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Civil Rights in the United States
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13th Amendment
-Formally abolishing slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment was passed by the Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865.
-it officially banned slavery in the U.S. -
14th Amendment
-ensured that "all persons born in the United States...excluding Indians not taxed...." were citizens and were to be given "full and equal benefit of all laws."
-It provided rights that white people had to the "colored" races. -
15th Amendment
-declared that "right 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."
-Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century. -
Plessey vs. Ferguson
-by allowing "seperate but equal", the U.S. supreme court let states to maintain segregated facilities for blacks and whites as long as they provided equal service.
-it ensured non-white people to get the same service as the white people's. -
19th Amendment
-The amendment was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote
-It gave women the right to vote, stating "The right 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 sex." -
Executive Order of 1948
-It abolished racial segregation in the armed forces, stating "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale." -
Brown vs. Board of Education
-landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation of "Seperate but equal."
-it allowed kids to go to same school regardless of their races. -
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat
-Parks' act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement and Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr., helping to launch him to national prominence in the civil rights movement.
-Parks' civil disobedience had the effect of sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
-it opposed the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system.
-The campaign lasted from December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person, to December 20, 1956, when a federal ruling, Browder v. Gayle, took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
-ensure that all Americans could exercise their right to vote. By 1957, only about 20% of African Americans were registered to vote.
-President D.D.Eisenhower said: "I believe that the United States must make certain that every citizen who is entitled to vote under the Constitution is given actually that right. I believe also that in sustaining that right we must sustain the power of the Federal judges in whose hands such cases would fall." -
24th Amendment
-it prohibited 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, which appeared in southern states after Reconstruction as a measure to prevent African Americans from voting. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
-it outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation.
-It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
-it outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S
-it prohibited states from imposing any "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." -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
-it provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin.
