-
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri but resided in Illinois and the Louisiana Territory, which forbade slavery. Scott claimed he was a free man because he was a resident of free territories. The Supreme Court disagreed because black people whose ancestors were brought to America for the purpose of slavery couldn't be American citizens. This case was significant because it ruled that the Constitution did not allow some African Americans to become citizens and have the same rights as anyone else. -
The Thirteenth Amendment stated that slavery and involuntary servitude were illegal, except when it is punishment for a crime that one has been convicted of. This amendment allowed millions are slaves to be freed and prevented the practice of people being seen as property. It is important to mention the exception that slavery and involuntary servitude are still allowed in prisons and have been used to exploit incarcerated individuals for over 100 years. -
The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to those born or naturalized in the United States and provided people with equal protection under the law. This amendment was made to ensure that states would not take away people’s rights and made it so everyone was able to enjoy rights guaranteed in the constitution. This is significant because it played a huge role in some Supreme Court cases such as Loving v. Virginia, Obergefall v. Hodges, and Brown v. Board of Education. -
The Fifteenth Amendment gave African American men the right to vote, even if they used to be a slave. Shortly after this amendment, African American men started to vote and even run for office, allowing for more diversity within the government. Today, there is still an increasing number of Black politicians running and occupying government positions, as well as being encouraged to go out and vote. -
During Jim Crow, many anti-black laws were passed and made African Americans second-class citizens. Even after the passing of the reconstruction amendments that expanded rights and aimed to prevent discrimination, southern states did everything they could to restrict black people’s liberty. The Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson, also ruled that segregation was allowed as long as everything was equal, which created leeway for discrimination. Some of these racist ideals carried into today. -
Louisiana made the Separate Car Act. Homer Plessy found this act unconstitutional and sat in the “whites only” car of the train. He argued that the law violated the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments, but the Supreme Court decided segregation does not equal unfair discrimination as long as everything was equal. The Plessy v. Ferguson decision allowed states to enact discriminatory laws that subjected African Americans to inferior facilities and in turn made the feel inferior. -
The Nineteenth Amendment allowed women to vote. This decision could have potentially doubled the number of people voting in the United States and led to many different politicians being elected. Women, however, were not able to vote until the later 20th century because of discriminatory voting laws aimed at women. Without the Nineteenth Amendment, women today would not be in office or able to vote for the people who hold their beliefs. -
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first drafted by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman in 1923. It aimed to enforce gender equality. The amendment passed congress and 38 states have now ratified the ERA, and there is potential for it to be the 28th Amendment. The ERA solidifies Women’s rights in America and prevents State governments from making discriminatory laws. -
The decision of Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregation of schools was against the fourteenth amendment and ended the separate but equal precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson. This aimed to assure people would not get more education solely based on race, but some southern states refused to comply with this ruling at first. Brown v. Board of Education overthrowing the separate but equal doctrine fueled the grounds for many laws and other court cases that aimed to further equality. -
Affirmative action first started when Kennedy signed an executive order in 1961, which said that contractors will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants and current employees are not treated differently based on race or national origin. Affirmative action means that a disadvantaged group is being favored to mitigate prior discrimination. This allows colleges and employers to consider race and sex as a factor during the application process to help disadvantaged groups succeed. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, sex, and other features that could lead to discrimination. Some clauses prohibited discrimination during the hiring, firing, and promotion processes in the workplace. The act also enforced voting rights and the desegregation of schools. The passing of this act effectively ended the Jim Crow laws. -
Many African Americans still had trouble voting due to literacy tests and poll taxes, even after the fifteenth amendment was passed. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed literacy tests and appointed federal examiners that could register people to vote instead of state examiners. By the end of 1965, 250,000 new black voters were registered and one-third of them were registered by federal examiners. This act was important to lift barriers to black people being able to vote -
Idaho law said that males must be chosen over females for an administrator of an estate. Sally Reed challenged this law based on the Equal Protection Law of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sally Reed. This was the first time the Equal Protection Clause was used to nullify a law that discriminated against women. This acknowledged that women’s rights were protected by the constitution and set a precedent that preferential treatment of sexes was not allowed -
Allan Bakke was rejected twice to a medical school in California because there were a certain amount of spots reserved for minority students. The Supreme Court ruled that race-based programs like the medical school Bakke was applying to, violated the Equal Protection Clause, but race would still be allowed to be considered as one of many things when admitting someone. This limited affirmative action and aimed to make admission processes fair for all races, majority or minority. -
Micheal Hardwick was having anal or oral sex with another man and a Georgia police officer saw them and charged them because anal and oral sex was criminalized in Georgia. The Supreme Court said homosexual sex was not included in the concept of ordered liberty and ruled that the fourteenth amendment does not protect the privacy of consensual homosexual activity. This law today can be seen as discriminatory because the ruling targeted homosexuals and invaded their right to privacy. -
The goal of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is to make it possible for disabled people to participate in society like those without disabilities. It makes sure disabled people have equal opportunities in things including employment, transportation, and public accommodations. If the ADA was never passed, then many disabled people may not be able to go to school, the grocery store, or get a job. -
The Motor Voter Act, more formally the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, enabled voters to register to vote while renewing their driver’s license, offering mail-in application opportunities, and ensuring that people who submit their application before the deadline are registered to vote by the upcoming election. This act made it easier for people to register to vote and have a say in who decides the laws in the United States. -
Houston police entered Lawrence’s apartment because of a reported weapons disturbance and saw him having sex with another man; both men were arrested because there were laws in Texas against same-sex intercourse. The Supreme Court ruled that the laws condemning homosexual acts were unconstitutional by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The benefits the state gets from the laws do not justify invading the personal and private rights of someone, overturning Bowers v. Hardwick -
State agencies in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tenessee refused to recognize same-sex marriages that happened in states that allowed it. The Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license a marriage between same-sex couples and forces them to recognize a legally licensed marriage that happened in another state. This furthered the rights of the LGBTQ+ community by making marriage rights equal between sexualities.