Free History Term Paper Assignment Research Proposal Sample

Oliver L. Brown, et. al. vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, et. Al
The Declaration of Independence stated that all men are equal, but this was not the case when it came to the education of American children before this case was taken to court. At the time of the lawsuit, there was segregation in elementary schools in Topeka, Kansas and many other states like Washington, Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia. NAACP decided to help the children of the blacks who had been denied the chance to go to all white schools. The Board of Education was in violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution that gives all citizens protection under the law. Upon the filing of the case, the district court ruled against Brown that resulted in an appeal to the Supreme Court. It is here that the court decided unanimously that the board was on the wrong and acted unconstitutionally by separating American children and treating them unequally.
Upon the case making it to the Supreme Court, it was combined with other similar cases and was called “Oliver L. Brown, et. al. vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, et. al”. The facts of all the other cases might have been different, but they shared a common denominator; segregation. In fact, this segregation led to black children feeling and being treated as inferior. All the judges agreed that indeed the segregation in public schools was against the constitution. If equality was to be achieved in the United States, all the states were expected to follow the constitution and treat all Americans as equal. It is against this background that the court made its ruling.
This case played a very significant role on the realization of civil liberties. The Attorney generals of all the states, especially those in the south were expected to give a road map on how they could begin their journey towards desegregation of public schools. Immediately after the ruling, The Board of Education began to end segregation. The result was that schools encouraged neighborhood attendance. In as much as not everyone accepted the changes, in the long run all schools desegregated and today all American elementary schools admit students regardless of their racial backgrounds. The ruling was the first step towards realizing the civil liberties and in as much as desegregation did not happen immediately, the truth is that this was the first step towards the equality that has been achieved in elementary education in America.