The Constitution

The Constitution

Harley Miller

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Mission 3

The US Constitution and Race

slavery Our Constitution is based on ideals of liberty, and yet when this nation was founded it was a slave holding country. Slavery was never directly mentioned in the wording of the Constitution, so a casual reading would never reveal the existence of slavery in this society. There were a number of Supreme Court rulings that upheld the right to own slaves, most notably the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. After the Civil War and the 13th Amendment that outlawed slavery, race relations remained strained in the US. The Jim Crow Laws were designed to keep African Americans in a second class citizen status. The Plessy v. Ferguson decision established segregation in the schools and the “separate but equal” doctrine as constitutionally correct interpretations. In 1954 this interpretation was overthrown in the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The 1964 Civil Rights Act followed by affirmative action programs have taken the interpretation of constitutionally protected racial relations to the polar opposite of the interpretations from the beginning years of the Constitution.

Your mission is to follow 4 of the links provided to 4 different interpretations of race relations that have been accepted as constitutionally correct in 4 different time periods. You are to examine and collect the arguments and justifications for each of the 4 positions. You are to write a three to five page paper detailing the different interpretations over time and their justifications. The final page of this paper is to be your own assessment of current interpretation of constitutional protections on race relations; whether you believe they are inadequate, about right, or whether they have gone too far and need to be rolled back somewhat. This paper is to follow our standard format: Times New Roman size 12 font, double spaced, 1 inch margins, with no extra spaces between paragraphs.

The 3/5 compromise 1787,

Dred Scott v. Sandford,

Brown v. Board of Education

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Affirmative Action,


Research Report : Assessment Rubric for Mission 3--100 points


Teacher Name:Harley Miller

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	20	15	10	5
Internet Use 20 points	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.
Amount of Informantion 20points	All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 paragraphs about each.	All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 paragraphs about each.	All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 paragraph about each.	One or more topics were not addressed.
Quality of Information 20 points	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Organization 20 points	Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings.	Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs.	Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed.	The information appears to be disorganized.
Personal conclusion 20 points	There is a well thought out personal conclusion about constitutional protections on race relations today	There is a generalized personal conclusion about constitutional protections on race relations today.	There is some disorganized personal conclusion about constitutional protections on race relations today.	There is no personal conclusion about constitutional protections on race relations today.