Meredith V. Meredith: The American Civil Rights Movement

In the 1780s, there was a question of whether slavery would be tolerable in new territories to threaten the Union. Throughout the decades, many compromises were made to avoid disunion. But the Constitution was not clear on this subject which created quite the discussion nationwide when raised in 1857 before the Supreme Court in the form of the Dred Scott case. The Dred Scott decision was an eye-opener to Northerners that believed slavery was acceptable as long as it stayed in the South. If the decision took away any power Congress once had to regulate slavery in new territories, slavery could quickly expand into much of the western United States. Realizing that once slavery expanded into those territories, it could quickly spread into the once-free states. Many Northerners remained silent on the issue, this very possibility was too scary to ignore. Northerners who had not previously been against the South and against slavery began to realize that if they did not stop slavery now, they might never again have the chance. The growing fear in the North helped further contributed to an ongoing dispute between the two sides which eventually lead to the Civil War. A couple years after Chief Justice Taney read Scott v. Sandford decision, half of the Union had seceded and the nation was engaged in civil war. However, because of the passions it created on both sides, Taney 's decision certainly quickly accelerated the start of conflict. Even in 1865, as the long and bloody

Throughout the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall blazed the trail for the Civil Rights Movement from two sides of the American Legal System, both as a lawyer, and as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall’s initial rise to fame came as a result of his success as the head lawyer for the Brown family in Brown vs. The Board of Education.

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

Olmstead vs. L.C., which is the case that led to the Olmstead Decision, is considered to be one of the most important civil rights cases during the 20th century (Zubritsky, Mullahy, Allen, & Alfano, 2006). The Olmstead Decision was put into place after two women with a diagnosis of mental illness and developmental disability were voluntarily placed in a psychiatric facility and remained institutionalized for years. Even after efforts made by the women’s staff members to move them into a community setting, they were not moved until the Supreme Court’s 1999 decision in the Olmstead case (Cashmore, 2014).

In the infamous Dred Scott V. Sandford case, in 1857, the Supreme Court upheld that no one of the African American race has the ability to sue any United States federal court. Chief Justice Taney ruled that African Americans were "chattel" and had no rights under a "white man's government". Furthermore, the Missouri Compromise was affirmed unconstitutional, because the Congress does not have the power to ban slavery in the Western Territories. Sandford was favored by the Supreme Court, which gave slave owners the right of property, in the Fifth Amendment, including slaves who were bought and sold like property.

Following the death of Dr. Emerson, Dred Scott sued Mrs. Emerson in Missouri court because he desired his freedom. Under Dr. Emerson in Illinois, Dred had been a slave, but since him and his family currently lived in a state where slavery was banned, he rightfully deserved his freedom. Although the jury declared Scott free in 1850, Missouri reversed the law, claiming him as a slave under the law that Missouri governed, which remained a slave state at the time.

Since the creation of baseball, the game has been America’s favorite pastime. Baseball has fostered connections throughout generations and has a rich history that goes beyond the surface of the general game. Although slavery was no longer a concern during the peak of baseball, the culturally iconic game was not always integrated. Some African-Americans were allowed and able to play on predominantly white teams, but unfortunately racism was still an issue for most.

Congress and the American people debated over slavery and its expansion. Although Congress passed laws in order to try to eliminate the issue, these compromises only temporarily decreased the tension. In 1857, the Supreme Court made an influential ruling regarding expansion in the case of Dred Scott v Sandford. The Dred Scott Decision shook the American public and forced the dispute over slavery and its expansion . Congress could not agree because the North and the South were no longer willing to compromise. Despite its intent to resolve the issue of slavery in America, the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott ruling actually further divided political parties and increased tension between the North and the South.

