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Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Dred Scott decision was a landmark Supreme Court case that not only stated that slaves were property of their owners and therfore could not be freed without due process, but the ruling also deemed slaves unable to use the courts. This ruling overruled the Missouri Compromise. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment had abolished slavery and servitude except for punishment for a duely processed crime. -
Poll taxes
After the ability to vote was extended to all races by the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment, many Southern states enacted poll tax laws as a means of restricting eligible voters -
14th Amendment
Part of the Reconstruction laws; it gave full protection to all citizens under state representation. It is comprised of four clauses: the citizenship clause (declares African-Americans as citizens of the U.S. & gives them all immunities and privileges of citizenship), priviliges and immunities clause (states that no state can abridge the rights of citizens), due process clause (gives full due process and liberty of the law to all citizens), and equal protection clause (no state can deny equal pr -
15th Amendment
Granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that 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 race, color, or previous condition of servitude". This amendment was obscured by later poll taxes and other methods of keeping African Americans from the polls, but this legistlation gave blacks rights at least on paper, a progression from their earlier political sphere of being "chattle." -
White Primaries
A legal device once employed by some Southern states to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote in a meaningfl way. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
In this case that sprang from the constitutionality of having racially segregated not only upheld the constitutionality of Louisiana's Seperate Car Act, but set a national precedent of "seperate but equal" public services until the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" ruling. -
19th Amendment
Guaranteed all American women the right to vote -
Equal Rights Amendment
A proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women; originally written by Alice Paul; introduced to Congress in 1923 -
Brown v. Board of Education
In a lawsuit against a Kansas public school system, the plantiff challenged the "seperate but equal" ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. This unanimous ruling against "seperate but equal" ushered in a new generation of equal rights legistlation and integrated societies across the nation. This unianimous ruling under Marshall was a resounding mandate for southern states that had begrudgingly reentered the Union. -
24th Amendment
Outlawed the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; passage of the Act ended the application of "Jim Crow" laws. This legistlation gave way to a skyrocket of black voting registration as well as African Americans holding office, giving proof of the lack of political force the 15th amendment had provided for previously disenfranchised citizens. -
Affirmative Action
The policy of providing special opportunities for, and favoring members of, a disadvantaged group who suffer discrimination -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Banned racial discrimination in voting practices by the federal government as well as by state and local governments -
Reed v. Reed
In an attempt to decide the administrator of their late son's estate, Mr. Reed was given preference over his wife. Mrs. Reed then filed against this Idaho law, stating that it was against the 14th amendment. This ruling upheld equal rights for women. This set a precedent for utalizing the 14th amendment in the name of women's rights. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This ruling upheld affirmative action as a component of collegiate acceptance, though the Court stated that filling a specific quota of racial diversity. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
"Bowers v. Hardwick" criminalized mutually consented sexual activity between two adult gay men. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities that are like those provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex, national origin, and religion; guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in employment, public accomodations, transportation, etc. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This ruling overturned Bowers v. Hardwick and rendered laws restricting sexual activity between same-sex partners that is legal in every other way. This case was identical in every legal way to Bowers v. Hardwick, yet the ruling was different. This difference is attributed to a change in attitude of the Court and of the nation as a whole. Also, Mr. Gill saw this ruling in Washington D.C. -
Texas v. Fisher
This case remanded the idea of affirmative action and made it more difficult for universities to uphold their affirmative action standard.
