-
13th Amendment Ratified
The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, was passed by congress on January 31,1865 and ratified on December 6th, 1865. In the Emancipation Proclamation, declared by President Lincoln, stated “ all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Along with the 14th and 15th amendment helped expand the civil rights of minorities. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 13th, 1866 and ratified July 9th, 1868. This Amendment helped extend rights that were given by the Bill of Rights to freed slaves. This helped grant citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States.” -
15th Amendment Ratified
The 15th Amendment, passed by congress on February 26th, 1869, and ratified February 3rd, 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. This is the last of what many call the “civil war trio.” Along with the 13th Amendment that set African Americans free, and the 14th Amendment that granted citizenship to them, this brought former slaves closer to real equality. -
Plessy v. Ferguson Decided
Louisiana had enacted the Separate Car Act which separated the cars for blacks and whites. In 1892, Homer Plessy was challenged by the Committee of Citizens, to sit in the “whites only” car of a Louisiana train. After refusing to vacate the whites only car, he was arrested. It was argued that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th amendment. However, the Supreme Court decided that the 14th amendment set equality, and that the “separate treatment” didn’t imply unlawful discrimination. -
United States v. Wong Kim Ark Decided
The Chinese Exclusion Act denied any citizenship to Chinese immigrants. Included with that, no Chinese subject in the U.S. could become naturalized. Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Fransisco ( to Chinese citizens) visited China to visit his parents. When he came back to the US, he was denied entry. The Supreme Court decided that since Wong was born in the U.S., and his parents weren’t employed in any diplomatic position, the 14th amendment granted him citizenship in the U.S. -
19th Amendment Ratified
The 19th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 4th, 1919, and ratified on August 18th, 1920, granted women the right to vote. Beginning in the 19th century, many women wrote, marched, and petitioned for their right to vote and after a long and struggling battle, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification. -
Indian Citizenship Act
On June 2nd, 1924, the Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. They were also given the right to vote, however this right was governed by state law. Up until 1957, many states banned Native Americans from voting. -
Executive Order 8802
On June 1941,Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 8802, banning discriminatory employment practices. As African Americans moved to cities to work in defense industries they were met with discrimination. A. Philip Randolph met with the Presidents cabinet and threatened to bring thousands of African Americans to the “White House lawn.”Roosevelt issued the order, declaring "There shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers.., because of race, creed, color, or national origin." -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Decided
This case was a combined effect of many similar cases that denied African American students to be admitted to certain public schools. The cases were rejected based on the Plessy v. Ferguson, which said that segregation was okay as long as backs and whites were equal. The Supreme Court decided that “separate but equal” was in fact unequal and violated the 14th amendment. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
On September 9, 1957, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This established the rights to investigate civil right violations and authorized the indictment of those who violated the right to vote for U.S. citizens. -
Civil Rights Act of 1960
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was signed into effect by President Eisenhower on May 6th, 1960. This did not introduce any new laws, instead it reinforced and got rid of any loopholes in the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Among other things, it established penalties for anyone that stopped someone’s attempt to register to vote or vote. -
Executive Order 10925
On March 1961, President JFK, along with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Executive Order 10925. This executive order prohibited federal contractors from discriminating on account of race. -
24th Amendment Ratified
The 24th Amendment was ratified on January 23rd, 1964. This Amendment abolished the federal and state right to impose taxes on voters during federal elections. Before this amendment was passed, voters were required to pay a fee to enter polling places. This was a method used to discriminate against the poorer citizens( a lot who were African Americans in the Southern states). -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
On July 2nd, 1964, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Prohibited discrimination against sex, race, color, religion, or national origin. The passage of this act ended the “Jim Crow” laws, which has been upheld in Court during the Plessy v. Ferguson case( separate but equal is constitutional). -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The act was signed into effect on August 6th, 1965 by President Johnson. This act outlawed the discriminatory voting practices that were happening in many southern states. This got rid of poll taxes, literary tests, and other restrictions to deny the right to vote. -
Loving v. Virginia Decided
In 1958, Mildred Jeter( a black woman) and Richard Loving( a white man) were married in the District of Columbia. When returning to Virginia, they were charged of violating the anti-miscegenation statue( banning of interracial marriages). The Supreme Court decided that under the Equal Protection Clause, the Virginia law had no purpose. Under the 14th amendment, "the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State." -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
On April 11th, 1968, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This act expanded on previous acts and prohibited the discrimination of sale, renting, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, and family status. This act is also known as he Fair Housing Act. -
Voting Rights Act of 1970
The voting rights act of 1965 was set to expire in 1970. In order to expand the provisions of the 1965 act, the Voting Rights Act of 1970 was signed. Two provisions were signed into the act, the first one established rules for voter registration and absentee voting. The other one modified state laws for voting qualifications. A third provision later added to lower the voting age to 18 years old. -
26th Amendment Ratified
The 26th Amendment was ratified on July 1st, 1971, which extended the voting rights to all Americans ages 18 and older. As 18 year old men were being drafted into war but denied the right to vote, many campaign started to rise, such as the popular campaign “old enough to fight, old enough to vote”. -
Voting Rights Act of 1975
In 1975, the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act was extended for seven years. This act addressed the voting discrimination against “language minority groups.” The voting ballots were printed in multiple languages. -
Voting Rights Act of 1982
The provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act were unchanged and extended for another 25 years. -
Works Cited
“National Archives.” National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
“Oyez .” Oyez: Online Multimedia Archive Website for the Supreme Court of the United States. , www.oyez.org/cases/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
“Today in History - June 2.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-02/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.