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Dred Scott v. Sandford
This was a fight for freedom by the African American man named Dred Scott. Scott was arguing that since he was free in the state of Illinois that he should be free in the state of Missouri. The majority in the Supreme Court found that whether enslaved or free, he could not be an American citizen and did not have the standing to sue the federal court. The decision gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement and was a major stepping stone for the Civil War. -
13th Amendment
This amendment was added during the Reconstruction period. It came to the end of the argument about whether slavery was legal in the United States. It was necessary because the Emancipation Proclamation that was issued by President Abraham Lincoln did not end slavery entirely. The 13th Amendment forever abolished slavery forever and outlawed the practice of involuntary servitude and peonage. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868 and granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. It ensured that even former enslaved people had "equal protection of the laws". It also authorized the federal government to punish states not abiding by these laws. -
15th Amendment
The right for citizens of the United States to vote can not be denied or abridged by the United States by any state on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment's purpose was to protect the voting rights of African American men after the Civil War. Many discriminatory practices were used in order to prevent African Americans from voting, but this amendment changed that. -
White Primaries
These were primary elections held in the south of the United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Meaning that African American voters had no say in choosing representatives. It was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The decision upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. Homer Plessy challenged the Separate Car Act, which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. It was argued that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendment. In the decision the court held hat the state law was constitutional. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, it legally guarantees American women the right to vote. No longer denying women the right the vote because of their sex was a major stepping stone and a victory for women. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This case is relating to the segregation of public schools based on race. African Americans were denied admittance to certain public schools based on laws allowing public education to be segregated by race. The plaintiffs were denied relief in the lower courts based on Plessy v. Ferguson saying it was legal as long as it was equal. In the decision, it was decided that education facilities for racial minorities are inherently unequal and violated the 14th Amendment. -
Poll Tax
A tax of a fixed amount per person is levied on adults to vote and is often linked to the right to vote. It was used as a strategy to turn African Americans away from voting. The tax emerged in some states of the United States in the late nineteenth century as part of the Jim Crow laws. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is the active effort to improve employment, education, and other opportunities for members of a group that have been subjected to discrimination. It was created to improve opportunities for African Americans while civil rights legislation was dismantling the legal basis for discrimination. -
24th Amendment
Citizens had to pay a poll tax, which was the fee to vote in a national election. The 24th Amendment prohibited any poll tax on elections for federal officials. The poll tax effectively prevented African Americans from having political power so eliminating it was a step towards equal representation. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It essentially was the end of the legal Jim Crow and gave African Americans equal access to restaurants, transportation, and other public facilities. The act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson and it outlawed the discriminatory voting practices in many southern states after the Civil War. It eliminated the literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting which was aimed at African Americans since many of them were not taught how to read. It provided federal oversight of state voting and increased the percentage of African American voters. -
Reed v. Reed
This is an important case for feminism because it recognized sex discrimination as a violation of the Constitution. Idaho Probate Code specified that "males must be preferred to females" in appointing estates. After the death of their adopted son both, Sally and Cecil Reed sought to be named the administrator of their son's estate. In a unanimous decision the Court helped that the law dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional. -
Equal Rights Amendment
In the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) it states "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex". Was drafted by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman in 1923 and than was approved by Congress in 1972. It was strongly opposed by the American Federation of Labor and other labor unions which feared the amendment would invalidate protective labor legislation for women. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke applied twice to medical school and was denied both times, the school reserved 16 spots for the minorities. Bakke's qualifications exceeded those of any minority students admitted and in the two years Bakke's applications were rejected, he believes he was excluded based solely on his race. There was no single majority opinion, 4 justices believed it violated the Civils Rights Act and the others argued that the use of race as a criterion in admissions was permissible. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Hardwick was observed by a Georgia police officer while engaging in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy with another adult in the bedroom of his home. After being charged with violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy, Hardwick challenged the statute's constitutionality. The Court said that there was no constitutional protection for the acts of sodomy and states could outlaw those practices, the decision was overruled in Lawrence v. Texas. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act provides civil rights and protections to individuals with disabilities in the areas of employment, state, and local government services, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications. Citizens who qualify are those with physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. -
Motor Voter Act
The act is a bill passed by Congress to make it easier for Americans to register to vote The law requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when applies for a driver's license, and at state offices that serve disabled or poor. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Responding to a weapons disturbance in a private residence Houston police entered Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man engaging in a consensual sexual act. They were arrested for sexual intercourse that was forbidden in Texas. The Court held that Texas statute making it a crime for two people of the same sex violates the Due Process Clause. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Groups of same sex couples sued their relevant agencies to challenge the constitutionality of those states bans on same sex marriage. They argued that the states statutes violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court held that the Due Process Clause guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects and that analysis applies to the same-sex couples.
