Must Know Court Cases (APUSH)

All of the Supreme Court Cases explicitly mentioned in College Board’s APUSH curriculum.

1.) Marbury v. Madison (1803; Revolution of 1800; Period 4)

• Adams’ late night appointment of Supreme Court Justices (in attempt to keep Federalists’ power in the government) —> Madison’s refusal to follow through on Adams’ appointments

• Court ruled that Madison’s refusal to deliver the commission was illegal

• Did not force Madison to deliver the commission; felt this was beyond the Supreme Court’s power

• Established Judicial Review—> contributed to the system of “checks and balances”

• First time the Supreme Court ruled an act of Congress as unconstitutional

2.) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819; Revolution of 1800; Period 4)

• Marshall Case

• Maryland voted to impose a tax on all banks in the state that were unchartered by its own legislature (including the Second National Bank)

• Maryland takes McCulloch, the head of the National Bank, to court after the bank refused to comply with the new law

• Supreme Court rules in favor of the bank, deciding that the Federal government had the right to establish a Federal Bank

• Argued a state did not have the right to tax a federal institution

• “The power to tax involves the power to destroy”

• Grew power for the Federal government (Democrats did not agree with this case)

3.) Dred Scott v. Sandford (1856; Antebellum Era; Period 5)

• Ruled that African Americans were not citizens

• Slavery could not be banned in federal territories

• Declares Mississippi Compromise unconstitutional (Mississippi Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, then outlawed slavery anywhere north of the 30 degree 36 latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana territory)

• Argued slaves were property and Congress could not deprive anyone of their property without due process of law

  4.) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896; Post-Reconstruction; Period 6)

• Upheld Louisiana state laws of segregation

• “Separate but equal”

• Legalized racial segregation + Jim Crow Laws

• Argued segregation laws did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment

5.) Brown v. Board of Education (1954; Civil Rights Era; Period 8)

• Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson

• Segregation in public schools and institutions declared unconstitutional

• Argued that separate schools between whites and blacks were inherently unequal + a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment