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13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment states "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," abolishing slavery in the United States. It was one of the 3 amendments that were passed during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War that gave former slaves some of the freedoms and rights they deserve. -
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Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws were a form of legal segregation by the states. They were part of de jure segregation. Even though African Americans were viewed as ciizens, they did not share the same treatment and freedom as the whites. Jim Crow laws allowed for seperate restrooms, drinking fountains, stores, restaurants, schools, buses and more. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was also part of the Reconstruction Amendments. It guarenteed that all persons born or naturalized in the United States could become citizens and they would be equally protected by the laws. This was significant because prior to this, slaves and African Americans were viewd as property. Thie allowed them to be viewed as citizens with equal rights and protections. -
15th Amendment
The third Amendment of the Reconstruction period, the 15th Amendment, states "Theright of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This allowed all African American men to vote. However, this was not granted right away due to poll taxes and literary tests that were put in place for voters. -
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Literacy Tests
Literacy tests were another way of making sure African Americans could not vote. Because they had been in slavery for the majority of their lives, most of them had never learned to read. If they could not pass the literacy test, they could not vote. Without knowing how to read, there was no way they could pass. This was also an effective way to keep African Americans from voting. -
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Poll Taxes
When African American males gained the right to vote with the 15th amendment, poll taxes were put into place to make sure that they could not vote. Each voter had to pay a tax in order to be registered to vote. If they could not pay, they could not vote. Most African Americans were very poor due to the fact they had just been set free from slavery and owned little to nothing. Therefore, pole taxes were very effective in keeping African Americans from voting. -
Plessy v. Fergunson
The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling indicated that the federal government would officially tolerate the "separate but equal" doctrine. It was eventually used to justify segregating all public facilities, including railroad cars, restaurants, hospitals, and schools. -
19th Amendment
This amendment finally gave all American women the right to vote. This right was fought for decades by women all over the country. Because of this amendment, women began to be viewed slightly more equally in society. -
Korematsu v. United States
Fred Korematsu refused to obey the wartime order to leave his home and report to a relocation camp for Japanese Americans. He was arrested and convicted. After losing in the Court of Appeals, he appealed to the United States Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the deportation order. The Supreme Court upheld the order excluding persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast war zone during World War II. -
Sweatt v. Painter
In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. The Court found that the "law school for Negroes," which was to have opened in 1947, would have been grossly unequal to the University of Texas Law School. The Court argued that the separate school would be inferior in a number of areas, including faculty, course variety, library facilities, legal writing opportunities, and overall prestige. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was filed against the Topeka, Kansas school board by representative-plaintiff Oliver Brown, parent of one of the children denied access to Topeka's white schools. Brown claimed that Topeka's racial segregation violated the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause because the city's black and white schools were not equal to each other and never could be. The supreme court agreed with this, and said that these schools were unconstitutional. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycot was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks and lasted for 13 months. The boycotts were a series of organized groups of blacks and whites riding public buses into the Deep South. They were testing their freedom. The Freedom Riders were greeted with violence and protests at the different bus stations. At the end of the whole thing, the federal government began to get involved by sending in the National Guard and eventually ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional. -
24th Amendment
Although the 15th Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote, they were unable to vote until nearly a century later. The 24th Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from placing any kind of tax on federal elections. Before this amendment, many people, including whites, were too poor to vote. With this amendment, both poor and rich could vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This finally ended legal segregation and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended racial segrgation in public schools, workplaces and public facilities. Although the bill was called for John F. Kennedy, it was signed and put into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. This finally granted African Americans, and others, the rights they had been fighting for. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Even though the 15th Amendment prohibited the states from denying any male the right to vote based on race, the states found new ways to limit their voting. They provided literacy tests, knowing most African Americans could not read, therefore they could not vote. The Voting Rights Act banned the use of literacy tests and provided a federal person to oversee areas where less than 50 percent of the nonwhite population had not registered to vote. -
Robert Kennedy Speech
Kennedy was the Senator of New York when he gave the speech. He was headed to Indianapolis to give a campaign speech. When he heard of the assassination and was advised against speaking to the crowd, he spoke anyways, informing the crowd of the death. He spoke of the hope he has for the country and the compassion and love they should be filled with instead of all the hatred and violence they have towards each other. This speech is said to be one of the greatest speeches given. -
Reed v. Reed
In Reed v. Reed, the Court held that an Idaho law's unequal treatment of men and women based on sex was a violation of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. The Reed v. Reed opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote that "the Idaho Code cannot stand in the face of the 14th Amendment's command that no State deny the equal protection of the laws to any person within its jursdiction. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal RIghts Amendment was wirtten by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman to guarantee equal rights to women. It was introduced to Congress for the first time in 1972. It was passed by both houses of Congress and went to the state legislatures for ratification. The amendment only received 35 of the 38 needed states for ratification. A few different ratification deadlines were set, but the amendment was never ratified. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke filed a law suit after learning that minority candidates with lower qualifications had been admitted to medical school under a program that reserved spaces for “disadvantaged” applicants. The California Supreme Court ordered the school, the State-run University of California, to admit Bakke. The university then appealed to the United States Supreme Court. There was a split decision. The legal impact of Bakke was reduced by the disagreement among the justices. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual sodomy. While the "right to privacy" protects intimate aspects of marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, and child rearing from state interference, it does not protect gay sodomy because "no connection between family, marriage, or procreation on the one hand and homosexual activity on the other has been demonstrated. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action policies are those in which an institution or organization actively engages in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups in American society. Affirmative action policies often focus on employment and education. Affirmative action is an outcome of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education and employment. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. The Court held that the Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause. -
Fisher v. Texas
Abigail Fisher graduated from Austin High School in 2008 and was rejected from UT. Fisher is white, and says she was rejected from UT because of her race. the 7-1 decision by the Supreme Court shows the court thinks UT Austin needs to reconsider its policies regarding race based admissions. -
Indiana Gay Rights
Same-sex couples hoping to get married in Indiana will have to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court addresses the question of whether gay marriage bans are constitutional.The appeals court's Sept. 4 ruling that found Indiana and Wisconsin's gay marriage bans to be unconstitutional. However, the laws still remain the same.
