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Hour 2 Trial

Page history last edited by Archana Vasa 14 years, 10 months ago

 

 

Plessy Vs. Ferguson

A Court Case that Changed a Nation

By: Hayley

 


                        

     In 1896 a court case from Louisiana reached the Supreme Court regarding a segregation issue.On June 7, 1892 Homer Plessy was arrested after a planned challenge of the 1890 Louisiana Separate Car Act. The Citizens’ Committee planned to test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Act. They then appointed Albion Tourgée to be the legal representative of this test. The committee decided to  find an African American that could pass as a white man to carry out their plan. They then planned with the railroad conductor and a private detective to hold Plessy until he was arrested. When Plessy appeared before the district court in Louisiana the jury decided that the act was constitutional and that the state had the power to regulate railroad companies operating within its border. Their decision was then appealed to state supreme court in 1893 and then finally to the U.S Supreme Court in 1896. When the case finally reached the Supreme Court Tourgée and his friends had a plan down to make sure Plessy was innocent. He argued that Plessy was denied his right as an equal under the 14th amendment and also went against the 13th amendment by acting out some of the characteristics of slavery. 8 of the 9 justices of the Supreme Court then ruled that both of those amendments didn't have any thing to do with the case. They argued that African Americans were politically equal to whites but not socially equal. They also came to an agreement that the 14th amendment couldn't be used because both African Americans and whites were treated the same under law. In other words it was illegal for a white man to sit in a designated African American carriage of the train. The Supreme Court’s decision remained the founding principal for all other segregation cases for almost 50 years. It was then overturned by Brown Vs. Board of Education.

 

(Jury in Plessy Vs. Ferguson)

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

American History 102: Oldest American History Site on the Internet -- Established in 1996 --. 29 Apr. 2009 <http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/weblect/lec02/plessy2.jpg>.

 

 

Zimmerman, Thomas. "Plessy v. Ferguson." BGSU :: Academics :: University Home Page. 29 Apr. 2009    <http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/plessy/plessy.html>.

 

29 Apr. 2009 http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/supremes.jpg.

 

Brown Vs. Board of Education and Plessy Vs. Ferguson Comparison

In the cases Brown Vs. Board of Education and Plessy Vs. Ferguson, both are determining the rights of African Americans. Each one is debating the constitution and the rights African Americans have. Plessy Vs. Ferguson helped to decide the outcome of their trial. In both the trials it was really just a white man vs. an African American man usually resulting in the win for the white man. Brown Vs. Board of Education was able to overturn this. Although they were able to overturn the verdict in Plessy Vs. Ferguson, African Americans had to face segregation many more years to come.

Bibligraphy:

All This information was from research on this page.

 

The Trial From To Kill A Mockingbird

 

            In To Kill a Mockingbird, a trial takes place. Tom Robinson is being charged for supposedly raping Miss. Mayella Ewell. The case itself doesn’t have any eye-witnesses except for Mayella and Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Since it is like that it is really just an African American man’s word against a white man’s word. In the case we first hear the testimony from Mr. Heck Tate. He said that he was called to the Ewell house after Mr. Ewell said his girl had been raped. When he arrived he noted that she had a black eye on her left. Next Mayella is up on the stands. At first she thinks Atticus is making fun of her because he is so polite. She says that Tom ran up and started beating her. She was hollering and screaming. Then she becomes very quiet after seeing her dad’s face and doesn’t want to answer any more questions. Atticus then pushes her to the edge and then ends up crying.  Finally Tom Robinson is called up. The first thing that comes to our attention is that he has a crippled left arm. Thus Atticus makes it apparent that there is no way that he could have given her left eye a black eye. Also he gives us the background that he was just a good man. Tom says that Miss. Mayella always had a job for him even though he would not take any of her money. He then said that the day it happened that Miss. Mayella invited him into her yard. Then she asked him to chop up something for her. He willing did so when she jumped on him. Then Mr. Ewell appeared in the window and he jumped up and ran. Mr. Ewell then came in and started to go after Mayella. After this testimony the jury makes their decision. They take a very long time. They finally come out and decide that Tom is guilty. 

 

Biblography: All information found in the book To Kill A Mockingbird.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brown vs. Board of Education

      

By: Archana

     Linda Brown, an African American schoolgirl, had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to and from school everyday. Her parents did not see the sense in this, when a white school was only seven blocks away from their home. They tried to enroll her in this school, but the principal wouldn’t have her. Brown turned to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka’s branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for help. The NAACP had always wanted to bring the subject of segregated schools to court, and this was the perfect opportunity. Other parents like Brown joined this movement and the NAACP wanted an injunction that would get rid of segregated schools in Topeka.In court, they argued that by segregating the children it would deprive the kids of interaction with the other race, and make the colored children feel beneath the white children. The Board of Education’s argument was that by segregated schools it would prepare African American children for the segregation they would face in adulthood. They lost the case, but later Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court on October 1st, 1951. Their case was combined with other cases regarding public school segregation. The Supreme Court heard the case in December of 1952 but did not reach a decision.

