Jonathan Milligan Mrs.

Hensel English IV 4 April, 2014 How did the judicial system get to where they are today?

When the judicial system first originated it was not the fair, truthful and honest judicial system that you would think of in todays standings. The judicial system has come a long way sense it was first brought over from England when the new Colinas were just starting to get colonized. The judicial system has had many roadblocks come into its path throughout its history in our country. There are three of these roadblocks that were major turning points for the judicial system in our country. Yet none the less the judicial system has stood strong overcome all of the roadblocks, but it has taken over 500 years to do so. The courts started out a long time ago they came from England when the 13 original colonies were set into place ,but none of the ones from those days and age have survive the test of time. The oldest one still in use today is the Anne Arundel County Courthouse. The Anne Arundel county courthouse is the oldest courthouse still in use in Maryland (Court History). Construction begun in 1821 and completed in 1824 the earliest portion of the court house county court and its officials a use that has continued to this day (Court History). This was not the first Anne Arundel it is merely the oldest one still in existences. The history of Anne Arundels court system dates to the origins of the country in 1650. On July 30, 1650 seven courtly commissioners were designated to appoint courts to be kept within and for said county
(Court History).

Even though Anna Arundel court houses might have looked like ours today, but there were far from it. It has take a lot of roadblocks to get in our way before we could get to the strong, smart, and fair judicial system we have today. One of the first road blocks our judicial system faced was from a group of angry farmers. This was Shay and his group of rebilling farmers who didnt want to lose their land to the court (Shays Rebellion). This lead to them going on a march down the east coast locking the doors of the court house, and not letting anyone into the courtrooms so the judge couldnt give a verdict to take the farmers land. (Shays' Rebellion.").James Bowdoin, the governor of Massachusetts, he organized a military force funded by eastern merchants, to confront the rebels (Shays Rebellion). Shays rebellion didnt last long when winter came.This armed force crushed the movement in the winter of 1786-1787 as the Shay sites quickly fell apart when faced with a strong army organized by the state (Shays' Rebellion). After Shays Rebellion the judicial system didnt have to face another major roadblock until 100 years later. The civil war begun and pretty much tore the judicial system in two. Abraham Lincolns book states that the broad wartime powers employed by President Abraham Lincoln's administration forced a significant change to the role of the federal courts (McPherson). This made the northern states less concerned for state laws and enforcing them and put most efforts toads the war. The Civil War bench was less concerned with relationships with state law and authority than earlier courts. Its focus was chiefly national. (Jim Crow and the Courts). In the south Jonathan Davis, was the president of the confidant states of America and his views were the direct opposite of Abraham Lincoln. When a case was held in the southern states they pushed the laws of the states. On the border of the south and north it was tore and leads to even more problems. The north won the civil war and this lead to the death of the

confidante states of America. Yet the northern states did adopt some of the thing in the articles of confederation and even though the south lost they agreed on the new constitution and have worked well together sense then as far as north and south goes (Jim Crow and the Courts). After the civil the north passed laws to protect slaves, but the southern states came up with a way to get away with still being racist this was called Jim Crow laws. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the court severely limited federal power to fight lynching and private discrimination. When the 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868, it was expected that the Supreme Court would protect the rights of African Americans (Supreme Court Recognizes Jim Crow's Demise). In the 30 years after the 14th Amendment was adopted, the Supreme Court restricted its view. Eight years after the Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled (in the SlaughterHouse Cases) that the 14th Amendment's prohibition against states restricting the privileges or immunities of American citizens was not intended to protect citizens of a state against the legislative power of their state. (Supreme Court Recognizes Jim Crow's Demise). Then Jim Crow worked his way into the court house in many different ways from all-white juries to the fairness of the sentencing Yet the greatest road block that the judicial system had to overcome was that there was an unbearable amount of racism in the juries, judges, and lawyers lead to the wrongful sentencing of uncountable amount of minorities. In Alabama when an African American man was put on trial he hardly ever received a fair trial (info please). In most trials the jurors had already decided that if it was an African American man or woman they were guilty even before they heard the a single word or seen any evidence (Info please). The defense offered only the defendants themselves as witnesses, and their testimony was rambling, sometimes incoherent, and riddled with obvious misstatements. Six of the boys (Andy Wright, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems,

Ozie Powell, Olen Montgomery, and Eugene Williams) denied raping or even having seen the two girls (info please). Three others, all who later claimed they did so because of beatings and threats by men of the court. Clarence Norris provided what one paper called the highlight of the trial" (info please) when he said of the other blacks, "They all raped her, every one of them. No closing argument was offered by defense attorneys (info please). A local editorialist described the state's case as "so conclusive as to be almost perfect" (Info please). Racism is the belief that the physical characteristics of a person or group determine their capabilities and that one group is naturally superior to other groups(info please). The white males were treated differently in the courts as if they were innocent before the trial even started (Info please). The court houses have suffered a lot of different problems to get to where it has gotten to in todays world. They suffered from lots of seat backs but it still came though and is still doing its job in protecting our national born rights. The courts have been here sense the start of our country and made it through all the farmers who tried to shout it down to the civil war that broke it into but no matter it stayed standing. I can agree with a lot of people saying racism was the hardest thing the court had to come over but they did it.

WORK CITED "Courts Family Crest and Name History." Courts Family Crest and History. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014 "Court History." Court History. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014. Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014. "Jim Crow and the Courts." Digital History. Digital History, 01 June 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2014.
McPherson, James M. "Out of War, a New Nation." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.

Race in the 1930s." Race in the 1930s. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014 Shays' Rebellion." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014 "Supreme Court Recognizes Jim Crow's Demise, Restores Constitutional Order." SCOTUSblog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014.