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13th Amendment
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." This abolished slavery in the United States and was approved by Abraham Lincoln. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment says that no US citizen should be denied protection of the US Consitution. No person shall be denied life, liberty, or property. This amendment protected every citizien, including african american and women. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote. It protected people's right to vote no matter what race, color, or previous condidtion of servitude. -
Jim Crow
The basic idea of the Jim Crow Laws were to keep the whites and blacks seperated. The main thing was "seperate, but equal". They lasted for almost 80 years, but then were declared unconsitutional. -
Literacy Tests
In order for poeple to get the right to vote, they had to pass a literacy test. This mainly was harmful to African Americans, due to their lack of education. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson brought out the term "seperate but equal." Plessy got arrested for refusing to get out of a "white" car, despite his slightly darker complexion. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment allows all American women the right to vote. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA was designed to guarantee equal rights for women. -
Korematsu v. United States
During World War II the U.S excluded Japanese citizens from coming too close. Court says it was necessary because we were being protected against espionage. -
Sweatt v. Painter
Sweatt, a black man, applied to the University of Texas Law School. He was denied acceptance because of his color. Therefore, Texas attempted to apply seperate but equal facilities for blacks. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Black children were denied admission into public schools where white children were inferior. Eventually, blacks and whites came to an agreement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13 month protest. The protest examplified segeration between blacks and whites. The Surpreme Court ordered buses to come integrated. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment abolished poll tax. Poll tax was a fee that had to be paid yearly in order for citizens to vote. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 became a law while President Johnson was in charge. It prohibited segeration in public places. The Civil Rights Act also made discrimination in the work place illegal. -
Poll Taxes
After the 15th Amendment was passed and extended the right to vote, poll taxes were created to place some sort of restrition on voting. Poll taxes were payments that had to be paid in order to get the right to vote. These often restricted African Americans because they were jobless and poor. -
Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned racial discrimination. Act allows all to vote, and all votes to be taken into consideration equally. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis
After the assassination of MLK, Robert gave a speech in Indianapolis. "Kennedy spoke of King's dedication to "love and to justice between fellow human beings," adding that "he died in the cause of that effort" (www.npr.org). -
Reed v. Reed
"The Idaho Probate Code specified that "males must be preferred to females" in appointing administrators of estates" (oyez.org). The courts decision was never made. Courts said male and females having different treatment was unconsitiutional. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Bakke was denied the right to attend the University or California due to his race. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, and they ruled against the school. They said the UOC could not discriminate against race and Bakke was accepted. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Actions were made to make everyone equal. They didn't want whites and blacks to be seperated any longer. It favored minorites. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Georgia police found Hardwick participating in sexual festivities with another man, He was arrested, but he challeneged the law of Georgia. Law was deemed unconsititutional. -
Americans with Disabilites Act
The ADA law stated that no person with any sort of disability could be discriminated against. Also says that employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are in need (dealing with a disability). -
Lawrence v. Texas
Police came into Lawrence's apartment because some questioning on weapon disturbance. Lawrence was found participating in sexual activities with another man. They were arrested for that is illegal in Texas. The case was deemed unconsititutional because the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. -
Fisher v. Texas
Fisher was denied acceptance to the University of Texas because of her race. The Supreme court again reviewed the case of Bakke (dealt with same issue) and viewd the consitution. They ended with a 7-1 decision in favor of Fisher. -
Baskin v. Bogan
Three same-sex couples sued the state of Indiana for denying their right to a legal marriage. Judge Young said that denying them of this right was against the 14th amendement. This case went a long way and evenutally had a factor in the legalization change in Indiana.
