1. Post Civil War Tensions
Black Codes
Laws passed to restrict the freedoms of African Americans
Examples included laws that prevented African Americans from owning guns or property
Jim Crow Laws
Laws that encouraged segregation
Examples included creating separate schools or separte dining facilities

2. Legislating for Equality Post Civil War
13th Amendment: forbids slavery
14th Amendment: defines citizenship and promises equal protection under the law regardless of race
15th Amendment: protects voting rights regardless of race
Civil Rights Act of 1875: outlawed segregation in public facilities

3. White Power Strikes Back
Civil Rights Act of 1875 is overturned in by Supreme Court
Blacks Codes and Jim Crow laws again heavily used throughout the South
African Americans begin to leave South to escape discrimination
As more African Americans come North, they are met with similar hatred

4. Plessy v. Ferguson
In 1890, Louisiana passes a law requiring railroad companies to provide separate but equal seating accommodations for whites and colored races
Convinced that the law violated that 14th Amendment, a group of prominent African American convinced Homer Plessy to violate the law
Ultimately, the court ruled that the doctrine of ”separate but equal” was constitutional
As a result of the ruling, segregation becomes legally sanctioned by the judicial branch

5. NAACP Response
Beginning in 1909, the NAACP, under the leadership of law professor, Charles Hamilton Houston, began to fight segregation
In 1938, Houston placed a team of his best law students under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, the future first African American Justice of the Supreme Court
Together, Houston, Marshall, and their team of lawyers laid down the foundations for overturning the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson

6. Brown v. Board of Education
In 1951, Oliver L. Brown filed a class action lawsuit against the board of education of Topeka, Kansas
His daughter, Linda Brown, had to walk 6 blocks to catch the bus that went to the segregated school a mile away; meanwhile, a white schools was located just 7 blocks from the Brown home
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and ruled that the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place in schools

7. The Power of Precedent
In law, the term, “precedent,” refers to principles or rules that are established by earlier court cases
According to the concept of “stare decisis,” judges follow precedents when deciding court cases
In this way, laws and legal beliefs change over time as the result of incremental changes
The ruling of Brown v. Board can be seen as the result of legal precedent and stare decisis

8. Reaction To Brown
More than 12 million children across 21 states were integrated into white schools
White some states, such as Kansas and Oklahoma, followed desegregation with little problems, other states, such as Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia, fought integration
No state better exemplifies the fight against desegregation than Arkansas

9. Arkansas and the Little Rock Nine
In September or 1957, Governor Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to turn away nine African American students who volunteered to attend the previously all white Central High
The NAACP arranged to drive 8 of the students to school
The ninth, Elizabeth Eckford, never received the phone call and attended in spite of violent crowds
To quell the violence President Eisenhower took command of the National Guard and sent paratroopers to protect the Little Rock Nine

10. Legacy of Brown v. Board
On September 9, 1957, Faubus shut down Central High to prevent integration
As other states attempted to undue segregation, the federal government stepped in
Texas Senator, and future president, Lyndon B. Johnson helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Act gave the federal government authority to oversee integration and pursue violations of African American voting rights
More importantly, the success of integration made others believe that integration could be achieved on a societal wide basis