American history was radically changed when President Abraham Lincoln gave the very famous Emancipation Proclamation. This lead to the freedom of millions of African Americans who sought the same liberty and equality that was promised to everyone under the United States constitution. These liberties, of course, were not achieved right away. During the Reconstruction era, which is the decade right after the Civil War, many of the recently freed slaves did not have money, property, or credit. They could not buy the necessary things to enjoy their freedom, which lead to sharecropping, a glorified form of slavery. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner lets a tenant use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land (Sharecropping).. Added on to this, facilities were segregated to prevent the black man from enjoying the same things as the white man due to Jim Crow laws which were enacted after the Reconstruction era. The struggle for equality and rights continued during the Gilded Age (1873-1900), the Progressive Era (1900-1920s), the Great Depression (1930s), WWII (1939-1945), the beginning of the Cold War (1947), up until the Civil Rights movement (1954-1968). At this point in history, African Americans fought for their rights and changed the course of American history. Music was a very important tool used by African Americans that helped achieve this. Ever since the slavery times, music was a big part of their culture

Declared in the U.S. Constitution every American or should it be person, is guaranteed civil rights. Civil rights did not just consist of “freedom of speech and assembly,” but as well as “the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law, and procedural guarantees in criminal and civil rights,” (Dawood). It was not until 1791, that the Bill of Rights was appended to the constitution, which helped clarify these rights to citizens. “Rights were eventually applied against actions of the state governments in a series of cases decide by the Supreme Court,” Dawood stated. In previous years (1790-1803), the Supreme Court had little say in decisions being made by government. As time went on the Supreme Court took on more

Dred Scott was a Missouri slave who sued for his freedom on territory that outlawed slavery. This case was known as The Dred Scott vs. Stanford. Dred Scott was taken from the slave state, Missouri, to Illinois, which was a free state. Slavery was outlawed in Illinois because of the Missouri Compromise. In 1846, When Scott’s master, Dr. John Emerson died, Scott sued Ms. Emerson for freedom for himself and his family. On March 6, 1857,The Supreme Court denied Scott his freedom. Authors, Brands, Breem, Williams, and Gross (2009) found that Chief Justice Rodger B. Taney argued, “ No African American-slave or free could be a citizen of the United States” (The Dredd Scott Case pg. 323). According to The Dred Scott Decision Ushistory.org (2008) The court ruled; the Missouri Compromise was considered unconstitutional, the congress had no power to prohibit slavery, and that because Scott was black, he would not be considered a citizen in the United state, therefore, he could not bring suit (The Dred Scott Decision Ushistory.org, 2008, para. 2). The ruling was unfair due to five out of the six judges were proslavery

In 1959 a toll was ran to see the percentage of the total population living below the poverty line. The results were shocking, of the white population living in poverty it was 18.1%, and of the black population living in poverty it was 55.1%. The Civil Rights Movement of 1964 guaranteed the ending of "...segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race..." (Civil Rights Act- Black History). For thousands of years, segregation and inequality has been a problem. Some Supreme Court cases involved in the civil rights movement that contributed to the taking away of rights include Dred Scott VS. Stanford, Plessy VS. Ferguson, Shelley VS. Kramer.

People who fought to end segregation will never be forgotten. Segregation was the act of separating the “whites”and “blacks,” court cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of education spoke against segregation. Plessy v. Ferguson was about a man named Homer Plessy who was born on the 17th of March in 1862. Brown v. Board of education was about a little girl named Linda Brown. The two court cases were both about people speaking against segregation. The court case Plessy v. Ferguson helped with the decision for the Brown v. Board of education.

The Civil War left the tracks around the future years. For example, “some historians say we're still fighting over some of the same issues that fueled the Civil War” (Blake, 2011). In the present, some situations refer to some circumstances over the past “The shutdown of the federal government, war in Libya, the furor over the new health care law and Guantanamo Bay -- all have tentacles that reach back to the Civil War, historians say.” (Blake, 2011) Most of them refer to the constitution and civil rights "One of the biggest debates during the Civil War was how far should governments go in dictating our lives" (Blake, 2011). The laws can be interpreted in a different manner. The constitution should be understood in the right way for the

The American Civil Rights Movement is personified through several prominent personalities. These figures exhibited strong character throughout their careers in activism that revolutionized the ideals and opportunities of the 20th century, standing as precedents for courage and perseverance in the face of widespread systemic oppression. However, not all of these figures received the acknowledgment and acceptance that their legacy deserved. One such figure was Bayard Rustin, a lifelong Civil Rights activist in the African American and LGBTQ communities whose experiences exemplified the hardships faced by American minorities. His career was defined by perpetual conflict and confrontation as both sides of the Civil Rights Movement attempted to demonize and discredit him. Despite this obstacle, Bayard Rustin’s controversial decision-making and sheer tenacity made him an influential force in the ongoing fight for equality in the United States of America.