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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford ruled that either enslaved or free African Americans would not be considered citizens in America. This sets up the treatment that African Americans would ace later on in America. -
Black Codes
In 1865 after the civil war ended several states passed laws that were called “Black Codes” which really limited the rights of African Americans. These laws prohibited their right to vote, serve jury duty, and work certain jobs. -
The 14th Amendment
On July 9th, 1868, the 14th Amendment granted citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States,”.. This even included former slaves, overruling the previous ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford -
Jim Crow
Around the late 1880s Jim Crow laws began to spread around the South. This sparked a new supreme court case Plessy v. Ferguson, and they ruled that segregated facilities were legal as long as they were equal for both white and black people. -
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
In 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. They were on a mission to fight against racial injustice and eventually tried the Brown V Board of Education case. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In 1951 a man named Oliver Brown filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas because his daughter Linda Brown was denied entry into an all-white school which he believed violated the 14th Amendment. The head of the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, worked closely with this case and the plaintiff. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
Brown V. Board of Education is important to American history because it ruled that segregation was unconstitutional in public schools.