Southern Manifesto
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The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places.<ref name="Historical Journal">Template:Cite journal</ref> The manifesto was signed by 19 US Senators and 82 Representatives from the Southern United States. The signatories included the entire congressional delegations from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia, most of the members from Florida and North Carolina, and several members from Tennessee and Texas. All of them were from the former Confederate states.<ref name="Historical Journal" /> 97 were Democrats; 4 were Republicans.
The Manifesto was drafted to support reversing the landmark Supreme Court 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education, which determined that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. School segregation laws were some of the most enduring and best-known of the Jim Crow laws that characterized the South at the time.<ref>John Kyle Day, The Southern Manifesto: Massive Resistance and the Fight to Preserve Segregation (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2014).</ref>
"Massive resistance" to federal court orders requiring school integration was already being practiced across the South, and was not caused by the Manifesto. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas had worked behind the scenes to tone down the original harsh draft. The final version did not pledge to nullify the Brown decision, nor did it support extralegal resistance to desegregation. Instead, it was mostly a states' rights attack against the judicial branch for overstepping its role.<ref>Brent J. Aucoin, "The Southern Manifesto and Southern Opposition to Desegregation". Arkansas Historical Quarterly 55#2 (1996): 173-193.</ref>
The Southern Manifesto accused the Supreme Court of "clear abuse of judicial power" and promised to use "all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation."<ref>James T. Patterson,Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (1996), p. 398</ref> It suggested that the Tenth Amendment should limit the reach of the Supreme Court on such issues.<ref>Zornick, George. "Republican race to turn on 'Tentherism?Template:'" CBS News, 20 May 2011.</ref> Senators in the Southern Caucus led the opposition, with Strom Thurmond writing the initial draft and Richard Russell the final version.<ref name="Time Magazine 1">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Three Democratic senators from the former Confederate states (all of whom had presidential ambitions<ref name="CaroSenate34">Template:Cite book</ref>) did not sign:
- Al Gore Sr. and Estes Kefauver of Tennessee
- Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson of Texas
The following Democratic representatives from the former Confederate states also did not sign:
- 16 of 21 Democrats from Texas, including Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and future Speaker Jim Wright
- 1 of 7 Democrats from Tennessee (Percy Priest)
- 3 of 11 Democrats from North Carolina
- 1 of 7 Democrats from Florida (Dante Fascell)
Also, none of the 12 U.S. senators or 39 U.S. House representatives from the states of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma signed the Manifesto despite all requiring segregation in their public school systems prior to the Brown v. Board decision.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
There were seven Republican representatives and three senators from former Confederate states. Only four signed the Manifesto: Charles Jonas of North Carolina, William Cramer of Florida, Joel Broyhill and Richard Poff of Virginia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Key quotes
- "The unwarranted decision of the Supreme Court in the public school cases is now bearing the fruit always produced when men substitute naked power for established law."
- "The original Constitution does not mention education. Neither does the 14th Amendment nor any other amendment. The debates preceding the submission of the 14th Amendment clearly show that there was no intent that it should affect the system of education maintained by the States."
- "This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the States principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through 90 years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Signatories and non-signatories
In many southern States, signing was much more common than not signing, with signatories including the entire delegations from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia. Those from southern states who refused to sign are noted below.<ref name="Historical Journal"/>
United States Senate (in state order)
| Signatories | Non-signatories |
|---|---|
|
|
United States House of Representatives
See also
- American Civil Rights Movement
- Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
- Brown v. Board of Education
- 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress
- Massive resistance
- Racial segregation in the United States
- Solid South
- Southern Democrats
- Conservative Democrat
- 84th United States Congress
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References
Further reading
External links
- Manifesto text and signers from the Congressional Record
- 102 Congressional Record (Bound) - Volume 102, Part 4 (March 12, 1956), Congressional Record Senate March 12 statement pp. 4459–4461
- Southern Congressmen Present Segregation Manifesto An article from CQ Almanac 1956 which includes the Representatives that signed on after the Manifesto was read into the Congressional Record.
- Pages with broken file links
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- 1956 in American law
- School segregation in the United States
- Strom Thurmond
- Legal history of the United States
- American political manifestos
- History of racial segregation in the United States
- 1956 in American politics
- 1956 in the United States
- 1956 documents
- Civil rights movement
- White supremacy in the United States