9/6/2021 Unit Activity: Analyzing Historical Documents

Task 1

Analyzing Historical Documents

In 1954, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas. The decision stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and began
the process of national integration of public schools. In response, southern legislators in Congress signed a
statement of opposition to the court’s decision.

Read the declaration of resistance to Brown v. Board of Education, which has been called the Southern
Manifesto . Then write a brief essay of one to two pages examining the following question:

Why did the authors of the Southern Manifesto claim that Chief Justice Earl Warren’s decision was a threat to
the US constitutional order? Consider what type of arguments they make. Can you link their argument to any
other situations in US history?

Follow the steps described below, and use the links to help you formulate a well-organized and
well-reasoned essay with a clearly stated thesis, or argument, in response to the assignment. Use the
dropbox to submit your final version to your teacher, along with notes taken during the course of your essay
development.

1. Gather sources. Before writing your essay, review these resources:

Research and Writing Info Center

Creating a Thesis Statement

Methods for Writing a Quality Paper

Chicago Manual of Style: Author-Date System

The Warren Supreme Court

Brown v. Board of Education

Then begin gathering additional sources —either online or otherwise—to support the views you present in
your essay. For each source, consider the following questions:

Who authored the document?

What is the purpose of the document?
When was the document written?
What significant historical event or movement does the document represent?

2. Read and evaluate sources. Next, examine each source and think about how you will use it to support a
thesis. Be an active researcher by asking the following questions about each source you reference:

What is the credibility of the source?

Is there any noticeable bias?
How does the author form his or her argument?
What are the important themes, main ideas, and arguments presented in the document?

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 9/6/2021 Unit Activity: Analyzing Historical Documents

3. Write your essay. Reference your notes and the provided documents to write a short essay . Be careful
to keep the following ideas in mind:

To avoid plagiarism, make sure to cite your sources properly with in-text citations as well as a
works-cited page.
When you finish, reread the essay to check for all of the points above, and then proofread it to be sure
your work doesn’t contain errors in grammar or spelling.

Answer:
The opposition sees the decision as a constitutional challenge since they see it as a abuse of
the Legal Department's specialist. The Southern Declaration of the state of Virginia,
where numerous schools closed to fight the Supreme Court's ruling, is one of the key reasons why it is
recognized. They claim the choice is based on social science and it is reckless to base wide cases such as
this on it. The choice is considered illegal by the restriction since the structure does
not incorporate the way in which instruction ought to be and the control is allowed to all states and not
to the central government. Chaos and uncertainty were too caused by the Supreme Court choice and
a move in this scale unbalanced and caused pressure between the dark and white relationships.

Thurmond and Russell Jr. argued that the choice taken to present open schools damaged the rights of

each person state as well as the people included. They contended that when
the Supreme Court concurred to change the school system on the condition that it
was illegal to isolate blacks and whites, they still did not tolerate by the structure, expressing,
"Instruction isn't said within the unique Structure." The 14th Amendment, or each other alteration,
would not either. The talks going before the accommodation of the 14th Amendment clearly
demonstrate that it was not implied to affect the education system kept up by the States (Thurmond
and Russell Jr. 1956).

Analyzing the essence of the contention and the affect it had on the people included, it is fair to

conclude that, considering the numerous connections, the American Civil War may be related to
this specific circumstance. With all that came from this particular occasion, it can be perceived that it
was really something that had an awfully profound effect on America and on the social treatment of
those of color in America. It is exceptionally curiously to see that such issues relating to
the correspondence of the nation have however to be fathomed, looking back on such things and
relating them to comparable issues of the present time.

Characters used: 2087 / 15000

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