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Scott was a slave from Missouri but resided in Illinois for ten years, where slavery was illegal through the Missouri Compromise. After returning to Missouri, he filed a lawsuit stating that because he lived in a free state, he was a free man. The court dismissed the case, saying that Scott was an enslaved man, not a citizen, and could not stand to sue in federal court. They also ruled the Missouri Compromise of 1820 as unconstitutional, and that slaves were property under the 5th Amendment.
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This amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States. Abraham Lincoln took a very active role in making sure that this amendment was passed as quickly as possible, as he knew that regardless of how much fame his Emancipation Proclamation received, only an amendment could truly outlaw slavery in the United States.
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This is continually cited as one of the most significant pieces of legislature in American history. For one, it outrightly defines citizenship, and it limits States' power by saying that no person can be deprived of 'life, liberty, or property, without due process of law' and gives every citizen equal protection under the law. This amendment becomes the basis for many state incorporation cases, as well as an abundance of civil rights cases.
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This Amendment basically states that your right to vote is not denied by your race. It's the final installment of the rights given immediately to African Americans after the conclusion of the civil war. While the 15th amendment marked the beginning of a long fight of finding true equality between voters of all races, it definitely pushed the civil rights movement in the right direction.
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Plessy, a Black man under law, was asked to test the Separate Car Act, stating that Blacks had to sit in separate cars than Whites. He sat in the 'whites-only' section, and when he refused to vacate the car, he was arrested. His lawyers believed this act directly violated the 13th and 14th Amendments. The court ruled that the law was constitutional, saying it just separated the races, and did not imply inferiority towards Blacks. To them, segregation did not mean unlawful discrimination.
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Women now have the constitutional right to vote. While this really only lifted a barrier for White women, it did mark a large milestone in the fight for women's rights as started in the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. African American women's voting rights were not set in stone for another few decades.
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An unpassed amendment that would guarantee equal legal rights regardless of sex for all American citizens. It was introduced in 1923, but little progress was made until the 1970s when in 1972, the amendment was approved by Congress and sent to the states. Since then, the amendment has not been passed, but the latest state to ratify was Virginia earlier this year. This amendment reminds us presently that the fight for gender equality is still an issue, and that it still holds importance today.
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A white primary was established to ensure that African Americans and other non-whites were unable to vote in primary elections. Texas established a law that set up just that precedent, which was argued in Smith v. Allwirght (the timeline date is based on the decision date). The ruling overturned many others, saying that prohibiting Blacks from voting in the primary was unconstitutional, violating the 14th Amendment. While it did not end all racial discrimination, it ended many white primaries.
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This brought into question the policies of many states where African Americans were denied attendance to certain public schools based on segregation laws. It was argued that the Equal Protection Clause was violated and challenged the 'separate but equal' doctrine. The Court ruled unanimously that these 'separate but equal' facilities were inherently unequal and did violate the 14th Amendment's clause. Education based on race had a hugely detrimental effect on education
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This is defined as the practice of favoring individuals from groups that have previously been discriminated against. JFK signed Executive Order 10925 in hopes of putting affirmative action in place to make racial equality in the workplace more of a reality. This made sure that the government was committed to equal opportunities for all, and this document was later succeded by other executive orders such as 11246 and 1965
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The 24th Amendment is the national abolition of the poll tax. Up until this point, many racist communities used polling taxes to limit the African American/minority vote, and many states used grandfather clauses, claiming you could only vote for free if both your father and grandfather could legally vote. This amendment made it impossible to do at the federal level. This was quickly incorporated into the states in 1966 in Harper v. Virginia State Board.
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Under this act, segregation due to race, religion, or nationality is banned in all places of public accommodation. It barred everything from public discrimination to discrimination in the workplace, and forbade funds from being used for discriminatory program. Additionally, it outlawed unequal voting requirements. While the Civil Rights Act expanded many liberties for millions of Americans, it also paved the way for acts to follow such as the Voting Rights Act, Fair Housing Act, and ADA.
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Signed by Lyndon Johnson, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed many discriminatory voting practices, including literacy tests and poll taxes as voting prerequisites. This act finally enforced the 15th Amendment. Now, states had to pass any new voting procedures through the federal government to make sure they were not discriminatory. The act caused a boom in the number of African American voters and has been readopted and strengthened since.
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After the 15th Amendment was ratified, poll taxes were created in the 1890s to heighten voter suppression. Most of them created a grandfather clause, meaning unless both your father and grandfather were able to vote, you had to pay a tax to vote. Obviously, this outrightly targeted African American voters. In Harper v. Virginia State Board where the Court ruled that poll taxes were unconstitutional through the Equal Protection Clause, saying someone's vote and their wealth have no connection.
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After the death of their son, Sally and Cecil Reed both sought ownership of their son's estate. However, it was immediately granted to Cecil under an Idaho law that stated males should be preferred over females when appointing estate administration. The Court ruled unanimously that this law violated the Equal Protection Clause by preferring one sex over another. This is the first case that truly set the precedent that differential treatment based on sex was prohibited by the 14th Amendment.
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Allan Bakke was denied admission twice from the University of California, even though his test scores and GPA heavily outweighed those of minorities that got into the program via the college's affirmative action system. It went all the way to the Supreme Court where they ruled that setting a racial quota went against the Civil Rights Act and 14th Amendment. However, race was still a permissible issue when considering several different criteria. So,to a point, affirmative action is acceptable.
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This case actually was a major setback for the LGBTQ+ community. After being caught engaging in sexual activity with another man, the state of Georgia charged Michael Hardwick for participating in criminalized sodomy. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, asking if the Constitution gave this right to homosexuals. The court ruled no, stating it was not vital to liberty or an important part of American history, so it was up to the states on whether or not to outlaw these practices.
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This act prohibits discrimination towards people with disabilities and grants them all the same opportunities as other Americans. This could mean anything from job security to the ability to get goods and services. It was modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and is still in place today. The Association is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
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After entering a private home for a weapons based disturbance, police caught Lawrence and another man participating in consensual sex. They were convicted of deviant sexual intercourse under Texas' 'Homosexual Conduct' law. The Supreme Court ruled that this law and the mans' arrest violated the Due Process Clause. As adults, they should be allowed to engage in whatever private conduct they would like to without government intervention. This decision overturned Bowers v. Hardwick.
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Same-sex couples petitioned in states that outlawed/failed to recognize their marriages including Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Michigan. They believed that this violated both the Equal Protection Act and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. A landmark decision for the LGBTQ+ community, the court ruled that the right to marry is a protected right, regardless of the couple's orientation.
