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Articles of Confederation
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Constitutional Convention
Originally organized to revise the Articles of Confederation, but turned into creating an entirely new government structure. -
10th amendment
Granted the states powers not directly implied in The Constitution -
McCulloch vs. Maryland
Ruled that Congress had implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause -
Gibbons vs. Ogden
The Supreme Court held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. -
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
The Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. -
Civil War
4 year war over the precense of slavery within the Northern States -
14th Amendment
Granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Advanced the controversial “separate but equal” doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. -
16th amendment
Established that the income tax is an indirect excise tax. -
Gitlow vs. New York
Ruled that the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of free speech, which states that the federal “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech,” applied to state governments. Selective incorporation is a constitutional doctrine that ensures states cannot enact laws that take away the constitutional rights of American citizens that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights. -
The New Deal
The New Deal was a series of domestic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938 that included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Korematsu vs.United States October 11–12, 1944
A Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. -
Brown vs.Board of Education
Eliminated school segregation in the states -
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
Authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies that were directly related to the federal government as part of the War on Poverty. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Heart of Atlanta Motel vs. United States
Ruled that the U.S. Congress could use the power granted to it by the Constitution's Commerce Clause to force private businesses to abide by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Roe vs. Wade
Legalized abortion nationally on the basis that Americans have an inherent right to privacy that includes the right of a woman to decide whether to have children and to make that decision with her doctor without state interference. -
Election of Ronald Reagan
Marked the beginning of what is called The Reagan Era, and signified a conservative realignment in national politics. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The nation's first comprehensive civil rights law addressing the needs of people with disabilities, prohibiting discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications. -
Planned Parenthood vs. Casey
A case decided by the Supreme Court in which the constitutionality of several Pennsylvania state statutory provisions regarding abortion were challenged. The Court's plurality opinion upheld the constitutional right to have an abortion while altering the standard for analyzing restrictions on that right. -
United States vs. Lopez
Set limits to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. -
104th Congress
Major events included passage of elements of the Contract with America and a budget impasse between Congress and the Clinton Administration that resulted in the Federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996. -
Printz vs. United States
Established the unconstitutionality of certain interim provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. -
United States vs. Morrison
Ruled that parts of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 were unconstitutional because they exceeded congressional power under the Commerce Clause and under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
