Background
DIRECTIONS
Read the background
essay. Then, using
Documents A – K
and your knowledge
of history and
current events,
assess President
Eisenhower’s
constitutional
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decision to send
federal troops to
Little Rock, Arkansas,
to enforce a federal
court’s order to
integrate public
schools.
The Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education
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and challenged deeply-held social traditions. Southern
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Dwight D. Eisenhower was not enthusiastic about federal
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out his constitutional responsibility to enforce the law by
implementing desegregation in the District of Columbia.
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Supreme Court’s order to integrate “with all deliberate
speed” and many fought against it openly. Arkansas
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to block the entry of nine newly-enrolled African American
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mob gathered in front of the school, and city police failed
to control it. Finally, when asked for assistance by the
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constitutional duty to take care that the laws were faithfully
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point of using military force against American citizens.
THE PRESIDENCY: CONSTITUTIONAL CONTROVERSIES
EISENHOWER AND THE
LITTLE ROCK CRISIS (1957)
CONSTITUTIONAL
PRINCIPLES
Limited government
Federalism
Separation of powers
197
TEACHING TIPS: EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
198
‡ Students
understand the
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to and including
the Little Rock
Crisis.
‡ Students analyze
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Eisenhower’s
constitutional
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his actions.
‡ Students assess
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decision to use
military force to
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opposition to a
court order.
ACTIVITIES
1. +DYHVWXGHQWVUHDGWKHEDFNJURXQGHVVD\Handout A:
Eisenhower and the Little Rock Crisis, and answer the
questions.
2. Lead students to compare and contrast the three
SKRWRJUDSKVLQWKH'%4OHVVRQDocuments D, I, and
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document.
3. Assign appropriate documents for student analysis.
4. +DYHVWXGHQWVFRPSOHWHKDQGRXWHandout B: Analyzing
Documents, to show how each document is related to the
Constitution, and how the documents are related to each
other.
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federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce a
federal court’s order to integrate public schools.” for
class discussion or writing assignment, focusing on the
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6. ([WHQVLRQV
A. +DYHVWXGHQWVUHDG(LVHQKRZHU·VHQWLUHUDGLRDGGUHVV
and summarize its key points.
B. +DYHVWXGHQWVUHVHDUFKWKHOLYHVRIWKH/LWWOH5RFN
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Roberts, Gloria Ray, Minnijean Brown, and Ernest
Green.
See Appendix for additional Graphic Organizers.
HANDOUT
A
BACKGROUND ESSAY
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
Segregation and the Courts
Since Reconstruction, many aspects of
American life were segregated. In Southern
states, as well as some Northern ones, laws
known as Jim Crow laws permitted and often
required segregated bathrooms, drinking
fountains, parks, restaurants, and other
public spaces. The Supreme Court upheld
this legal practice in the case of Plessy v.
Ferguson Responses to Brown
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the wrong place to begin desegregating
American society. He thought it would be
more prudent to begin with places like
parks and restaurants. Finally, Eisenhower
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practices could not be imposed by law, but
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D SODQ WR VWDUW LQWHJUDWLRQ LQ WKH school year and the federal district court
ordered it to begin. Nine African American
students enrolled at Central High School.
Segregationists threatened to protest.
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the state’s National Guard to the school to
“keep order.” But in fact, the Guard members
blocked the African American students from
entering the school. The federal district court
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Guard, which he did.
The nine students tried again three weeks
later, this time escorted by city police.
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mob that had once again gathered. African
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escorted the students out for their own
safety.
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Eisenhower a telegram describing the
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the Justice Department desires to enforce
the orders of the federal court in regard to
integration in this city, the city police will be
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require.”
Less than twenty-four hours later came a
second telegram from the Mayor, telling of a
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EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
The BrownGHFLVLRQZDVKDLOHGDVDYLFWRU\
for equal treatment under law. It recognized
the color-blind nature of the Constitution,
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differently based on their race. But the
decision was also criticized by some for not
relying on strict constitutional principles and
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Southern resistance to the Brown II order
was widespread. Many saw the decision as
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states under the Constitution.
The Little Rock Crisis
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
A half century later, the Court ruled that
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schools. Brown v. Board of Education
declared segregation in public schools
“inherently unequal” and unconstitutional.
In a related case known as Brown II the Court ordered schools to desegregate
“with all deliberate speed.”
Despite his personal beliefs, Eisenhower
performed his duty to ensure the laws
were faithfully executed by enforcing
desegregation in schools and other public
facilities in the District of Columbia.
199
… in the interest of humanity, law, and order
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Eisenhower hated the idea of using federal
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to enforce the law was, in his words,
“inescapable.” His decision was the result
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His handwritten notes show that he was
concerned with protecting the image of the
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EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
200
The troops would be there “NOT to enforce
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his Attorney General discussed similar
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that federalizing the Arkansas National
Guard and sending the Army to Little Rock
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pitting “brother against brother.”
Executive Order 10730
Eisenhower issued a proclamation ordering
the mob around the school to “disperse.”
But again the mob returned. The next day,
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respect to matters relating to enrollment and
attendance at public schools in the Little
Rock School District, Little Rock, Arkansas.”
A thousand members from the 101st
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Exercising his constitutional power, the
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the Arkansas National Guard under federal
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RI *RYHUQRU )DXEXV 7KH VROGLHUV NHSW WKH
crowd under control, in some cases escorting
protesters away at gunpoint.
