
Equal Protection and Affirmative Action
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Case background and primary source documents concerning the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. Dealing with the principle of Equal Protection, this lesson asks students to assess the role played by the Court as the protector of individual rights against the tyranny of the majority.
Founding Principles

Equal Protection
The principle of equal justice under law means that every individual is equal to every other person in regards to natural rights and treatment before the law. There are no individuals or groups who are born with the right to rule over others.

Equality
Every individual is equal to every other person in regards to natural rights and treatment before the law.

Federalism
The people delegate certain powers to the national government, while the states retain other powers; and the people, who authorize the states and national government, retain all freedoms not delegated to the governing bodies.

Liberty
Except where authorized by citizens through the Constitution, the government does not have the authority to limit freedom.
Case Background
After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed to grant citizenship to former slaves and protect them from civil rights violations in their home states. Public schools were relatively rare throughout the United States, but were often segregated by race where they existed. The same Congress that passed the Fourteenth Amendment created racially segregated schools for the District of Columbia.
Beginning in 1877, many states passed “Jim Crow” laws requiring segregation in public places. Jim Crow laws were adopted in every southern state as well as some in the North. Louisiana’s policy requiring that blacks sit in separate railcars from whites was challenged and upheld in the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). The Court held that there was nothing inherently unequal—nor anything unconstitutional—about separate accommodations for races.
In the twentieth century, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began a litigation campaign designed to bring an end to state-mandated segregation, calling attention to the shabby accommodations provided for blacks, as well as arguing the damaging psychological effects that segregation had on black school children. One case was brought on behalf of Linda Brown, a third-grader from Topeka, Kansas. Several additional school segregation cases were combined into one, known as Brown v. Board of Education. This case reached the Supreme Court in 1953.
The Brown v. Board of Education case overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine that allowed segregation. This Homework Help video explores the reasoning the Court used to make this landmark decision.
Key Question
Assess the role played by the Court as the protector of individual rights against the tyranny of the majority in Brown v. Board of Education.
Directions
Read the Case Background and Key Question. Then analyze Documents A-K. Finally, answer the Key Question in a well-organized essay that incorporates your interpretations of Documents A-K, as well as your own knowledge of history.
Materials
Documents you will examine:
- Virginia Criminal Code, 1847
- Section of the Fourteenth Amendment, 1868
- Majority Opinion, Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
- Dissenting Opinion, Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
- “Washington, D.C. Public Schools, 1st Div-Class Making Geometric Forms with Paper,” 1899
- “African American Schoolgirls in Classroom, Learning to Sew,” 1899
- “Crowded Segregated Classroom,” ca. 1940s
- Segregation Laws Map, 1953
- Unanimous Majority Opinion, Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
- Majority Opinion, Brown II, 1955
- “Supreme Court Decision,” 1954
Handouts
- Equal Protection and Affirmative Action – Essay by Warner Winborne, Ph.D.
- Brown v. Board of Education - Case Background
- Documents to Examine (A-K)
- The Issue Endures
Resources
- Identifying and Teaching against Misconceptions: Six Common Mistakes about the Supreme Court – Essay by Diana E. Hess
- Classroom Applications
- Online Resources
- Case Briefing Sheet
- Constitutional Issue Evidence Form
- Documents Summary
- Attorney Document Analysis
- Moot Court Procedures
- Tips for Thesis Statements and Essays
- Rubric for Evaluating a DBQ Essay on a 9-Point Scale
- Key Question Scoring Guidelines for All Essays
- Constitutional Principles and their Definitions
- Answer Key