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Dred Scott V. Sandford
This was an important supreme court decision that concerned a slave who had been taken through free states and territories. He sued for his freedom. However, it was decided that since he was African American, the law did not apply to him and he could not even press charges because he was considered subhuman. The decision catalyzed the impending civil war. -
13th Amendment
This amendment to the united states constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. This was the first of many reconstruction amendments passed after the civil war in an attempt by the republican party and President Lincoln to establish the end of slavery of African Americans. This amendment also ended the question of slavery in the territories and border states that were loyal to the union, whereas before they were allowed to continue slavery, now they were forced to end it. -
14th Amendment
This amendment to the constitution was passed after the 13th amendment during the reconstruction era of the United States after the civil war. Seciton one adresses the fact that all people born/naturalized in the united states have the right to equal protection under the law regardless of race. Section 3 discusses the mandate that no politician who was in the confederacy could hold office. -
15th Amendment
Neither federal nor state governments may deny any citizen the right to vote pasted on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This barred some of the more racist southern states from denying free African-Americans the right to vote through gerrymandering and poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. It is the third of the reconstruction amendments to the United States constitution. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The state of Louisiana had passed a law requiring seperate accommodations for blacks and whites for railway cars. Plessy was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act, so he appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that he had been denied equal protection and deprived of liberty without due proccess of law. The Surpeme Court disagreed and declared that separate but equal facilities were constitutional. This decision is a landmark case because it permitted legal segregation. -
Nineteenth Amendment
Granted suffrage to womem. (Woo!) This was after the first wave of feminism. It sparked a later wave of feminism which prohibited job discrimination based on sex, sexual harrassment, etc. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Several black students sought admission to a public school which supported segregation based on race. The Supreme Court decided that the previous ruling on "seperate but equal" public schools in Plessy v. Ferguson violated the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This is a landmark case because it began the end of legal segregation. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a policy designed to give special attentino to or compsensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group and is also known as employment equality. It was first used in an Executive Order of John F. Kennedy as a way to prevent racial discrimination in the work place. -
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Poll Taxes
These taxes were used during the reconstruction era to bar free African Americans from voting in southern elections and therefore restricting their ability to participate in a government that was supposed to represent them. Poll taxes were often times to steep for African American farmers who often owed debts to former plantation owners who rented land to them. They were ended by the 24th amendment. -
White Primaries
White Primaries were another method of keeping Free African Americans from voting in southern states. It allowed African Americans and citizens of other races to vote only after primaries had taken place and white candidates had already been selected, making the right to vote virtually useless for many. These were ended along with similar practices by the reconstruction amendments and the 24th amendment. -
24th amendment
This amendment to the united states constitution outlaws the use of specific things such as poll taxes to bar a citizen from participating in voting in federal elections. It wasn't until Harper V Virginia Board of Elections that this amendment was enforced on state levels as well. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act ended all segregation of public places including workplaces, public transit, schools, hotels, etc under the premise of interstate commerce. Congress claimed that because grocery stores and other public businesses engaged in interstate commerce, and congress was allowed to regulate nearly all commerical activity, that segregation could be banned in these places by the federal government. It was signed into law by Lyndon B Johnson. The act also touched on the subject of women's rights. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This amendment found any law "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color". This amendment is a reinstatement of the 15th amednment signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson following his signing of the Civil Rights Act. -
Reed v. Reed
Ms. Reed, who's son was recently deceased, was not given equal claims the the estate of her son. She argued that the statute preferring males over females when admistering estate violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The Supreme Court agreed that classifications based soley on gender do indeed violate the constitution. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Bakke, a white student, sued the university for denying him admission, claiming that they violated the equal protection clause of the 14 amendment. The Supreme Court determeined that the Univeristy of California's admission policy was constitutional because, although race may be a factor in determining admissions, it was notthe determining factor. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA was created in order to grant equal rights for women. Middle class, republican women supported this act more than any other demographic.Women demanded full political, social, and economic equality. In 1972, the act passed both houses of Congress, but failed to receive the required number of ratifications from the state legislature by the deadline in 1982 and was therefor not adopted. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
A man was charged for engaging in sexual activity with another man in the privacy of the bedroom in his home. The Supreme Court ruled that this act is not protected by the right to privacy because sodomy, the act of sodonomy was a criminal offense of common law. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act prohibits discrimination against any individual with a disability in any public facility. This was an unfunded mandate that required states to have physical accomodations for any disabled person in all pulic buildings, and it granted full and equal employment for handicapped people. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Police were dispatched to Lawrence's house due to a reported weapon's disturbance. When they arrived, they found Lawrence and another man engaging in sexual activity. The two men were arrested, charged, and convicted. So they appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the state of Texas violated their right of equal protection. The Supreme Court then ruled that it violates the due proccess clause of the 14th amendment. -
Fisher v. University of Texas
FISHER v. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Abigail Fisher, a white Texan girl, was denied admission to the University of Texas. She argured that her credintials exceeded those of other accepted students who were of a minority and claimed that the university violatedthe 14th amendment right to equal protection. The court upheld the legality of the universit'ys policy for admissions.
