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.php
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.php
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
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