Civics & Government lesson 8 Work Books
John Caldwell Calhoun American Politician March 18, 1782 - March 31, 1850
Biography: Calhoun was a firebrand in the history of American government. He is credited with coining the phrase "states' rights" while arguing against federal government interference with slavery in the South. Ironically, in protecting personal property rights—especially slavery—Calhoun expanded the rights of individual states against what he saw as encroaching federal government. Calhoun believed in manifest destiny and supported westward expansion but ended up opposing the Mexican-American War. Anecdote: As vice president under Andrew Jackson, Calhoun had his eye on the presidency. As early as 1830, talk of secession started. Calhoun became involved in the Nullification Crisis, arguing that states could nullify federal laws they deemed unconstitutional. Jackson heard of this and vowed to smash the Nullification movement. Calhoun resigned his position as vice president in 1832.
Thurgood Marshall American Judge | Civil Rights Leader July 2, 1908 - January 24, 1993
Biography: Thurgood Marshall became the legal face and voice of African Americans, the Civil Rights Movement, and the NAACP. Out of the 32 cases he argued before the US Supreme Court, he won 29. These cases include Brown v. Board of Education, which reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, and Browder v. Gayle, which effectively ended the Montgomery bus boycott. Marshall became the first black Supreme Court Justice in 1967. He befriended and worked with prominent civil rights leaders like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. Marshall became a popular figure in American culture. Anecdote: Marshall wanted to attend the University of Maryland School of Law, but it was racially segregated at that time. Instead, he attended Howard University School of Law. Later, Marshall argued two landmark civil rights cases and helped African Americans gain access to graduate and law schools.
What impact did Brown v. Board have on segregation in the United States?
Brown v. Board was a step toward fully integrating government institutions in the United States.
Read the sentence. In the Fourteenth Amendment, the __[blank]__ Clause declares that no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction safety and security under the laws of the United States of America. Which option correctly completes the sentence?
Equal Protection
AMENDMENT V (5)
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In which case did the Supreme Court decide in favor of states' rights regarding separate facilities for different ethnicities?
Plessy v. Ferguson
Read the sentence. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments are commonly referred to as the "_[blank]_ Amendments." Which option correctly completes the sentence?
Reconstruction
Amendment XIV (14)
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state. Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment XIII (13)
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXIV (24)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XV (15)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
In what way did Plessy v. Ferguson promote the violation of individual rights and freedoms? (Select all that apply.)
States began enacting more racial exclusion laws. Businesses began to serve based on ethnicity.
Which points did Chief Justice Roger B. Taney use to justify the Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott case?
The Property Clause of the Constitution, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the fact that African Americans were not citizens.
AMENDMENT 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Who was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court?
Thurgood Marshall
Read the sentence. Labor unions and activists have used the Thirteenth Amendment to argue for _[blank]_. Which options correctly complete the sentence? Select all that apply.
better treatment by companies safer working conditions shorter workdays
Read the sentence. Protests against the enforcement of segregation laws eventually led to the __[blank]__ movement in the mid-20th century. Which option correctly completes the sentence?
civil rights
Read the sentence. One way that African Americans promoted civil rights was through _[blank]_. Which option correctly completes the sentence?
education
What practice hindered the education of African Americans?
segregation
How did African Americans resist racial oppression in states that enforced segregation? Select all that apply.
through social activism through acts of civil disobedience
