EQUAL PROTECTION DBQ ESSAY

What is a DBQ?
DBQ stands for "Document based question" where an essay question requires you to analyze and use a
number of documents when presenting your thesis, as well as in your main point paragraphs. The
documents typically contain bias, and it becomes quite fun to use it to prove your points.

Our Agenda (5 points for each step of completion = 30 points total)

1. Analyze the writing prompt/question.
a. Underline tasks and evaluate what is being asked of you.
b. Jot down your general ideas (this is important for the formation of your thesis).
c. Develop a thesis.
2. Analyze your sources using AP-PARTS.
3. Identify key information/quotations that support your thesis and the main points that have been
provided for you. Insert them into the essay outline that has also been provided.
4. Use your factual information and analysis to create an outline of your essay using the template
provided.
5. Re-evaluate your original thesis and make adjustments based on the information that you have
decided to utilize.
6. Write the rough draft of your essay.

GRADING RUBRIC
After you complete your essay, you will be graded on the following RUBRIC (20 points)
Organization Topic Evidence Analysis Grammar
Clear
Broad, inclusive Numerous May contain
organization
Excellent topic and correct and Thoughtful minor
between and
(4 per box) concluding relevant analysis grammatical or
within the
sentences examples factual errors
paragraphs
May contain
Acceptable Acceptable topic
grammatical or
organization and concluding Some correct Acceptable
Good factual errors
between and sentences, and relevant attempt at
(3 per box) that do not
within possibly one too examples analysis
weaken overall
paragraphs narrow in scope
point
Some
Underdeveloped May contain
organizational Few correct Limited
Satisfactory or absent topic some major
errors between and relevant analysis of
(2 per box) or concluding grammatical or
or within the examples evidence
sentences factual errors
paragraphs
Unclear Underdeveloped
Needs Numerous
organization or absent topic Minimal, if any,
Improvement No analysis grammatical or
within the and concluding examples
(1 per box) factual errors
paragraph sentences

Score: _______ / 50 points total

1
Question: After the Civil War, many Southern states still did not want to educate African-American
students. However, the Supreme Court ruled that all children must be given the same education, causing
school districts to build two school districts - one for whites, and one for African-Americans. Over time,
numerous groups began to challenge the concept of segregation and the idea of "separate but equal"
created by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Finally, in 1954, the Supreme Court reversed its stance on
segregation and ruled that separate was "inherently unequal." The question that we ponder today is:
How did the Supreme Court come to the decision in Brown v. Board of Education that
separate educational facilities are inherently unequal? Discuss the role of previous court
cases and key testimony in determining the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education. Then
analyze how the judges used this information to arrive at their historic conclusion.

Historical After the Civil War, many Southern states still did not want to educate African-American
Context students. However, the Supreme Court ruled that all children must be given the same
education. Therefore, the school districts built two school districts - one for whites, and one
for African-Americans.

The Supreme Court agreed that segregation was legal, as long as both school systems
offered equal educational opportunities. This was known as "Separate but Equal", and
became the linchpin for segregationist laws throughout the South. Numerous organizations,
including the NAACP would continuously attempt to overturn the separate but equal ruling
of Plessy v. Ferguson in countless court cases related to education.

Finally, in 1954, The Supreme Court reversed itself and ruled that separate was "inherently
unequal." Although the judgment was provided in answer to a lawsuit brought by some
parents against their local school district, the meaning of the judgment eventually spread to
all other areas of life: Segregation was dead in the United States.
Task 1.
2.

What are your initial thoughts or opinions on the essay prompt? What will your thesis be, or what
is your answer to the essay question?

They probably looked at separate educational facilities to come to their conclusion.

I wonder if they used the verdict of plessy v. ferguson to make the decision.
What role did the 14th amendment have?
The students should have learned the same thing if it was actually equal.

Context
2
In 1896, in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court of the United States made what turned out to be
one of its most notorious decisions. By a vote of 7-1 (one justice did not participate), the Court approved the
principle of separate but equal, which for the next half-century and more was used to justify laws mandating
segregation in every area of life in the South, from transportation to education to public accommodations. One
Justice, John Harlan, did not uphold the majority

Document #1
Harlan's Dissent: "In the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens.
There is no caste here. "Our constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.
In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most
powerful. . .The arbitrary separation of citizens on the basis of race, while they are on a public highway, is a
badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with the civil freedom and the equality before the law established by the
Constitution. It cannot be justified upon any legal grounds."

