1. The Courts, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights: Equal Protection
© 2003 Constitutional Rights Foundation, Los Angeles, All rights reserved.

2. In the Declaration, Jefferson wrote...
In 1776, the American colonists decided to declare their independence from England.
Thomas Jefferson, a young lawyer from Virginia, was asked to write a Declaration of Independence to inform the English and other nations about this decision.
In the Declaration, Jefferson wrote...
We hold these truths to be self-evident…
that all men are created equal...
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3. But in spite of Jefferson’s words, not all Americans were equal.
In fact, about 1/5 of all the people in America were slaves.
The question of slavery would haunt America throughout its history.
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4. Here, questions about slavery came up and arguments broke out..
After the Revolutionary War was won, the founders gathered to draft a Constitution to form a new government.
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Here, questions about slavery came up and arguments broke out..

5. an issue that future generations would have to deal with.
It became clear that the Southern states would never join the new United States of America if slavery were outlawed by the Constitution.
Both sides made compromises about slavery to try to unite the states. The issue of slavery was finally left open...
an issue that future generations would have to deal with.
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Ask: Does this look like the United States to you? Why do you think there are so many states missing?
Explain: This is what the United States looked like in The dark blue states represent the anti-slavery states. These were the 7 colonies that were “free”. The darker gray states represent the 6 original slave colonies. In 1790, the light blue and light gray areas were not yet states, but territories.

6. Things were getting worse between the Northern and Southern states.
Throughout the early 1800s people in the Northern states voiced their beliefs that slavery should be abolished. They were called abolitionists. The abolitionist movement grew.
Every time a new state wanted to join the union, big arguments broke out about whether the state should be a free or slave state.
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Things were getting worse between the Northern and Southern states.

7. This decision made the abolitionists very angry.
The Southern states pressured the federal government to pass stronger laws for the capture of runaway slaves.
In 1857 the Supreme Court decided a case of a runaway slave named Dred Scott.
Dred Scott was suing for his freedom, but the court held that the Constitution protected slavery and that African Americans were not citizens protected by the Constitution.
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It left no room…
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This decision made the abolitionists very angry.
It left no room for compromise.

8. The nation was pushed closer to civil war.
Then, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President...
...by the Northern states.
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Ask the students to notice the green, red, and brown states on the map. Point out which states voted for and against Lincoln.
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Electoral Map of Lincoln carried red states.
This caused most of the Southern states to leave the Union.

9. By April, 1861, war broke out among the Northern and Southern states.
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10. In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in the rebel states.
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11. After four bloody years of civil war,
the South was defeated.
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12. Sometimes called the “Civil War Amendments.”
After the Civil War ended, Congress passes three new Amendments to the Constitution.
13th Amendment (1865)
“Slavery…shall not exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Sometimes called the “Civil War Amendments.”
14th Amendment (1868)
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All people born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens.
All citizens must be treated equally under the law.
Due process of law for all.

13. 15th Amendment (1870)
Right to vote cannot be denied based on “race, color, or previous…servitude.”
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14. And 50 years later another equal protection Amendment was added...
19th Amendment (1920)
Women’s right
to vote.
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15. These laws became known as “Jim Crow Laws.”
Federal troops stayed in the South until 1877 and made sure these new laws were enforced.
But after that, unfortunately, new laws were passed in the South that denied many of the rights that the former slaves had won, like the right to vote.
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These laws became known as “Jim Crow Laws.”

16. This became known as the “separate but equal” rule.
In 1896, the case of Plessy v. Ferguson came before the Supreme Court challenging the Jim Crow laws.
Homer Plessy had been convicted of sitting in the “white” section of a train. The Supreme Court ruled that Plessy’s conviction would stand.
The court held that it was not a violation of the Constitution to have separate facilities for different races as long as the facilities were equal.
This became known as the “separate but equal” rule.
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17. Brown v. Board of Education
It was not until 1954 that the Supreme Court overturned the separate but equal doctrine in one of its most famous cases...
Brown v. Board of Education
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Brown v. Board (1954) held that separate but equal schools for blacks and whites violated equal protection of the laws.
The court’s ruling on this case made it illegal to segregate public schools.

18. Later, laws passed by Congress ended...
job discrimination,
segregated public facilities,
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and ensured…
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and ensured voting rights for all citizens.

19. The struggle for equality has been an important part of America’s history.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were created to right the wrongs of slavery.
But it is important to remember that these amendments apply to all citizens.
They ensure equal protection of the law for people of all racial, ethnic, and religious groups.
Today, there are still struggles for equal protection. It is up to the courts to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as they hear cases dealing with discrimination.
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20. The Courts, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights: Equal Protection
Designed by Marshall Croddy
Written by Keri Doggett
Graphic Design and Production by Keri Doggett
Special thanks to John Kronstadt, member of CRF Board of Directors, for inspiration and input.
© 2003 Constitutional Rights Foundation, Los Angeles, All rights reserved..