Brown, hence this led Mr. Brown to seek equality on a national level, which further leads Brown to address his case to the U.S Supreme Court. The U.S Supreme Court concluded that “separate but equal” was not a justifiable clause in regards to
In 1847 Dred Scott sued his slave owners widow for his freedom. Scott’s argument was that since he had previously been a residence of the free state of Illinois he was a free man. Scott eventually lost the case when, in 1857, it was brought to the Supreme Court who ruled in a 7-2 majority against Scott. The court stated that due to the fact that Scott was of African descent he could not be an American citizen, and therefore not sue in federal courts. The court also ruled that the Missouri compromise was unconstitutional, effectively allowing slavery in all states and territories.
For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and
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.
Dred Scott was sued for his freedom on the grounds that he had lived for a time in a "free" territory. The Court ruled against him, saying that under the Constitution, he was his master 's property. The people involved with this court case are the Supreme Court,Dred Scott, and Chief Justice Roger B. The final judgment for this case ended up in Dred Scott 's favor.
Supreme Court Decisions Setting Precedent Discrimination may not seen as big a problem today, but people had to fight for that problem, and court cases set precedents for today. The case of Plessy versus Ferguson and Brown versus Board of Education helped change the way we view discrimination today. The case of Plessy versus Ferguson decided that segregation was legal as long as everything was equal. But on the other hand, Brown versus Board of Education included separate but equal schools made African-American children feel inferior to the white children. 1896, Supreme Court heard the Plessy versus Ferguson case.