Author: Who created Justice John Harlan

the source? What do you
know about the author?
What is the author's
point of view?
Place and Time: Where 1896, Supreme Court of U.S.
and when was the source
produced? How might
this affect the meaning of
the source?
Prior knowledge: Segregation separates people of color from Caucasians.
Beyond information
about the author and the Constitution is highest law of land.
context of its creation,
what do you know that
would help you further
understand the primary
source? For example, do
you recognize any
symbols and recall what
they represent?
Audience: For whom All people in the U.S.
was the source created
and how might this affect
the reliability of the
source?
Reason: Why was this John Harland wrote his dissent in order to interpret the case the way that he saw it.
source produced, and His dissent could later be used by other Supreme Court Justices to come to
how might this affect the discussion on other civil rights cases.
reliability of the source?
The main idea: What Segregation is undemocratic and is against all the principles in the Constitution.
point is the source is
trying to convey?

3
Significance: Why is this The justices in Brown v. Board will probably use Harlan’s dissent to form their
source important? Ask opinion on the separate but equal clause.
yourself "So what?" in
relation to the question
asked.

Context
Dr. Kenneth Clark and Mamie Clark testified in the Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka court case. They
were called to be witnesses by the Plaintiff, Brown. They conducted psychological studies on African
American children and their attitude about race using dolls.

Document #2
Transcript from Expert Witness Professor Clark: I made these tests on Thursday and Friday of this past
week at your request, and I presented it to children in the Scott's Branch Elementary school, concentrating
particularly on the elementary group. I used these methods --the Negro and White dolls--which were identical in
every respect save skin color. And, I presented them with a sheet of paper on which there were these drawings
of dolls, and I asked them to show me the doll-- I presented these dolls to them and I asked them the following
questions in the following order: "Show me the doll that you like best or that you'd like to play with," "Show me
the doll that is the 'nice' doll," "Show me the doll that looks 'bad'," and then the following questions also: "Give
me the doll that looks like a white child," "Give me the doll that looks like a colored child," "Give me the doll
that looks like a Negro child."

I found that of the children between the ages of six and nine whom I tested, which were a total of sixteen in
number, that ten of those children chose the white doll as their preference; the doll which they liked best. Ten of
them also considered the white doll a "Nice" doll. And, I think you have to keep in mind that these two dolls are
absolutely identical in every respect except skin color. Eleven of these sixteen children chose the brown doll as
the doll which looked "bad."

This is consistent with previous results which we have obtained testing over three hundred children, and we
interpret it to mean that the Negro child accepts as early as six, seven or eight the negative stereotypes about his
own group. . . .

Q. Well, as a result of your tests, what conclusions have you reached, Mr. Clark, with respect to the infant
plaintiffs involved in this case?

A. The conclusion which I was forced to reach was that these children in Clarendon County, like other human
beings who are subjected to an obviously inferior status in the society in which they live, have been
definitely harmed in the development of their personalities; that the signs of instability in their personalities
are clear, and I think that every psychologist would accept and interpret these signs as such.

Q. Is that the type of injury which in your opinion would be enduring or lasting?

A. I think it is the kind of injury which would be as enduring or lasting as the situation endured, changing only
in its form and in the way it manifests itself.
Author: Who created the
source? What do you know
about the author? What is the
author's point of view?
Place and Time: Where and Topeka, Kansas, 1954
when was the source
4
 produced? How might this
affect the meaning of the
source?
Prior knowledge: Beyond
information about the author
and the context of its creation,
what do you know that would
help you further understand
the primary source? For
example, do you recognize any
symbols and recall what they
represent?
The Judge and jury in the Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka case.
Audience: For whom was the
source created and how might
this affect the reliability of the
source?

Reason: Why was this source The witness provided scientific evidence on the effects of segregation on
produced, and how might this black childrens’ feelings and attitudes.
affect the reliability of the
source?
Segregation makes black children feel inferior and unequal.
The main idea: What point is
the source is trying to convey?

Significance: Why is this It shows that separation has a negative emotional impact on young black
source important? Ask children, and demonstrates that separate is not equal.
yourself "So what?" in relation
to the question asked.

Context
In Sweatt v. Painter, 1950, Herman Marion Sweatt, a black man, sued the University of Texas Law School
because he was denied admission. According to Plessy v. Ferguson, as long as equal accommodations were
provided, segregation was legal. There was no law school for blacks in Texas. By the time the case was hired,
Texas had created a law school for blacks but it lacked the resources, faculty and prestige of the white-only law
school. The Supreme Court decided that the separate school could not provide an “equal education and ordered
that Swatt be admitted to the University of Texas School of Law.

