Famous Court Cases II• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1854)• Plessy v. Fergusen (1896)• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

By Kayla Gilbert

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1854)- Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri.- Moved to Illinois (1833-1843) where slavery was

forbidden because of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

- He went to Missouri and tried to sue Missouri for his freedom.

- His master claimed that no pure-blooded African American was an American citizen because of Article III in the constitution.

Significance

• Only Congress had the right to give a citizen national citizenship.

• No one but a citizen of the United States was able to be a citizen in a state.

• The Court held the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

Plessy v. Fergusen (1896)• There were separate train cars for whites and

blacks. • Plessy was seven-eighths Caucasian and was told to

move to the car where the blacks sat. He refused and was arrested.

Significance

• Plessy tried to say that Louisianna’s law about segregation was unconstitutional.

• The Court said that segregation wasn’t unconstitutional because it followed the 14th amendment. As long as the two race were equal, it didn’t classify as discrimination.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Black children were denied access to public schools if white children attended there.

• The schools for white children and the schools for black children were equal. Everything was the same.

Significance

• This was unconstitutional because of the 14th amendment.

• Separate but equal is unequal in the context of public education.

• The unanimous opinion sounded the death-knell for all forms of state-maintained racial separation.

Works Cited• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DredScott.jpg• http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1856/1856_0/• http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1895/1895_210/• http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/weblect/lec02/02_05.htm• http://arkitipintel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/segregation-

drinking-fountain-400x300.jpg• http://www.kawvalley.k12.ks.us/brown_v_board/images/

segregation.jpg• http://www.zunal.com/myaccount/uploads/pnl10-1.jpg• http://ww• w.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1952/1952_1/