by Roberta McCutcheon
Overview:
The Founding Fathers created the Supreme Court in Article III of the Constitution of the United States. The most influential role of the Court, however, was defined later through the appeal process, in cases involving the laws of state and local legislatures and Congress, and ultimately, the meaning of the Constitution. Landmark cases such as Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland and others, which were decided in the first decades of the nineteenth century, established the court’s power of judicial review. This gave the appointed justices the power to declare a law invalid if they found it to be in violation of the Constitution. Judicial review gave the Court the power to interpret the law of the land.
With the surrender of the Confederate states and the end of the Civil War, Congress needed to set the terms under which the seceded states would return to the Union. After four long years of civil war, Congress also had to address the controversial issues that brought the nation to war. These included the abolition of slavery and guaranteeing civil rights for all. Congress proposed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution to address the issues of freedom and citizenship and required ratification of the first two for readmission to the Union. Within the first decade following ratification, there were cases involving individuals demanding their promised civil rights. In the 1870s, the Supreme Court interpreted those Amendments in the political atmosphere of Reconstruction.Objectives:
1. Students will understand the Reconstruction era including the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment and the appeals that followed.
2. Students will understand how individuals (free Blacks and women) sought to gain access to their rights as citizens.
3. Students will be able to examine the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
4. Students will be able to read and analyze four Supreme Court decisions. From these primary documents they will be able to identify how events during Reconstruction affected the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
5. Students will be able to analyze the effects of the Court’s decision on the rights of all citizens.
Activity One: Inside the Supreme Court
Have each student review how the Supreme Courts works. The following sites provide good information about the role of the Supreme Court. The students should take notes for a follow-up discussion:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
http://www.supremecourthistory.org/
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/supcthist.html
Class discussion: Using the research and notes, discuss and clarify the following:
- Appellate function
- Rule of Four
- Role of the Chief Justice
- Majority Opinion (decision) and dissent(s)
- Precedent and impact of a Supreme Court decision
Activity Two: History: The Supreme Court and the Fourteenth Amendment during Reconstruction
In the years following its passage, African Americans struggled to claim
the rights promised to them by the Fourteenth Amendment. It is important
to fully understand the context of the time in which the Fourteenth Amendment
was passed. Students should use their textbooks and the provided websites
to gain an understanding of Reconstruction:
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module11/index.html
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html
Have the class develop a model for analyzing documents and writings about the four cases to be considered in this lesson. They should compile a list of questions to guide them through their reading. The questions should include the following:
- What are the background facts of the case?
- What is the Constitutional issue?
- What are the arguments in the case?
- What is opinion of the Court?
- Are there dissenting opinions? If so, what are they?
- Impact of decision—short term and long term
- Precedent
The class should read and discuss the Fourteenth Amendment, which can be found at this site:
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/ charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html
The discussion should include:
- What rights did Congress intend to protect?
- Who was to be included in the protections of the Amendment?
- Would the states or Federal Government guarantee these rights?
Divide the class into four groups. Assign each group one of the following topics for research; each should look for background and significant events that influence the decisions of the Supreme Court:
- Myra Bradwell case ( Bradwell v. Illinois, 1873)
- Slaughter-House Cases (1873)
- Susan B. Anthony Case (1873)
- Virginia Minor Case (Minor v. Happersett, 1875)
Have each group share their information on the assigned topic with the
class.
The following websites include the decisions and provide useful information
on the assigned topics.
http://historyofprivacy.net/bradwell.html
http://law.jrank.org/pages/13238/Bradwell-v-Illinois.html
http://momo.essortment.com/myrabradwell_rfxv.htm
http://www.thinkgk.com/may_06.giffen_reprint.pdf
http://www.hist.umn.edu/~bywelke/Bradwell%20v%20Illinois.htm
http://faculty.uml.edu/sgallagher/supremecourt.htm
THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE CASES: THE BUTCHERS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF NEW ORLEANS v. THE CRESCENT CITY LIVE-STOCK LANDING AND SLAUGHTER-HOUSE COMPANY, 83 U.S. 36, December, 1872
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/
landmark_slaughterhouse.html
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0293d.asp
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/case30.htm
http://tourolaw.edu/patch/Slaughterhouse/#*
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1872/1872_2/
http://bss.sfsu.edu/waldrep/hist471/slaughterhouse_cases.htm
U.S. v. SUSAN B. ANTHONY 24 F.Cas. 829, 1873
http://www.gale.com/free_resources/whm/bio/anthony_s.htm
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/laws/p/us_v_sba.htm
http://www.gale.com/free_resources/whm/trials/anthony.htm
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1873
anthony.html
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/womens_suffrage/
pdf/susan_b_anthony_trial.pdf
http://law.jrank.org/pages/2625/U-S-v-Susan-B-Anthony-1873.html
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=United%20States
%20v.%20Susan%20B.%20Anthony
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/sbahome.html
MINOR v. HAPPERSETT, 88 U.S. 162, 1874
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court
=US&vol=88&invol=162
http://www.hist.umn.edu/
~bywelke/Minor%20v%20Happersett.htm
http://law.jrank.org/pages/13240/Minor-vHappersett.html
http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/
LASALLE/stretch/eighth/minor/ index.htm
https://www.law.georgetown.edu/glh/teleky.htm
Activity Three: Mock Appellate Hearing
Have the class select one of the four appeal hearings. Divide the class into three groups:
- Nine Supreme Court Justices
- Lawyers for the state
- Lawyers for the defendant
Using the research, each group should prepare questions and arguments for a mock hearing. The Court should reach a decision
Debrief: The class should discuss the outcome of the mock hearing. The discussion should include similarities, differences, variations in arguments, and impact.
Extension Activity: Essay
1. To what extent did the Fourteenth Amendment succeed in protecting the equal rights of all citizens in the United States in the decades after the Civil War?
