-
Dred Scott lived as a slave in Missouri where he belonged to John Emerson. John moved to Illinois and took Scott. At this time Illinois was a free state. When John wanted to go back to Missouri after many years, Scott refused he claimed once they were in a free state he was no longer a slave and had no ties to John anymore. Scott then sued the Emerson Estate for unlawfully detaining him. The verdict of the SC came out that slaves were not considered full citizens ruling in Emerson's favor. -
The 13th Amendment abolished Slavery and involuntary servitude, except for punishment of a crime. Ratified in 1865 by 27 out of the 36 States. Came into motion on Dec. 18th, 1865. -
The 14th Amendment "Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including formerly enslaved people—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” Ratified in 1868. -
The 15th Amendment means the federal government can not take away a citizen's right to vote based on "race, color, or previous servitude." Ratified on Feb. 3rd, 1870. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson was the "Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people." -
White Primaries was "a way of limiting the ability of African Americans to play a part in the political process. The white primary was an effective device because of the virtual one-party political system in the South that existed until the late 1960s. " -
The 19th Amendment "prohibits the United States and the states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to a vote." -
Brown was fighting for desegregation in public schools, separate but equal is not equal at all.Racial segregation was deemed unconstitutional. -
"Affirmative action refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to increase the representation of particular groups based on their gender, race, sexuality, creed, or nationality in areas in which they are underrepresented such as education and employment. " -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 "ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. " -
Poll Taxes were voting fees. " Eligible voters were required to pay their poll tax before they could cast a ballot." Began in the 1890s to keep African Americans from voting in southern states. In 1964 the Tenty-forth Amendment prohibited the use of poll taxes in federal elections. "Five states enforced payment of poll taxes for state elections until 1966 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional." -
The 23rd Amendment "prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax." Ratified on Jan. 23rd, 1964. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited racial discrimination in voting. "Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act sought to secure the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South." -
Reed vs. Reed was a "ruling that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. " -
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to "guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. To have legal distinction between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and other matters." -
Regents vs. Bakke was a court case "declaring that race could be one of several determining factors in college admission policies but rejected the use of racial quotas." -
Bowers vs. Hardwick was the court case of the "5–4 ruling, on the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults, in this case with respect to homosexual sodomy, though the law did not differentiate between homosexual sodomy and heterosexual sodomy. " -
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a "civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. " -
Lawrence vs. Texas "the court ruled that U.S. laws prohibiting private homosexual activity, sodomy, and oral sex between consenting adults are unconstitutional." -
Obergefell vs. Hodges is the court case that said "the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. "