-
Dred Scott resided in the area of land, in which slavery was made illegal by the Missouri Compromise. He filed suit for his freedom since he lived in an area in which slaver was illegal. The court ruled that Scott wasn't a citizen of the United States because his ancestors were shipped to America as slaves, and therefore he couldn't bring the case to the court. Furthermore, the court ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
The thirteenth amendment essentially states that slavery is not allowed in America, and it gives congress the authority to enforce this rule. -
This amendment gave freed slaves equal rights and citizenship after the Civil War. -
This describes how in many southern states, after reconstruction, the use of racial discrimination in voting (primarily Jim Crow laws) made it so that only white people were allowed to vote in the elections. -
Said that the right to vote cannot be denied or abridged to anybody on the basis of race. -
This was a tax on voting that was used in order to discriminate against African American voters. These began being used in the 1890s, and were later outlawed by the 24th Amendment in 1964. -
Plessy sat in a whites-only railroad car, refused to move, and was arrested. The case made it to the supreme court, and the court held that the state law of separate railroad cars on the basis of race was unconstitutional, but was constitutional if the accommodations were separate but equal. -
This was the amendment to the Constitution that allowed voting rights to be allowed to all sexes, which meant that it was through this amendment that women gained the right to vote in America. -
Supreme Court ruled that segregating schools on the basis of race violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, and is therefore unconstitutional. -
This describes the policy or practice of favoring groups that have been discriminated against in the past. There is a large history of this in the United States. -
Essentially outlawed voting fees; it became unconstitutional for people to be required to pay a tax in order to be able to vote. The congress also has the authority to enforce this amendment. -
This outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, on national origin. -
This was largely in response to Jim Crow laws, and it prohibits discriminatory voting practices on the basis of race; things like literacy tests were no longer allowed as a means to decrease the number of people of color from voting. -
The Idaho Probate Code, which favored men over women when deciding administrators of estates, was deemed unconstitutional via the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. -
This is a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would end all distinction between the sexes in legal matters. It was passed by the senate in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification, but only 35 of the 38 states needed for ratification approved of the equal rights amendment. -
The court held that any racial quota system in schools violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but that it was permissible to use race as one of several admissions criteria in colleges. -
A man was found guilty of sodomy, and the case made it to the supreme court. The court ruled that sodomy was not protected under the constitution, and that states can make laws against it. -
This is a law that prevents discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of of public life, such as schools, jobs, etc. Signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. -
This requires states to permit people to vote at the same time that they apply for their drivers license. -
Two gay men were caught in the act of having sex in Texas, where gay sex was illegal. The court ruled that the law that made this illegal violated the due process clause of the constitution. -
Set the precedent that gay marriage is protected under the constitution, and that these marriages are to be recognized by all states, even if performed in a different state.