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Dredd Scott v Sanford
The nation's top court ruled that living in a free state and territory did not entitle Dred Scott to his freedom because, as an enslaved man, he was not a citizen. The courts decision gave movement to anit slavery and brought the nation closer to the Civil War. -
13th amendment
The 13th amendment abolished slavery and indentured servitude. However you could be punished in this way if you had committed a crime. -
14th amendment
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, was proposed in response to issues related to formerly enslaved Americans following the American Civil War. It addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of race or ethnicity, are entitled to equal protection under the law. -
15th amendment
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was a significant step in the fight for civil rights. It prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The case originated from an incident in 1892 when Homer Plessy, a mixed-race man, boarded a whites-only train car in New Orleans and violated Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890. In Plessy v. Ferguson, they established that segregation is allowed as long as the separation is in equal quality. -
19th amendment
The 19th amendment gave voting rights to women, prohibiting the federal government from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court ruled that states can not make laws establishing racial segregation in schools as it is unconstitutional. It overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine that had been established by Plessy v. Ferguson -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action consists of government-mandated, government-approved, and voluntary private programs granting special consideration to groups considered or classified as historically excluded, specifically racial minorities and women. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
U.S. legislation that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed racial segregation in public accommodations including hotels, restaurants, theaters, and stores, and made employment discrimination illegal. President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill on July 2, 1964. -
24th amendment
The 24th Amendment ended poll taxes, a fee charged to voters to disenfranchise poor and black Americans. Poll taxes were used by Southern states after the Civil War and Reconstruction to maintain white supremacy and segregation. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would invalidate many state and federal laws that discriminate against women; its central underlying principle is that sex should not determine the legal rights of men or women. The main worry with the amendment was that women would lose certain privileges and protections they did not want to give up. -
Title IX
Title IX’s promise that no person experiences sex discrimination in federally funded education. Regulations also require schools to take prompt and effective action when notified of conduct that reasonably may constitute sex discrimination in their education programs or activities. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
A white applicant was denied admission University of California Medical School at Davis despite having higher scores than some minority candidates who were accepted through an affirmative action program. The Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action is constitutional, but it invalidated the use of racial quotas in admissions. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick was a significant U.S. Supreme Court case decided on June 30, 1986. The Court upheld, 5–4, a Georgia state law banning sodomy, which was later overturned by the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas, decriminalizing homosexual sex between consenting adults. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities. The act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability just as other civil rights laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. -
Voter ID laws
U.S. state law where voters are required or requested to present proof of their identities before casting a ballot. The purpose of the laws is to target voter fraud and ensure that it does not happen or effect elections. -
Shelby County v Holder
The ruling of Shelby County v. Holder was a significant decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled by a 5-4 vote that Section 4b of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional because its coverage formula was outdated. Chief Roberts said that the measure in section 4b were no longer in place so it is unconstitutional. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
In this case the Supreme Court ruled in a decision 5-4 that same sex marriage is protected by the 14th amendment's due process clause and that marriage is a fundamental right guaranteed to same sex couples.