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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri. However, from 1833 to 1843, he lived with his master in Illinois, a free state. He also resided in the Louisiana Territory, which also forbids slavery. In the Missouri court case, Dred Scott argued that he should be free from his master, Sandford, because he lived in a free state and territory. But, the court ruled in favor of Sandford, claiming that portions of the Missouri Compromise violated the Fifth Amendment, and treated Dred as property, not a person. -
13th amendment
The 13th amendment was on of the most important amendments that was ever ratified. This amendment changed the world forever by abolishing slavery. It also abolished "involuntary servitude" which means people can be forced to work under someone who has more power. This amendment also stated that congress has the power to apply this if it passes legislation. Since this amendment was ratified right after the civil war, it was key to the reconstruction period for the United states. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment was one of the most important amendments if not the most important. This amendment was ratified after the Dred Scott court case was decided because people were giving unequal rights to African Americans. This amendment gives citizenship to anyone who is raised in the United states or is born in the united states. This even included slaves. The purpose of this amendment is to stop states from denying equal citizenship to anyone under the law. -
15th Amendment
After African American men were freed from slavery, they got some freedom but not total freedom. Specifically they did not have the right to vote like white men had. This is why the 15th amendment was ratified which gave African Americans, even ones who were previously slaves, the right to vote because the United States is not allowed to deny anyone from voting based on race, religion and more reasons. Though this was passed, they still did not get total freedom due to the Jim Crow Laws. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
In Louisiana, the Separate Car Act was passed, which segregated whites and black to different train cars. In 1892, Homer Plessy, who was 7/8th white, was asked by the Comite des Citoyens to challenge the act by sitting in a whites car. When asked to vacate the whites-only car, he refused and was arrested. His lawyers argued that the act violated the 13th and 14th amendments. However, the court ruled in favor of the act, and found that the act was legal under the separate but equal precedent. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment became another key amendment in the constitution. When the 15th amendment was ratified, African American men were given the right to vote, but when the 19th amendment was ratified, this gave women the right to vote. This amendment was passed after many generations of rallying and women doing everything they could to get this right. After this amendment, women were still discriminated so the National Women's party created a new amendment: the Equal Rights Amendment. -
White Primaries
African Americans did have the right to vote under the 15th amendment and other acts that were passed, but in the 1920s, white people in the south found a way to take their votes away. White Primaries were a way that the democratic party could exclude the African Americans from being a part their party. In order to do this the southern states made specific requirements for voting and intimidated the African American people when trying to vote as well causing many disputes. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
This case was the sum of cases arising in many states and Washington D.C. relating to the segregation of public schools on the basis of race. In each of the cases, African American students had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on race. The students argued that such segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The court ruled unanimously that separate but equal educational facilities were inherently equal and therefore violated the 14th Amendment. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is the practice or policy of favoring individuals of minorities that usually face racial discrimination. Its intent is to eliminate and prevent unlawful discrimination. It first appeared in its current form when President Kennedy passed Executive Order 10925, mandating that employers must treat their employees the same no matter what race, color, or nationality. It was a topic in the Supreme Court many times, such as Regents of the Univ. of Cali. v. Bakke. -
24th Amendment
Getting African Americans the right to vote took many decades to finalize. Though they eventually had the right to vote, some were not allowed due to the fact that they were too poor. The 24th amendment was made so that this was not allowed anymore. This stopped "poll taxes" in federal elections so that all men could vote. After this was passed, 5 states still did not follow this and allowed taxes on polls. -
Poll Taxes
Because of the Jim Crow laws, federal and local elections implemented poll taxes. Poll taxes is a payment that people have to make in order to register to vote. Every man had to pay these, even white men. This was hard for some poor African American men though because they didn't have much money after getting out of slavery. . In response to these taxes, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to eliminate this so every man had the chance to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This was one of the biggest acts that was passed in the United State's history. Before this act, segregation occurred in every public place. Races and gender other than white male were treated differently in person, school and jobs. This act though was made to get rid of segregation and discrimination in public places. Though this act did not end all discrimination, it started to progress more in this issue. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
African Americans were not allowed to vote in federal and local elections for many decades. This was until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson. This act paired with the 15th amendment, which gave African Americans the ability to vote. This act stopped the prevention of African Americans from voting. After this signed, the voter registration discrepancy of African Americans voting decreased. -
Reed v. Reed
The Idaho Probate Code specified that men always be preferred over females when deciding the head of an estate. After the death of their son, Sally and Cecil Reed, who were then separated, both sought to be named the administrators of his estate. The law named Cecil the administrator, and Sally challenged this law in court. In a unanimous vote, the court held that the law's unequal treatment of men and women was unconstitutional and violated the Equal Protections Clause of the 14th Amendment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
Because women were still getting discriminated for voting, this amendment was proposed but never ratified.The Equal Rights Amendment gives all US citizens the same legal rights, for example in their jobs regardless of their sex. This was mainly meant towards women, to give them the same legal rights as men. When this was trying to be put into the constitution, it was 3 votes short, so it did not get fully ratified. This is still not a federal law. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke was a 35 yr old white man who twice applied to Medical School at the Univ. of Cali. and was rejected. When he found out about the school's affirmative action program, where annually, 16/100 spots were reserved for "qualified" minorities. Bakke sued because his qualifications were much better than any of the minorities. The court ruled the school had to admit Bakke, but didn't end the school's program. The court minimized white opposition while extending gains for racial minorities. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was caught in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy by a Georgia police office, where homosexual sodomy was illegal. Hardwick brought it to the Federal District Court, but they ruled that he failed to state a claim and court was dismissed. But on appeal, the appeals court reversed and remanded, holding that the statue was unconstitutional. But then it went to the Supreme Court where the court decided that acts of sodomy were not protected by the Constitution. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The American with Disabilities Act (or ADA) was passed in 1990. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all public spaces, such as school, work, transportation, and more. It guarantees similar civil rights protections to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex, color etc. The ADA also guarantee equal opportunities for disabled people. In 2009, the ADAAA, or ADA Amendments Act went into effect, which redefined what the term "disability" meant. -
Lawrence v. Texas
In response to a reported weapons disturbance, Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him with another man, Tyron Garner, engaging in a consensual sexual act. They were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse by the state of Texas. The case went to the Supreme Court and they overturned Bowers v Hardwick, now claiming that state laws forbidding homosexual acts were illegal and in violation of the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
The case was a summation of many cases that had been occurring in many states. The case questioned whether the 14th Amendment require a state to license a same-sex marriage, and whether it required states to recognize a same-sex marriage legally licensed by another state. In a 5-4 vote, they ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, holding that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects, including for same-sex couples.
