FREE ESSAY ON THURGOOD MARSHALL

THURGOOD MARSHALL

'Thur'oughly 'Good' Thoughts Concerning the U.S. Constitution
In Thurgood Marshall's A Bicentennial View From the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall
argues that the United States Constitution bicentennial celebration should not be
commemorated with narrow views concerning the birth of the document, but rather should be
seen as a living document, one which has been dramatically altered to reflect the
changing views or society. Born from this ideal, Marshall contends that the Constitution
should be placed into perspective with events in U.S. history, which followed its
inception. Marshall adds that society should neither view the Constitution as a flawless
governmental charter, nor its framers as sheer geniuses. He instead points to the paper's
subsequent alterations, which helped it evolve to its current state. Marshall maintains
that the framers were individuals who either compromised their own moral beliefs or were
obvious hypocrites.
Marshall's draws his logical conclusions from specific events in U.S. history. Marshall
does not believe the United States is an impressive nation because of its Constitution
and its founders, but rather it is only recently noble because of those individuals who
suffer[ed], stuggle[d], and sacrifice[d] (Marshall 304) for freedom and turned the tide
of popular opinion. Marshall views the bicentennial celebration as oversimplified and
believes it it overlook[s] the many other events that have been instrumental to our
achievement as a nation (Marshall 303). He discusses the obvious fundamental flaw with
the Constitution: its deliberate exclusion of the abolition of slavery. Marshall argues
that the slavery issue illustrated the corrupt understanding and forethought of the
founding fathers and how they refused to address such a critical issue.
In his essay, he makes two points concerning the founding fathers omission of the end of
slavery. In order to preserve the union, the Constitutional framers compromised the
economic benefits for both the northern and southern regions of the colonies versus the
rights of slaves. However, in the Constitution, the representatives openly referred to
them and their constituents as We the People (Constitution). The framers also advanced
the principles from the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (Declaration). However, Marshall ponders how
these individuals, with their great wisdom, could one moment espouse the principles of
personal freedom, and then condemn their fellow man to a life of servitude without the
above stated rights. Marshall also questions how Gouverneur Morris, delegate from
Pennsylvania, could openly denounce slavery, but hypocritically approve a government
which allowed it. 
Nevertheless, Marshall does not place all fault with the framers. Observing the actions
of the Supreme Court 70 and 170 years later, he concludes that the court continued the
mistakes of the past. Marshall cites the court's opinion in the Dread Scott case as an
example of the continued ignorance of the legal system toward the black race. Marshall
illustrates that Chief Justice Taney accepted the notion that the founding fathers were
flawless because he took their opinions as pure fact.  'We [Supreme Court] think they
[slaves] are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be
included....They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an
inferior order'  (Marshall 303). Marshall demonstrates that Taney and the Court made
their decision on the basis of historical precedence. Instead of reevaluating the meaning
of all men are created equal(Declaration) and the morality and humaneness of slavery, the
Court merely reaffirmed a hypocritical idea of 70 years ago because of the narrow view of
infallibility granted to the Constitutional framers, Marshall argues. Despite the
addition of the 13th and 14th amendments, which ended slavery and quaranteed equal rights
to all men, respectively, it was another 100 years before the Court eliminated the
segregation that existed.
Although Marshall continues to question the decisions of the Supreme Court, he brings to
the forefront the legal and social principles, which have altered through time to permit
the society that exists today. He does not view the first version of the Constitution as
the factor for today's equality. Rather, Marshall focuses on the greatness of the
subsequent changes. To fully understand this, Marshall unionizes the legality concept. He
states that blacks were enslaved by law, emancipated by law, disenfranchised and
segregated by law; and finally, they have begun to win equality by law (Marshall 303). It
is here that Marshall makes his most important point and asks for perspective about the
celebrations and that individuals realize the struggles of the individuals who yearned
for freedom and the Constitutional vibrancy they helped create. Marshall sees that the
Constitution is now used as a backdrop for equality because of the progresses society has
made with its views about slavery and blacks. It is for these reasons that the
Constitution is a great document, not because of the founding fathers. 
Bibliography
Works Cited
The Constitution of the United States of America. 1787.
Declaration of Independence. 1776.
Marshall, Thurgood. A Bicentennial View From the Supreme Court. The United States