Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Gus_M_Lange]Gus M Lange

Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American to serve as Supreme Court Justice. He protested that "the separate but equal" doctrine was unconstitutional in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

Thurgood Marshal was born on the July 2nd, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. Marshall was son of William Canfield Marshall, a railroad porter and a steward at an all white country club, and his mother Norma Williams Marshall, an elementary school teacher. Marshall was a honors student when he graduated from Lincoln University in 1930. He went to a college called Howard University Law School, being rejected from University of Maryland Law School because being white was a "qualification" to attend. He still took the best of his resources and was ranked first in his class. At Howard he was encouraged to view the law as a vehicle of change by Charles Hamilton Houston.

After graduating Howard he started to build his way up to the Supreme Court with diligent work. Marshall joined The Houston for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1936 as a staff lawyer. After years of hard work under the NAACP he became Chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Before Marshall joined the Supreme Court he was one of the top lawyers, winning 29 of 32 cases that he argued. Through hard work he created a strong reputation. It was the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that helped him build his reputation. It was also that case that reversed the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, therefore establishing that "separate but equal" was unconstitutional in 1954. John. F. Kennedy nominate Thurgood Marshall to the Court of Appeals in 1961. Six years later Marshall was appointed to The Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Thurgood Marshall had a great impact on the society of the United States, Especially the African-Americans. He supported to make the U.S. Constitution to work. That's what he's famous for, reversing the "separate but equal" doctrine. Stating that the 14th amendment was violated by the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Therefore, making a great impact on many African-american lives.

In 1991 he retired from the Supreme Court. In Bethada, Maryland his death came two years later in 1993. When he died he was known as "the Great Dissenter. His accomplishments have made an impact on our society and everyday life.

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