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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri that made it to the free state of Illinois. When he went back to Missouri, Scott argued that since he lived in a free state, he was a free man. The Supreme Court ruled that enslaved people were not citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865 and passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. The 13th Amendment brought the official end of slavery and emancipation of black people. It's one of the three Civil War amendments. Originally, the amendment did not pass through the House, so Lincoln proposed that the amendment be added to the Republican Party's platform in order to get it throught the House. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866 and ratified by the states on July 9, 1868. It was the second of three Reconstruction amendments. The main portions of the 14th amendment included equal protection, citizenship, and due process. Although the intent of this amendment was to protect the rights of black Americans, it failed and they continued to face discrimination for decades. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869 and ratified February 3, 1870. This was the last of the three Reconstruction Amendments. The 15th amendment stated that states could not deny the right to vote based on race. However, states continued to deny voting rights via literacy tests. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a Supreme Court case regarding the 14th Amendment. After Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, Homer Plessy, who was 1/8 black, sat in a white-only section of a train. When he refused to leave, Plessy was arrested. The court ruled that Louisiana's law was constitutional and that the 14th Amendment established separate but equal treatment. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920. This amendment is best known for giving women the right to vote. It prohibits denying the right to vote based on sex. Women had been protesting for their rights since the 1800s and by 1916, almost all major Women's Suffrage organizations were behind the amendment. -
Voter ID Laws
Voter ID laws differ in each state. Most require identification in order to vote in person. The type of identification varies between states from photo ID to social security card. The first voter ID laws were adopted by South Carolina in 1950. The number of states who have adopted voter ID laws has since increased and currently, 36 states enact some sort of voter ID laws. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court called into question whether denying admittance to school based on race was constitutional. They argued that doing so violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The court ruled that it was unconstitutional to discriminate in public education, thus overturning the separate but equal precedent from Plessy v. Ferguson. Chief Justice Warren urged compliance and implementation quickly. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is the efforts to encourage women and minorities to participate in education, jobs, etc. Affirmative action has been used in its current form since 1961 but was still a widely used concept before the 1960s. Affirmative action has been aided by Executive Order 10925, the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Suffrage, and the Gay Rights Movement. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment was ratified on January 23, 1964 and prevents the government from taxing voters during federal election. After Reconstruction and the Civil War, states would impose a poll tax in order to prevent black americans from voting. When the 24th amendment was first ratified, states continued to use poll taxes. However, supreme court case Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections ruled that all poll taxes were unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act was passed on July 2, 1964. The act prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, religion, disability, age, and nationality in public places. It ended the Jim Crow laws that had been used against black Americans and outlawed segregation in public places and discrimination in employment. This act had to overcome the House Rules Committee and a filibuster in the Senate in order to be passed. It was originally proposed by Kennedy but was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law on August 6, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. It was meant to enforce the 15th amendment, which prohibited denying the right to vote based on race. It outlawed literacy tests and other means of preventions as well as provided federal examiners. -
Title IX
Title IX is a federal law passed in 1972 that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal funding. All federal agencies that give financial grants must enforce Title IX. In April 2024, the US Department of Education added final regulations that added protections that address all forms of sex discrimination and promote schools to take action when sex discrimination is occurring. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
When Allen Bakke was rejected from the University of California medical school twice, he argued that since his scores exceeded those of minority students who were accepted, he was rejected solely due to race. In this case, the Supreme Court justices did not have one answer. Justice Powell, who held the swing vote, argued for both sides. However, it was decided that this violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court had Bakke admitted while also helping racial minorities through action. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was engaging in consensual homosexual sodomy whilst in his Georgia home when a Georgia police officer saw and arrested him. Hardwick argued that the statute criminalizing sodomy was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decided that there were no constitutional protections for sodomy and that states were allowed to make laws regarding it. In 2003, this decision was overruled in Lawrence v. Texas. -
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA was passed in 1990 to prohibit discrimination based on disability in employment, transportation, public accommodations, and government programs. The goal of the ADA is to give those with disabilities the same rights and opportunities as those without disabilities. In 2008 the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) was passed and in 2009 it went into effect. It redefined the definition of disability. -
Shelby County v. Helder
Shelby County, Alabama filed a suit claiming that Sections 5 and 4b of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 violated the 10th Amendment. The Supreme Court decided that section 4 is unconstitutional as it no longer applies to the situation and therefore the power to further regulate elections belongs to the states. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Groups of same-sex couples decided to sue their state agencies to challenge their laws banning and refusing to acknowledge same-sex marriage. They argued that the states' laws went against the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court decided that the states' laws were unconstitutional in a 5-4 decision. They held that the right to marry is one of the liberties protected by the 14th Amendment and that it extends to same-sex couples. -
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
The ERA was originally proposed in 1923 to end the legal distinction between sexes in legal matters including voting, divorce, property, and employment. The act passed Congress in 1972 but was not ratified by the states in time. In January 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment. However, the ERA has been legally challenged and so it is uncertain whether it will become an official amendment.