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Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri who he resided in Illinois and in the Louisiana Territory, where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After returning to Missouri, Scott filed suit in Missouri court for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man. Scott's master and the courts maintained that no “negro” or descendant of slaves could be a citizen in the sense of Article III of the Constitution.
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The 13th Amendment forever abolished slavery as an institution in all U.S. states and territories. In addition to banning slavery, the amendment outlawed the practice of involuntary servitude and peonage.
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The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former enslaved people—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.”
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The 15th Amendment ensured that states were not denying men the right to vote simply based on their race, such as black codes that limited African-American social and working rights.
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Poll taxes were essentially a voting fee that were put in place to make it difficult for African Americans to vote. Voters had to pay the tax before they could vote.
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Plessy v. Ferguson was significant because it established the constitutionality of racial segregation. As a controlling legal precedent, it prevented constitutional challenges to racial segregation for more than half a century. It basically supported the 'separate but equal' phrase even though it wasn't really in the equal protection clause. -
The white primaries used in the 1920s were a method used by the Southern states to limit the African American involvement in political processes. To achieve this, the Democratic Party implemented a rule that excluded them from party membership. No official state action was taken even though it would have triggered judial review due to the violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
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The 19th Amendment granted suffrage to women and ended the protests that had been ongoing for almost a century.
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A landmark Supreme Court case in which the justices unanimously voted that segregation of black and whites in public schools was unconstitutional
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It's a policy that works to create more or equal opportunities in education and the workplace for minorities by taking into consideration their race, skin color, gender, and/or sex. -
The 24th Amendment abolished the practice of poll taxes in elections for federal officials. Thus making it easier for African Americans to vote
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This act banned discrimination on the base of another person's race, color, religion, or origin. This act also helped in limiting discrimination of these characteristics in the hiring, promoting, or firing processes in a workplace.
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The Voting Rights Act forbade racial discrimination in the voting process and abolished many practices in the South like literacy tests that prevented African Americans from voting.
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A Supreme Court case that ruled to overturn an Idaho law that essentially required a male to be the administrator of an estate even though the woman was also equally eligible.
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This amendment granted equal rights for American citizens especially in terms of sex. The amendment helped end distinctions made between men and women in legal matters like divorce, employment, and property among other things.
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This case ruled that it's unconstitutional for universities to use racial quotas but they can admit students through affirmative action in some cases and that would be constitutional
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This case ruled that acts of sodomy aren't protected by the constitution.
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This act was put in place to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in many aspects such as employment, transportation, and several other government programs. -
This court case ruled that prohibiting homosexual activities between consenting adults is unconstitutional. It essentially stated that consenting adults had the personal autonomy to have relations.
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According to the due process clause and the 14th amendment, marriage is a fundamental right that is protected and it applies to same-sex couples just as much as opposite-sex couples
