Topic 4: Brown v. Board of Education

Question 1

when was Brown v. Board of Education?

Answer 1

1954

Question 2

who was ‘Brown’?

Answer 2

Oliver Brown - Kansas Church Minister - could not send daughter to whites-only school only 5 blocks away

Question 3

who supported Oliver Brown?

Answer 3

NAACP

Question 4

who was the lawyer for Brown v. Board of Education?

Answer 4

Thurgood Marshall - NAACP lawyer

Question 5

how did Thurgood Marshall argue that segregation was harmful?

Answer 5

employed psychological evidence e.g. black children wanting to play with white dolls

Question 6

what did Marshall argue segregation was contradictory to?

Answer 6

the 14th Amendment

Question 7

what was the Result of Brown v. Board of Education?

Answer 7

segregation ruled to be psychologically harmful to black children, even if facilities are equal

Question 8

what issues were there with the result of Brown v. Board of Ed?

Answer 8

• no date given by which desegregation should be achieved
• did not address de facto segregation

Question 9

how did the NAACP tackle the issues with the result of Brown I?

Answer 9

returned to Supreme Court 1955 - obtained ruling that integration should be accomplished ‘with all deliberate speed’

Question 10

when was Brown II?

Answer 10

1955

Question 11

what was the result of Brown II?

Answer 11

integration should be achieved ‘with all deliberate speed’

Question 12

were there any issues with the ruling of Brown II?

Answer 12

again, no actual date given

Question 13

what white backlash was there to the Brown rulings?

Answer 13

• White Citizens’ Councils
• Southern Manifesto

Question 14

what were the White Citizens’ Councils?

Answer 14

councils formed throughout the south to defend segregation e.g. challenged segregation plans in law courts

Question 15

who supported White Citizens’ Councils?

Answer 15

Southern politicians

Question 16

stat for White Citizens’ Councils membership

Answer 16

250,000 members in 1956

Question 17

what was the Southern Manifesto?

Answer 17

agreement between 100 Southern Senators to uphold Jim Crow

Question 18

when was the Southern Manifesto?

Answer 18

1956

Question 19

who signed the Southern Manifesto?

Answer 19

100 Southern Senators

Question 20

positive significance of Brown?

Answer 20

• triumph for NAACP’s campaign against segregated schools
• inspired further activism

Question 21

why was Brown maybe not so significant?

Answer 21

varied acceptance -
- 70% school districts in Washington DC and boarder states integrated - within a year
- schools in Deep South remained segregated e.g. Virginia- some schools closed rather than integrated

Question 22

what percentage of school districts in Washington DC and boarder states integrated were within a year

Answer 22

70%

Question 23

where were 70% of school districts integrated within a year of Brown?

Answer 23

Washington DC and boarder states

Question 24

who were some groups/ people responsible for the result of Brown I?

Answer 24

• Chief Justice Earl Warren
• Supreme Court
• President Truman

Question 25

how was the SC responsible for the result of Brown?

Answer 25

majority of justices were Democrat appointees 1952-4, and disliked JC schools

Question 26

what was Earl Warren's role in the Supreme Court?

Answer 26

Chief Justice

Question 27

how was Earl Warren responsible for the result of Brown?

Answer 27

worked hard to get a consensus on the Brown ruling

Question 28

why did Earl Warren want a consensus on the Brown ruling?

Answer 28

believed unanimity would get nation to accept integration

Question 29

when was Little Rock?

Answer 29

1957

Question 30

what state is Little Rock in?

Answer 30

Arkansas

Question 31

who was the Governor or Little Rock?

Answer 31

Orval Faubus

Question 32

what was the name of the school that caused controversy in Little Rock?

Answer 32

Central High School

Question 33

what did Orval Faubus do in response to the attempt at integration of a hight school in Little Rock?

Answer 33

ordered the National Guard to keep black students out of Central High School

Question 34

why did Orval Faubus do what he did?

Answer 34

wanted to ensure re-election

Question 35

who was President at the time of Little Rock?

Answer 35

Eisenhower

Question 36

what did Pres. Eisenhower do in response to Faubus in Little Rock?

Answer 36

was forced to send in troops when the constitution and federal law seemed threatened

Question 37

what were the children who tried to integrate Central High School know as?

Answer 37

the Little Rock Nine

Question 38

what was one of the names of one of the Little Rock Nine?

Answer 38

Melba Patillo

Question 39

what did the Little Rock Nine endure?

Answer 39

- verbal assault - hostility from other white students

Question 40

why were the tactics of the NAACP in Little Rock scrutinised?

Answer 40

because of the potentially traumatising events the Little Rock Nine had to endure

Question 41

when was Central High School eventually integrated?

Answer 41

not until 1960

Question 42

when were other schools in Little Rock integrated?

Answer 42

not until 1972

Question 43

how did Little Rock encourage desegregation in other cities?

Answer 43

other cities desegregated to avoid violence and publicity like Little Rock e.g. Atlanta, Georgia

Question 44

what does Little Rock show about the efficacy of Brown?

Answer 44

- met tremendous grassroots resistance with neither local nor national authorities keen to enforce it

Question 45

what was the significance of Little Rock?

Answer 45

- confirmed for some BA that they could not rely on the Supreme Court as could not enforce rulings - dramatic images influenced moderate WA - demonstrates importance of the media to black progress