            When they finally came to a decision, they struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine from the Plessy vs. Ferguson case. It declared that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. It did not however stop segregation in other public areas, nor did it create a specific time in which all schools must desegregate. Even with these setbacks though, it was a colossal leap towards the complete desegregation of all public schools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

"Early Civil Rights Struggles: Brown v. Board of Education." Www.watson.org. 01 May 2009 http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html.

"Race, Racism, & American Law - Home." West Virginia University. 11 May 2009 http://www.wvu.edu/%7Elawfac/jscully/Race/resources.htm.

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Crow Laws

 

                                                                                                                                                                                         By:Archana

 

            After the Civil War, many Southern states made an anti-African-American legislation, known as Jim Crow Laws. Jim  They were a set of laws that required segregation of public facilities, such as public schools, restaurants, theaters, and hotels. In addition to these things, trains and buses were segregated also. In some states, interracial marriage between African Americans and whites was prohibited as well. Some cases, like Plessey, wanted to abolish these laws. His case went to the Supreme Court, and only one justice disagreed with the decision to rule in favor of the Louisiana Court.

            The NAACP wanted to bring an end to segregation on trains and buses. Though segregation on inter-state railways was deemed unconstitutional, in the South they continued to discriminate. They forced African Americans to sit in the back, as well as give up their seats to any standing whites. In fact, transportation segregation still continued in some parts of the South. In response to this mistreatment, a civil rights group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) began to establish Freedom Rides. African Americans and white volunteers sat alongside each other in transportation vehicles, and segregated restaurants and hotels. Large companies began to fear boycotts in the North, so they desegregated.

            Finally, in 1964, President Johnson got Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act. It made discrimination in public places illegal. It also required employers to be indifferent towards what race they were hiring. Now, projects receiving money from the government could have their funds cut off if there was evidence of racial discrimination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        Bibliography

"Jim Crow Laws." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. 03 May 2009 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAjimcrow.htm.

"Jim Crow: Your government at work ?." The Cotton Boll Conspiracy. 08 May 2009 http://southcarolina1670.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/jim-crow-your-government-at-work/.
 

The Trial from the Text

 

   

By: Archana

          In the text, Atticus makes many good points, but despite this the jury ruled in favor of the Ewells.

            Some of the points Atticus made that I would use as well to defend Tom Robinson are:

  • Mayella Ewell was primarily beaten on the right side of her face, suggesting that the person who assaulted her was left handed. Bob Ewell, her father and a drunk, was left handed.
  • In the courtroom, every man is equal; therefore the jury shouldn’t make a decision based off of the color of Tom Robinson’s skin.
  • No one ran for a doctor because Mr. Ewell knew exactly how badly she was hurt and knew she didn’t need a doctor.
  •  Mayella was confused about her testimony.
  • Tom Robinson said he chopped up a chiffarobe over a year ago, and  the day he supposedly raped Mayella, he didn’t do a job she simply led him into her house.
  • Tom said he never was paid by Mayella, but Mayella said she was searching for a nickel for him, even though she was probably  too poor to give away a nickel.
  • Not all stereotypes about African American men apply to every single one, only some of them match the stereotype. How other people behave shouldn’t make anyone else but themselves look bad.

 

The jury had another way of thinking:

·        Mayella was white and Tom was black, so her word was better than his to her.

·        Tom said he felt sorry for Mayella, but it was highly improper for a colored man to feel sorry for a white woman.

·        The sheriff never said Tom didn’t rape her.

·        Mr. Ewell, another white man, said Tom raped her. That was two whites against one black man.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (2)

snelson@bluevalleyk12.org said

at 7:25 pm on May 1, 2009

GOOD WORK ARCHANA AND HALEY - I ASSUME THE SPACES ARE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS OR OTHER VISUALS. MRS. NELSON

snelson@bluevalleyk12.org said

at 12:39 am on May 16, 2009

Great information and excellent visuals. You have done a good job of creating a presentation that is visually interesting with a message that is clear and direct. You might consider blocking the writing so that it is left justified and not centered around your pictures. It is just easier to follow when created like that. Make sure you edit everything for each other and then read it for practice. You have a good deal of writing and will be reading this to your audience. Make sure you are familiar with what you have to share. Look forward to your presentation Monday. The progression of the various trials is very interesting. Mrs. Nel

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