Dred
Scott v Sandford (1856)
Dred
Scott was a slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom,
arguing that because he and his wife had lived in states
where slavery was illegal, they had the right to their
freedom. Scott and his wife often traveled with their
owner, Dr. John Emerson, who was frequently transferred
from slave territories to free territories by the U.S.
Military. Dred Scott and his wife spent many years in
Illinois and Wisconsin (free territories), though Scott
only made his claim to freedom when he was back in slave
territory.
The
Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 against Dred Scott and ruled
that because he owned no property, he was not entitled
to sue in federal court. This case had major implications
for northern/southern relations because it implied that
a white, southern slaveholder could bring his slaves into
territory where slavery was illegal without being punished.
The ruling essentially declared that slaves had no rights
and were little more than property.
Plessy
v Ferguson - (1896)
In
1892, Homer Plessy, decided to test a newly passed law
in Louisiana that required African-Americans and Whites
to ride on separate railway cars. Plessy, who was only
1/8 African-American boarded the train and sat in the
Whites-only railway car. He was immediately arrested,
found in violation of the state's segregation law and
fined $300.00.
After
unsuccessfully arguing that his 13th and 14th Amendment
rights were violated in front of the state Supreme Court
in Louisiana, Plessy took his argument straight to the
Supreme Court. In a 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled
that Louisiana did not violate any laws. Furthermore,
the court stated that segregation on railway cars in Louisiana
was a matter of public policy rather than a statement
of the inferiority of African-Americans.
The
Plessy case was a landmark case in American history because
it legitimized the practice of segregation and the idea
of "separate but equal" as a justification of
segregation. The institution of Jim Crow Laws proliferated
after the Plessy ruling and did the practice of separating
the races in schools, restaurants, buses, bathrooms, and
other places. Of course, the separate facilities were
never really equal.
Brown
v the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas - (1954)
Brown
v the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a landmark
case in American judicial history. The Brown case was
actually a culmination of five similar cases filed in
Washington D.C., Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and
Kansas. Thurgood Marshall argued for the plaintiffs that
"separate but equal" schools were inherently
unequal and that African-American students should be exposed
to the same advantages in schools as White children. The
Supreme Court agreed with Marshall and unanimously declared
segregation in public schools unconstitutional. In 1955,
the Supreme Court demanded integration in public schools
"with all deliberate speed," though many regions
complied with the law slowly, and others refused to comply
until being forced to by the government.
The
Brown Case carved the path for the Civil Rights movement,
and the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
