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13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment (December 6th 1865) was a landmark event in United states history because it is the amendment that abolished slavery except for when used for punishment purposes for criminals. The amendment was passed following the civil war and was the first of the three reconstruction amendments.The amendment also enables Congress to pass laws against modern forms of slavery such as sex trafficking. -
14th amendment
The 14th amendment was introduced to the United States on July 9,1868. this amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. It was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. -
15th Amendment
The fifteenth amendment (February 3, 1870) was another landmark event in our nations history that finally gave the right for African Americans to vote. The problem was that through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, southern states were able to avoid allowing African Americans to vote. The full magnitude of this amendment would not be realized until almost a century later when the southern states finally allowed African Americans to vote fairly. -
Poll taxes
Taxes were imposed to voters. These taxes caused a lot of African americans to be unable to vote as well as poor white men. These taxes were basically a buy in to be able to vote. -
Literacy Tests
the context of american political history from the 1890s to the 1960s, refers to state government practices of administration tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. These test where intended for the african americans because they did’nt want them to vote. -
Jim Crow
Jim Crow was not an actual person (1890-1965). The Jim Crow laws however were the laws that stated that blacks and whites will be kept “separate but equal”. The problem with these laws were that they actually kept blacks and whites separate but not equal. The whites were given new schools and nice things while the blacks were getting basically the hand-me-downs from the whites, this is obviously not ok. -
Plessy V. Ferguson
Plessy V. Ferguson was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of Separate but Equal. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment (August 18th 1920) was passed in order to ensure that no citizen would be denied the right to vote based off of their gender. The amendment was a huge victory for women's suffrage activists. The Bill also was used to enhance the 14th amendment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in 1923, it was introduced to congress for the first time. The ERA was designed to guarantee equal rights for women. The Equal Rights Amendment was written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. -
Sweatt V. Painter
Sweatt V. Painter happened when a black student was denied admission into a texan law school, they sent him to the separate black school which was supposed to be equal to the white school. The white school was actually much better than the black school so the supreme court deemed it unconstitutional. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court declared state laws establishing separate schools for whites and blacks would be unconstitutional. this decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896. -
Montgomery bus boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott was a seminal event in the U.S. Civil rights movement. it was a protest campaign against the policy of segregation on public transit systems of Montgomery, Alabama. the campaign lasted from December 1, 1955 to when rosa parks, an african american women, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. it ended on December 20,1956. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a policy that helps out demographics. It ensures that there is a place for minorities in companies. It put a halt on “Color Blind” companies. -
24th amendment
The 24th amendment was established on January 23, 1964. Citizens in some states had to pay fees to vote called poll tax. The 24th amendment was later ratified prohibiting any poll tax in the elections for the federal officials. -
Civil Rights act of 1964
A federal law that authorized federal action against segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment. This bill was called for by President John F. Kennedy in his civil rights speech. he asked legislation that they would give all americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public; hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon death of MLK
This Speech on April 4th 1968, is considered to be one of the greatest public addresses in the modern era. Robert Kennedy went into the heart of the Indianapolis ghetto and instead of giving a pumped up rally that the people expected, he talked about the importance of peace. He also talked about and recognized the important achievements that King had made throughout his life. -
Reed V. Reed
This case was the outcome of a son dying his parents trying to get his inheritance. The state of Idaho said that it would go to the father because "males must be preferred to females in appointing administrators of estates.” The mothers lawyer argues that this was against the 14th amendment. This case deemed Idaho unconstitutional by the supreme court for discriminating the mother based on gender. -
Regents of the university of California V. Bakke
This was an important case because it upheld affirmative action, a law that assured companies and public institutions would integrate. Allen Bakke was denied into a califorinion medical school due to his age. This was deemed unconstitutional by the supreme court because they considered it age discrimination. -
Korematsu V.United States
Korematsu V.United States was a case regarding order 9066. Order 9066 allowed our government to take people of japanese decent to internment camps. The court decided with the government. They thought it was constitutional. -
Voting Rights act of 1965
This piece of legislation passed in 1965 (August 6th) ensures voters that they would not be discriminated when voting. The law was designed to enhance and enforce the 14th and 15th amendment. The law was passed by L. B. J. at the height of the civil rights movement. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
The United States Supreme Court decision, overturned in 2003, that upheld in a 5-4 ruling, the constitutionality of a georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults who are homosexual. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This law prohibits the act of discriminating a disabled individual when voting. The bill was supported by Tom Harkin who was a huge activist for people with disabilities. He did part of his address for this bill in sign language. -
Lawrence V. Texas
Land mark case (2003) that legalized sexual activity nationally. They also overturned their decision in the case Bowers V. Hardwick.The court decided that to ban it would be unconstitutional according to the fourteenth amendment. -
Fisher V. Texas
Fisher V. Texas was a landmark case in which the district court upheld the university of texas admission policy. It stated that race should be “narrowly tailored” when making admission decisions. The University won this case. -
Indiana gay rights
In October of 2014 indiana legalized gay marriage and immediatly began handing out marriage licenses. The favor was overturned. The licences are not currently recognized.
