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Dred Scott was a slave who lived in Missouri, but was taken to Illinois by his owner. Dred Scott sued his owner, saying that he was taken to Illinois, a free state, so he should be free as well. The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property, and that they were not a citizen. Since Dred Scott was not a citizen, he had no standing to sue, and was still a slave. Also, since slaves were considered property, any law that deprived a slave owner of their property was considered unconstitutional.
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The 13th Amendment prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude. After many years of dispute in America, Lincoln decided to make slavery his number one priority when he got re-elected in 1864. After getting approved my both chambers of Congress, 2/3 of state legislatures eventually ratified the amendment.
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The 14th Amendment gives anyone born in the US automatic citizenship, and gives all citizens equal protection under the laws. This was huge for slaves, as it meant they were considered citizens, and it established civil and legal rights for black Americans.
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The 15th Amendment gives all males of any color or race the right to vote. However, African Americans were still denied the right to vote after this due to many different measures, such as poll taxes and the grandfather clause. Women were not given the right to vote from this amendment.
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Poll taxes were introduced soon after the 15th Amendment was passed. This was a legal way that Southern states could prevent African Americans from voting. Most African Americans were poor at the time, so they could not pay the fee to vote. Poll taxes were outlawed in 1964 from the 24th Amendment.
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Plessy v. Ferguson was an extremely important case that created the idea of "separate but equal". Before this case, Louisiana implemented a law creating separate train cars for blacks and whites. Plessy, an African American, decided to challenge this by sitting in the white train car. He was convicted, and the Supreme Court upheld the decision, saying that "separate but equal" was constitutional, as the black and white facilities were equal. So, they said that segregation was not discrimination.
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White primaries were primary elections held in several Southern states where only white voters could vote. Texas had 3 Supreme Court cases about them. The first two said that white primaries were illegal, as they violated the 14th Amendment. Then, Texas changed their law, allowing for the political parties to decide the rules for the primaries. The last case said white primaries were constitutional because it was administered by the Democratic Party, a private institution, not a state.
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The 19th Amendment was passed by Woodrow Wilson, and gave women the right to vote. After almost a 100 years of outcry from women, and 50 years after African American males were given the right to vote, women finally received suffrage.
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Brown v. Board of Education is a combination of several cases coming from several southern states. These cases came up because African American students weren't allowed access to certain schools. They argued this violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court ruled that segregated education facilities were in fact unequal, violating the Equal Protection Clause. They also ruled that the doctrine of "separate but equal" was inherently unconstitutional, also violating the 14th amendment.
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Affirmative Action is a policy that was created to increase the opportunities given to minorities and other underrepresented members of society. Affirmative Action practices looks into a person's nationality color, race, sex, and religion to increase these opportunities. Affirmative Action has been integrated into many parts of our lives today, such as college applications, outreach campaigns, and targeted recruitment.
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The 24th Amendment removes and prohibits the poll tax many former slave states had implemented They had poll taxes because they didn't want African Americans to vote, as many were too poor to pay this tax.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by Lyndon B. Johnson, a year after JFK was assassinated. It was filibustered for 54 days in the Senate, but was eventually passed. The law prevents discrimination based on someone's color, race, sex, religion, or national origin. This was the biggest Civil Rights law since the Reconstruction era
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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed by Lyndon B. Johnson, after witnessing the horrific Selma to Montgomery March. The law prohibits racial discrimination in voting. One way it does this is by prohibiting the literacy test, which many Southern states did to prevent African Americans from voting. This law drastically increased the number of Africans American voters.
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Reed v. Reed was a case between Cecil and Sally Reed, a separated couple. An Idaho law said that males would have priority over women when it came to naming estates. The Reeds' son died, so the state made Cecil the owner of the estate. Sally took this to court, and the Supreme Court ruled that unequal treatment of men and women was unconstitutional, as it violated the 14th Amendment. This was a huge case, as it was the first case that ruled that the Equal Protection Clause protected women.
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This case came into play when a white man tried to apply to the University of California, Davis. He was rejected twice. He took it to court, saying that he had better qualifications than many of the minorities that were accepted only to meet a racial quota. The court was split, making 6 different opinions. Eventually, the court ruled that the college's use of racial quotas violated the Equal Protection Clause, but the use of affirmative action to accept more minorities was acceptable.
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The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed Amendment created to guarantee equal rights to all citizens of America, both men and women. The Amendment passed through both chambers of Congress, and many states said they would ratify it. However, before being ratified, Phyllis Schlafly gathered supporters and campaigned against the amendment, saying it would cause women to be drafted, it would cause women to lose some rights, and overall disadvantage women. The Amendment was never passed due to this.
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Bowers v. Hardwick came up when a police officers noticed two gay men participating in consensual sodomy in their own house. A law in Georgia criminalized sodomy and Hardwick was arrested. So, the case came before the Supreme Court, and they ruled that the Constitution does not protect homosexual sodomy, and that the states would decide the legality of it. This was a big hit against the gay rights movement.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits the discrimination against people based on disability. This is very similar to the Civil Rights Act, as they both prohibit discrimination based on their respective areas. The ADA is the reason why buildings require wheelchair ramps, why public broadcasts need captions, and why people cannot be fired or not hired due to disabilities.
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Lawrence v. Texas came about when a police officer entered Lawrence's apartment and witnessed him engaging in consensual sexual acts with another man. A Texas law criminalized homosexual sexual activities. So, Lawrence was arrested, and the case made it to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the Texas law violated the Due Process Clause, and the Court reaffirmed the right to privacy. This decision overturned the decision made in Bowers v Hardwick.
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Obergefell v. Hodges came up when several people from several states sued their respective states, as the states banned same-sex marriage or refused to recognize legal same-sex marriage. This went to the Supreme Court, and they ruled that same-sex marriage is guaranteed under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also ruled that denying same-sex marriage would violate the Equal Protection Clause. Due to this case, same-sex marriage is legal.
