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Dred Scott v Sanford
In this monumental slavery case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution was not meant to extend citizenship to African Americans. By this, rights were not guaranteed to African Americans. This struck down any current limitations on slavery and prohibited any further attempts to limit slavery, most notably the Missouri Compromise. This decision, meant to end the debate, became one of the most controversial issues leading up to the Civil War. -
13th Amendment
This amendment officially ended all slavery and involuntary service in the United States. While the Emancipation Proclamation had already been issued, that did not end slavery and affected only a portion of slaves. Despite slavery being ended, the situation of many African Americans did not drastically improve as the result of this amendment due to the implementation of black codes, Jim Crow laws, etc. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is a particularly complex and difficult to understand amendment, but the part most important to civil rights is the extension of citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,'' essentially granting citizenship to all of the freed slaves. It also prohibits the states from denying “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This part has been crucial in incorporating the Bill of Rights to extend to states. -
15th Amendment
This amendment stated that the right to vote cannot be taken away due to race, color, or previous servitude. This extended the right to the most directly intended group of African Americans as well as those of any other race and members of the Confederacy. While this amendment was an important step in guaranteeing the right to vote to African Americans, this right was still infringed upon for quite some time by other voting requirements specifically targeted at African Americans. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision allowed racial segregation. It was what enabled Jim Crow laws to be implemented throughout the South with no consequences. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were traditionally a source of a significant portion of the tax revenue in many colonies and were generally tied to citizenship privileges as an incentive to pay the tax. These poll taxes increased in popularity following the 15th amendment in an attempt to disenfranchise African Americans and poor whites. Using poll taxes to block voting was allowed until 1966. -
White Primaries
○ White primaries were primary elections in which only whites were allowed to vote. This was used to disenfranchise African Americans by only nominating candidates that whites would support. By doing this, the African American vote, if they were even allowed to vote due to other voter restrictions, counted for basically nothing as the candidates they supported weren’t on the ballot. -
19th Amendment
This amendment said that the right to vote cannot be blocked based on sex, giving women the right to vote. This landmark feminist amendment was a huge step forward in equal rights between men and women. This allowed for greater women’s rights down the line as women could vote for candidates that would work in their interest. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education overrode the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, declaring segregated public spaces as not equal. This invalidated Jim Crow laws and desegregated schools. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action was initially created by an executive order from JFK. It was an attempt to combat racial discrimination in employment and encourage minority participation in higher education and employment. -
24th Amendment
This amendment was one of the last crucial steps in securing voting rights for African Americans. In this amendment, failure to pay poll taxes could not be used as a means to block the right to vote. This was important because poll taxes were often used to block the right to vote, especially for African Americans despite the 15th amendment. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This landmark piece of legislation prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This ended segregation in schools and other public places as well as ended unequal voting requirements. At first, this act was weakly enforced, but supplements were added over the years to increase the power of this law. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act prohibited racial discrimination in voting. This law included many specific provisions to end different ways of racially prohibiting voting as well as a blanket statement. This act has been amended several times to further extend protections and is considered by the Department of Justice to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment meant to guarantee equal protections for everyone regardless of sex. It was approved by the US house in 1971 and the senate in 1972. It has been waiting approval by the state legislature in order to be implemented. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed was a case about the awarding of estates. It stated that the administration of estates cannot discriminate based on sexes. This was the first law that used the fourteenth amendment to prevent discrimination between sexes. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This was a case that upheld affirmative action. A man attempting to get into the UC Davis medical school was denied and attempted to sue, blaming it on UC's affirmative action policy. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick was a case about homosexual rights. It upheld a Georgia law that criminalized oral and anal sex in private. It was eventually overturned in Lawrence v. Texas. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act is an unfunded mandate that prohibits discrimination based on disabilities. It also requires employers to provide accommodations to employees with disabilities while also requiring disability accommodations in public areas. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas was a court case ruling on the American laws prohibiting private homosexual activity between consenting adults. It declared those laws unconstitutional under the right to privacy, the same reasoning for Roe v. Wade. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Obergefell v. Hodges was a case on the right to marry for same-sex couples. It ruled that due to the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment, same-sex couples must be recognized by all state governments.
