Civil Rights Unit Timeline

Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Mar 6, 1857

Scott (slave) sued Sanford (slaver), arguing he and his family were free as they had lived in a territory where slavery was banned. The S.C. ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not citizens and couldn't sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in U.S. territories. Finally, the Court declared that the rights of slave owners were constitutionally protected by the 5th Amendment because slaves were categorized as property.

Reconstruction Era

Period: 1865 to 1877

Reconstruction, the era following the Civil War, was the effort to reintegrate South and 4 million newly-freed people into the USA. During Radical Reconstruction (R.R.), newly enfranchised Black people gained a voice in government, and the Reconstruction Amendments were passed. In less than a decade, however, reactionary forces would undo the changes wrought by R.R. in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South. When Union troops left the south, Jim Crow was quickly installed.

13th Amendment [Reconstruction Amendment - Freed The Slaves]

Jan 31, 1865

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime. The Amendment is unique in the Constitution as it bars every person from holding slaves or engaging in other forms of involuntary servitude, whereas most constitutional provisions only constrain or regulate the government. Section 2 gave the U.S. Congress the power “to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The Amendment was passed following the American Civil War.

14th Amendment [Reconstruction Amendment - Citizenship]

Jul 9, 1868

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, 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.” One of three amendments passed during the Reconstruction era to abolish slavery and establish civil and legal rights for Black Americans, it would become the basis for many landmark Supreme Court decisions over the years.

15th Amendment [Reconstruction Amendment - Voting Rights]

Feb 3, 1870

The 15th Amendment, which sought to protect the voting rights of African American men after the Civil War, was adopted into the U.S. Constitution in 1870. But Jim Crow installed discriminatory practices were used to prevent Black citizens from exercising their right to vote, especially in the South. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that legal barriers were outlawed at the state and local levels if they denied African Americans their right to vote under the 15th Amendment.

Jim Crow Era

Period: 1877 to 1964

The south, after northern troops left, passed laws requiring the separation of whites from blacks in public life. It was codified on local and state levels and most famously with the “separate but equal” decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Things like literacy tests, restricted real estate covenant. the KKK. vagrancy laws, and the separate but equal doctrine made it near impossible for African-Americans to live equally to whites.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

May 18, 1896

The Court ruled that Louisiana's segregation law did not violate the Equal Rights guaranteed in the 14th Amendment so long as separate accommodations for whites and blacks were equal. It was determined that segregation does not denote the African-American race as inferior, but it is the African-Americans that choose to see it that way. The Plessy ruling rendered racial segregation legal throughout the United States. It established the Seperate but Equal Docterine.

19th Amendment [Women's Suffrage]

Aug 26, 1920

Nineteenth Amendment, amendment (1920) to the Constitution of the United States that officially extended the right to vote to women.
"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 sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Civil Rights Movement

Period: 1954 to 1968

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.

Brown v. Board (1954)

May 17, 1954

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, which prohibits the states from denying equal protection of the laws to any person within their jurisdictions. The decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and black students were inherently unequal. It thus rejected as inapplicable to public education the “separate but equal” doctrine, advanced by the S.C. in Plessy v. Ferguson.

24th Amendment

Jan 23, 1964

The 24th Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. The former CSA adopted poll taxes in laws of the late 19th century as a measure to prevent African Americans and often poor whites from voting. It was not until 1966 that the S.C. ruled that poll taxes for any level of elections were unconstitutional. It said these violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Jul 2, 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. It survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress and was then signed into law by LBJ. In subsequent years, Congress expanded the act and passed additional civil rights legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Jun 8, 1965

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the 14 and 15th Amendments,the act contains numerous provisions that regulate elections, such as Sections 2 (No discriminatory laws), 4(b)(bans certain discriminatory laws), and 5(approval for new voting laws in certain (southern) states).

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

2013

SC v H was a landmark decision of the S.C. regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Sections 5 & 4(b). The Court ruled that S. 4(b) was unconstitutional because the coverage formula was based on old data, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden. The Court did not strike down S. 5, but without S. 4(b), no jurisdiction will be subject to S. 5 preclearance unless Congress enacts a new coverage formula.