Discuss the content and significance of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, and explain the response of the Eisenhower administration and the Southern states to this decision.

The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1954 that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. This decision effectively overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case, which had allowed for racial segregation in public facilities as long as they were equal.

The significance of the Brown v. Board of Education decision cannot be overstated. It marked a major victory for the civil rights movement and set the stage for the desegregation of public schools across the United States. The decision also laid the groundwork for future civil rights legislation and court rulings that would dismantle segregation in other areas of society.

In response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Eisenhower administration initially expressed support for the ruling. President Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly stated that the decision should be upheld and enforced, and he dispatched federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 to enforce the integration of Central High School.

However, the response of Southern states to the decision was largely one of resistance and defiance. Many Southern states, particularly those in the Deep South, enacted laws and policies to resist desegregation and maintain racial segregation in public schools. This resistance took the form of "massive resistance," with some states even shutting down public schools rather than integrate them.

Overall, the Brown v. Board of Education decision was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, but its implementation faced significant opposition from Southern states. It took years of legal battles, activism, and federal intervention to fully integrate public schools and begin to dismantle the system of segregation in the United States.