Document #3
The University of Texas Law School, from which petitioner was excluded, was staffed by a faculty of sixteen
full-time and three part-time professors, some of whom are nationally recognized authorities in their field. Its
student body numbered 850. The library contained over 65,000 volumes. Among the other facilities available to
the students were a law review, moot court facilities, and scholarship funds. The school's alumni occupy the
most distinguished positions in the private practice of the law and in the public life of the State. It may properly
be considered one of the nation's ranking law schools.

The law school for Negroes, which was to have opened in February, 1947, would have had no independent
faculty or library. The teaching was to be carried on by four members of the University of Texas Law School
faculty, who were to maintain their offices at the University of Texas while teaching at both institutions. Few of
the 10,000 volumes ordered for the library had arrived; nor was there any full-time librarian. The school lacked
5
accreditation.

Whether the University of Texas Law School is compared with the law school for Negroes, we cannot find
substantial equality in the educational opportunities offered white and Negro law students by the State. In terms
of number of the faculty, variety of courses and opportunity for specialization, size of the student body, scope of
the library, availability of law review and similar activities, the University of Texas Law School is superior.

What is more important, the University of Texas Law School possesses to a far greater degree those qualities
which are incapable of objective measurement but which make for greatness in a law school. Such qualities, to
name but a few, include reputation of the faculty, experience of the administration, position and influence of the
alumni. It is difficult to believe that one who had a free choice between these law schools would consider the
question close.

In accordance with these cases, petitioner may claim his full constitutional right: legal education equivalent to
that offered by the State to students of other races. Such education is not available to him in a separate law
school as offered by the State. We cannot, therefore, agree with respondents that the doctrine of Plessy v.
Ferguson, (1896).

We hold that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that petitioner be admitted to
the University of Texas Law School. The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded for proceedings not
inconsistent with this opinion.

Supreme Court
Author:

1950 at the Supreme Court

Place and Time:

Generally African Americans were not given the opportunity to go to college.

Prior knowledge: Colleges are definitely unequal.

General Audience
Audience:

To ensure fair treatment for people who want to go to college.

Reason:

The law schools were not equal for blacks and whites, so keeping Sweatt out of the
university of Texas is illegal.
The main idea:

6
 Because the Universities were not equal for blacks and white, they are violating the
equal protection clause, which before Brown v. Board of Education was passed,
Significance: stated that separate accommodations must be equal in order to be legal. Schools are
unequal.

Context
Briggs v. Elliott Legal Case Summary
Place: Clarendon County in rural South Carolina
Grievance: Starkly unequal, segregated schools for black and white children
Plaintiffs: Harold Briggs and 19 other parents in the county represented by Thurgood Marshall, who
would later be appoint as a Supreme Court Justice in 1967.
Decision: A federal district court ruled against the plaintiffs. Their appeal reached the U.S. Supreme
Court.

Below are photographs of schools in Clarendon County, SC. Clarendon County, SC schools were used to
argue that segregated school were unequal in the Briggs v. Elliot, 1950.
Document #4

Photographer unknown
Author:

1950, rural Clarendon County, South Carolina

Place and Time:

Segregation was still legal.

Prior knowledge:

7
 The jury for Briggs v. Elliot.
Audience:

They wanted to show that separate wasn’t equal. The two schools are drastically
Reason: different.
Schools were not equal for black and white children. Black children went to
The main idea: schools in terrible condition and the spending on black students education was less
than a ¼ of what was spent on white children.

Because schools were not equal for blacks and white, they are violating the equal
protection clause, which before Brown v. Board of Education was passed, stated
that separate accommodations must be equal in order to be legal.
Significance:

Context
Briggs v. Elliott Legal Case Summary
Place: Clarendon County in rural South Carolina
Time: 1947
Grievance: Starkly unequal, segregated schools for black and white children
Plaintiffs: Harold Briggs and 19 other parents in the county represented by Thurgood Marshall, who
would later be appoint as a Supreme Court Justice in 1967.
Decision: A federal district court ruled against the plaintiffs. Their appeal reached the U.S. Supreme
Court.

Document #5
“The Negro child is made to go to an inferior school; he is branded in his own mind as inferior...You can
teach such a child the Constitution, anthropology and citizenship, but he knows it isn’t true.”
Thurgood Marshall, concluding remarks, Briggs v. Elliott

Author:

South Carolina, 1947

Place and Time:

8
Prior knowledge:

Audience:

Thurgood Marshall was the Plaintiff’s lawyer in the Brigg’s v. Elliot. He was
trying to convince the jury that the schools were unequal and therefore cause
damages to the African American children that attend the inferior schools.
Reason: He is arguing that the African American families deserve to win this case because
they are not getting equal accommodations and this is a violation of the Plessy v.
Ferguson case.

The main idea:

Significance:

9
The Writing Process
WRITE YOUR INTRO!
1. Write a hook that makes readers want to read what you have to say!
2. Rephrase the information under the Historical Context in your own words. DO NOT COPY IT.
3. Write your thesis
4. NEVER use “I, you, or we.” Using the first person makes your essay sound WEAK and you’re NOT
WEAK! YOU ARE STRONG!

WRITING THE BODY!

1. Introduce the idea (the reason you are using to support your thesis)
2. Quote/ site a document and EXPLAIN the significance
3. Repeat
4. Include outside information ONLY IF you are certain it is factually correct
5. Summarize the idea of the paragraph

WRITE YOUR CONCLUSION!

1. Rephrase your thesis.
2. Be sure you answered the question!!
3. Write one or two sentences with the main points of your essay in it.
4. Make a connection. State your opinion as FACT and/or connect your essay to the future or to
today. Write like you mean it!

CHECKLIST
Before you hand in your essay, complete this checklist:

_______ Does my introduction grab the reader’s attention?

_______ Is my thesis clear?

_______ Do I have a body paragraph for each of my 3 reasons?

_______ Do I answer the task?

_______ Do I use the required number of documents

_______ Do I include outside information?

_______ Do I analyze the documents? (“This proves…because…”)

_______ Does my conclusion summarize my main points?

_______ Did I reread my essay aloud to make sure all sentences make sense?

_______ Did I proofread for grammar (ex. remembering apostrophes, periods, and commas; putting words
in the right tense, using was/were and be/been correctly)

10
_______ Is my essay neat and my handwriting legible?
DBQ Outline Template

INTRODUCTION:

1. Hook: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Rephrase of Historical Context: _______________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. State Thesis: The justices in Brown v. Board of Education came to the decision that separate was

inherently unequal, because

4. Introduce topics: (P1) of the proven inequalities in access to higher education, (P2) the negative

psychological impact segregation had on children, and (P3) the negative impacts of segregation on

democracy.

TOPIC of BODY PARAGRAPH 1: * Equal protection and higher education *

M- Main Idea DOC 3

“What is the main idea of

the paragraph?”

Tells the reader what the

paragraph will be about.
E- Evidence

Find specific PROOF that

supports your main idea

“For example…”

11
A- Analysis

Explain what the

evidence means and why
it is important in your
own words

“This evidence is
important BECAUSE…”
L- Link Back to Thesis

Mini summary of the

paragraph main idea

“How does this all relate

back to the thesis (main
argument of the essay)?”

TOPIC of BODY PARAGRAPH 2: * Inherent inequalities *

M- Main Idea DOC 2

“What is the main idea of

the paragraph?”

Tells the reader what the

paragraph will be about.
E- Evidence

Find specific PROOF that

supports your main idea

“For example…”
A- Analysis

Explain what the

evidence means and why
it is important in your
own words

“This evidence is
important BECAUSE…”

12
L- Link Back to Thesis

Mini summary of the

paragraph main idea

“How does this all relate

back to the thesis (main
argument of the essay)?”

13
TOPIC of BODY PARAGRAPH 3: * Equal Protection and Democracy *

M- Main Idea (P3) the negative impacts of segregation on democracy.  Doc 1 and 5

“What is the main idea of In Brown v. Board of Education, the justices used the points of John Harlan’s
the paragraph?” dissent in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson to conclude that separate but equal
was a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Tells the reader what the
paragraph will be about.
E- Evidence In his dissent, Harlan states, “the Constitution is colorblind… All men are
created equal under law.”
Find specific PROOF that
supports your main idea

“For example…”
A- Analysis Harlan means that segregation is illegal based on the Constitution, and that
black men and women have the right to live in the same spaces as whites.
Explain what the This is important because the justices in Brown v. Board will use the same
evidence means and why logic to declare that separate is inherently unequal, and demonstrates that a
it is important in your continuation of segregation policies should be stopped.
own words

“This evidence is
important BECAUSE…”
L- Link Back to Thesis

Mini summary of the

paragraph main idea

“How does this all relate

back to the thesis (main
argument of the essay)?”

CONCLUSION (Write 2 or 3 sentences that SUMMARIZE your essay!)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14