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?

Follow the steps described below, and use the links to help you formulate a well-organized and well-reasoned essay with a clearly stated thesis, or argument, in response to the assignment. Use the dropbox to submit your final version to your teacher, along with notes taken during the course of your essay development.

1. Gather sources. Before writing your essay, review these resources:

Research and Writing Info Center
Creating a Thesis Statement
Methods for Writing a Quality Paper
Chicago Manual of Style: Author-Date System
The Warren Supreme Court
Brown v. Board of Education

Then begin gathering additional sources—either online or otherwise—to support the views you present in your essay. For each source, consider the following questions:

Who authored the document?
What is the purpose of the document?
When was the document written?
What significant historical event or movement does the document represent?
2. Read and evaluate sources. Next, examine each source and think about how you will use it to support a thesis. Be an active researcher by asking the following questions about each source you reference:

What is the credibility of the source?
Is there any noticeable bias?
How does the author form his or her argument?
What are the important themes, main ideas, and arguments presented in the document?
3. Write your essay. Reference your notes and the provided documents to write a short essay. Be careful to keep the following ideas in mind:

To avoid plagiarism, make sure to cite your sources properly with in-text citations as well as a works-cited page.
When you finish, reread the essay to check for all of the points above, and then proofread it to be sure your work doesn’t contain errors in grammar or spelling.