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Scott v. Sanford
Court case in which Supreme Court ruled that people of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and couldn’t sue in court. Also ruled that Congress cannot ban slavery in all U.S. territories, and that the rights of slave owners were constitutionally protected by the fifth amendment because slaves were classified as property -
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Reconstruction and Reconstruction Amendments
Reconstruction was the efforts of former slaves to “breathe full meaning into their newly acquired freedom, and to claim their rights as citizens.” These amendments were the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. -
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Jim Crow Era
Era after slavery was abolished, but segregation was still very much an issue. Many laws were passed that made it very difficult for black and white people to live together in harmony. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy attempted a similar action to that of Rosa Parks where he tried to desegregate train cars in the late 1800s. He sued the state of Alabama claiming it violated his 14th amendment rights in 1896, but the Supreme Court ruled that the Alabama State Law was constitutional, so the state could practice segregation on train cars. -
19th Amendment
This amendment established that women had the right to vote. -
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Scottsboro Boys
Trial in which nine black boys were falsely accused of raping two white women. -
George Stinney Case
At 14 years old, George Stinney was given the electric chair as punishment for allegedly killing two white girls. Stinney was convicted of first-degree murder of the two girls in less than 10 minutes by an all-white jury, during a one-day trial. -
Brown v. Board
A landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Included a ban on poll taxes in early 1964 that was being used to target poor African Americans to attempt to get them to not vote. Banned segregation in public spaces and forbade the use of federal funds for any discriminatory program. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Act passed in 1965 to ensure state and local governments do not pass laws or policies that deny American citizens the equal right to vote based on race. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, religion, or national origin -
California v. Bakke
Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. -
Gratz v. Bollinger
Supreme Court ruled that the use of affirmative action in school admission is constitutional if it treats race as one factor among many, its purpose is to achieve a "diverse" class, and it does not substitute for individualized review of applicant -
Meredith v. Jefferson Co Board
Supreme Court found Jefferson County's enrollment plan unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Shelby County v. Holder
Supreme Court ruled that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional