In 1954, the supreme court handed down a unanimous decision in the case of brown v. board of education of topeka, kansas. the decision stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and began the process of national integration of public schools. in response, southern legislators in congress signed a statement of opposition to the court’s decision. read the declaration of resistance to brown v. board of education, which has been called the southern manifesto. then write a brief essay of one to two pages examining the following question: why did the authors of the southern manifesto claim that chief justice earl warren’s decision was a threat to the us constitutional order? consider what type of arguments they make. can you link their argument to any other situations in us history?

I used points from the answer above, but here's a different form of the answer.

Explanation:

Most can agree that the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case was one that greatly influenced the way colored people of America were treated, as it struck down segregation in schools across the nation and created a more equal and fair environment for those of color. There were some however who believed that by doing so, the Supreme Court was displaying a clear abuse of judicial power, ultimately leading to the creation of the Constitution of Principles, otherwise informally known as the Southern Manifesto.

Strom Thurmond and Richard Russell Jr., authors of the Constitution of Principles, very strongly opposed the Supreme Court's decision to commence the national integration of public schools. When the news broke to the public that Chief Justice Earl Warren had ruled this verdict, both men decided to take action and construct the Southern Manifesto, where they addressed what they believed to be the unconstitutional nature of the Court’s ruling. They, along with the other 101 congressmen from the Deep South that signed their document, believed that the Court’s choice represented an evident abuse of Judicial power and that the amendment they were referring to when accumulating their conclusion did not involve the systems of education.

Thurmond and Russell Jr. claimed that the decision made to integrate public schools was encroaching upon the rights of each individual state as well as the people involved. They argued that while the Supreme Court decided to change the school system on the condition that separating blacks and whites was  unconstitutional, they too were not abiding by the constitution saying, “The original Constitution does not mention education. Neither does the 14th Amendment nor any other amendment. The debates preceding the submission of the 14th Amendment clearly show that there was no intent that it should affect the system of education maintained by the States,” (Thurmond and Russell Jr. 1956). They also bring up several other court cases such as the Plessy v. Ferguson case and the Roberts v. City of Boston case in order to showcase other ways in which the court used the 14th amendment to aid in their choices, attempting to rule all of their decisions as disorderly and lawless acts. It sparked mass chaos and confusion, causing strain between relationships of whites and blacks.

Said scenarios and arguments can be linked to the American Civil War due to the relation both the war and the Southern Manifesto had with the issue of equality among those of color and whites. Both were mainly arguments between the North and the South as well, with the South not wanting colored peoples to be equal or close to equal with white Americans. They also relate due to the same issues they had with the intervention of the Central government in states’ decisions, which divided the population of the country.

The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a landmark Supreme Court case where Chief Justice Earl Warren stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and began the process of national integration of public schools. With this came opposers who believed that this was unconstitutional and unlawful, eventually leading to the creation of the Constitution of Principles, a document which addressed such issues and beliefs. Analyzing the nature of the argument and the effect it had on the people involved, it’s safe to assume that the American Civil War can be linked to this specific situation given the several relations. With everything that resulted from this particular case, one can discern that it was genuinely something that had a very influential impact on America and the social treatment of those of color in America. Looking back on such things and relating them to similar issues of current times, it is quite surprising to see that such problems relating to the equality of the nation have yet to be solved.