The students were able to attend class
almost a month into the school year. But
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other weapons at Americans shocked
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Eisenhower’s actions, saying, “My fellow
citizens, we are now an occupied territory …
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four of Little Rock’s public high schools to
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Eisenhower did not make the decision
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his response continues.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. 'HVFULEH WKH VLJQLÀFDQFH RI Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board of Education
DQGBrown IILQRQHEULHIVHQWHQFHHDFK
2. :KDWZDVWKH´/LWWOH5RFN&ULVLVµ"
3. How did Eisenhower respond to the situation in Little Rock?
4. :KDWZDVWKHFRQVWLWXWLRQDOVXSSRUWIRUKLVDFWLRQ"
Are there constitutional arguments against Eisenhower’s action? Explain.
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES
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Federalism
Separation of powers
KEY QUESTION
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for his decision to send federal troops to Little Rock,
Arkansas, to enforce a federal court’s order to integrate
public schools.
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EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
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“Terrence Roberts and Two Arkansas National Guardsmen,” September
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©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
A
B
C
D
201
DOCUMENT A
The United States Constitution, Article II (1789)
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fully executed.…
1. Summarize these constitutional duties of the President.
2. What is the militia?
DOCUMENT B
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
202
The Tenth Amendment (1791)
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1. If a power is not given to the national government in the Constitution,
who keeps it?
DOCUMENT C
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
No state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of the laws.
1. Put this clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in your own words.
DOCUMENT D
“Terrence Roberts and two Arkansas National Guardsmen,” September 4, 1957
1. What date was this
photograph taken?
2. What duties do
the National Guard
members seem
to be carrying out
with respect to
student Terrence
Roberts?
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
Courtesy of Central High Museum Historical
Collections/UALR Archives and Special Collections
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
203
DOCUMENT E
Telegram from Little Rock Mayor Mann to President Eisenhower, 6:24 PM,
September 23, 1957
1. When was this
telegram sent?
2. What is Mayor
Mann’s message
to the President?
3. How does Mann
describe the
“agitators”?
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
204
www.eisenhower.archives.gov
DOCUMENT F
Proclamation 3204, September 23, 1957
2. What constitutional authority does he claim?
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
www.eisenhower.archives.gov
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
1. What does President Eisenhower order the people gathered in front of
Central High School to do?
205
DOCUMENT G
Telegram from Mayor Mann to President Eisenhower, 9:16 AM,
September 24, 1957
1. When was
this telegram
sent?
2. How does the
message in
this telegram
differ from
Mann’s
telegram in
Document E?
Why is this
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©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
206
www.eisenhower.archives.gov
DOCUMENT H
Executive Order 10730, September 24, 1957
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10730
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obeyed and willful obstruction of enforcement of said court orders still exists
and threatens to continue.…
SEC. 2. The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to take all appropriDWHVWHSVWRHQIRUFHDQ\RUGHUVRIWKH8QLWHG6WDWHV'LVWULFW&RXUWIRUWKH(DVWHUQ'LVWULFWRI$UNDQVDVIRUWKHUHPRYDORIREVWUXFWLRQRIMXVWLFHLQWKH6WDWHRI
Arkansas with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools in the Little Rock School District, Little Rock, Arkansas….
1. What type of document is this?
2. Why does Eisenhower refer to his earlier proclamation (Document F)?
3. What action does Eisenhower “authorize and direct” in Section 1?
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
4. What action does Eisenhower “authorize and direct” in Section 2?
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
Section 1. I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of Defense to order into
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to carry out the purposes of this Order, any or all of the units of the National
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207
DOCUMENT I
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
208
www.army.mil/article/4952
“Operation Arkansas: A Different Kind of Deployment Photo,”
September 25, 1957
1. What date was this photograph taken?
2. What duties are the members of the 101st Airborne Division carrying
out with respect to the African American students?
3. Why might this photo have been entitled “A Different Kind of
Deployment Photo”?
DOCUMENT J
1. What duties are the members of the 101st Airborne Division carrying
out with respect to the integration protestors?
2.
How does this action compare with the one depicted in Document D?
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
LC-US262-126446
Library of Congress
Print and Photographs Division
“Bayonet Point,” September 25, 1957
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
209
DOCUMENT K
Eisenhower’s Address to the Nation, September 24, 1957
Our personal opinions about the [Brown v. Board of Education@ GHFLVLRQ KDYH
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thus demonstrated to the world that we are a nation in which laws, not men, are
supreme. I regret to say that this truth—the cornerstone of our liberties—was not
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anarchy would result. There would be no security for any except that which each
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decisions of our courts.
©THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
210
The running of our school system and the maintenance of peace and order in
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Court is limited to extraordinary and compelling circumstances. Manifestly, such
an extreme situation has been created in Little Rock….
1. What does Eisenhower mean when he says the US is “a nation in
which laws, not men, are supreme”?
2. What “certainty” does Eisenhower call the “very basis of our
individual rights and freedoms”?
3. What two conditions does Eisenhower state must be present in order
for the federal government to interfere in state and local affairs?
HANDOUT
B
ANALYZING DOCUMENTS
Directions: For each document, explain how the Constitution applies, then draw additional
lines between documents and explain the connections you see.
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THE
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EISENHOWER AND THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS
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211