-
African-Americans: 3/5 Compromise
The 3/5 Compromise decided for slaves to be considered as 3/5 part of a population in order for representation and taxation. -
Women: Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions is signed
A document outlining the rights that American women should be entitled to as citizens, that emerged from the Seneca Falls Convention in New York in July 1848. -
African-Americans: Scott v. Sandford
Federal courts case that decided that slaves were not citizens of the United States by Chief Justice Roger Taney. -
African-Americans: 13th Amendment
An Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States. -
African-Americans: 14th Amendment
No state should make or enforce a law that take away privileges or immunity of a person or deprive any person of life, liberty or property. -
African-Americans: 15th Amendment
An Amendment that granted African-American men the right to vote. -
African-Americans: Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court rules that segregation laws are constitution as accommodations are "seperate but equal." -
African-Americans: Founding of the NAACP
The formation of a civil rights organization named the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the United States as a bi-racial endeavor to advance justice for American Americans. -
Women: 19th Amendment
An Amendment that ensured he right of citizens of the United States to vote that shall not be denied by the United States or by any State on account of sex. -
Women: ERA introduced into Congress
Alice Paul first wrote the ERA and in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time. -
African-Americans: Smith v. Allwright
A Supreme court case about voting rights that overruled the Texas state law that authorized the Democratic Party to set its internal rules, including the use of white primaries. -
African-Americans: Truman orders desegregation of armed forces
Also known as executive order 9981, President Truman abolished discrimination in the United States armed forces. -
Hispanic Americans: Hernandez v. Texas
A Supreme court case decision that ensured that Mexican Americans and all other racial and national groups in the United States had equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This case was also the first and only heard case for the purpose of Mexican-American civil rights during the post World War two period. -
African-Americans: Brown v. Board of Education
A Supreme court case that ruled that American state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. -
African-Americans: Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African-American boys that enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The boys were initially prevented from entering the school building in Arkansas. -
African-Americans: 24th Amendment
An Amendment that prohibits any poll tax in elections for federal officials. -
African-Americans: Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. -
African-Americans: Voting Rights Act of 1965
A law that overcome legal barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. -
Hispanic Americans: Cesar Chavez publicizes the plight of migrant workers
In 1966, Cesar Chavez launched a march from Delano to Sacramento to draw attention to plight of farm workers and during this strike the union won its first contract. -
Woman: National Organization of Women organized
An American feminist organization founded in 1966. -
Hispanic Americans: Multi-member electoral districts in Texas outlawed
In the 88th Congress (1962-1963) New Mexico were one of the states that elected a total of 22 of the 435 House members from multiple member districts. In 1967 Congress passed the Uniform Congressional District Act, which mandates the use of discrete, single member districts for all states with two or more seats, exempting only Hawaii and New Mexico. -
African-Americans: Jones v. Mayer
A Supreme court case which held that Congress could regulate the sale of private property to prevent racial discrimination. -
Hispanic Americans: Founding of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)
A national non-profit civil rights organization formed in 1968 to protect the rights of Latinos in the United States. -
Sexual Orientation: Stonewall Riots
A series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that had occurred. -
Women: Reed v. Reed
An Equal Protection case in the Supreme court that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. -
Women: ERA passed by Congress
It passed both houses of Congress in 1972 after the National Organization for Women protested outside the United States Senate. -
Women: Title IX
A federal law that states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." -
Women: Congress opens all military service academies to women
Law that allowed women to join military service signed by President Gerald Ford. -
Women: Craig v. Boren
A Supreme court case that determined that statutory or administrative sex classifications were subject to intermediate scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. -
Women: Dothard v. Rawlinson
The first United States Supreme court case which the bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQ) defense was used. -
Hispanic Americans: Plyer v. Doe
A Supreme court case that issued that states cannot deny students of free public education on account of their immigration status by the Constitution. -
Women: Civil Rights and Women's Equity in Employment Act
Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to define "required by business necessity" to mean bearing a significant and manifest relationship to the requirements for effective job performance. -
Sexual Orientation: "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
Official policy on military service by gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, instituted by the Clinton Administration on February 28, 1994, by the Department of Defense. -
Sexual Orientation: Massachusetts legalizes same sex marriage
Same sex marriage legalizes in the state of Massachusetts after the Supreme court case decision ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. -
Sexual Orientation: United States v. Windsor
A Supreme court case on civil rights that held that restricting U.S. federal interpretation of "marriage" and "spouse" to apply only to opposite sex unions is unconstitutional -
Sexual Orientation: Obergfell v. Hodges
A Supreme court case that held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant same-sex marriages and recognize same sex marriages granted in other states. -
Sexual Orientation: Defense of Marriage Act
A United States federal law that, defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman and allowed states to refuse to recognize same sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. -
Sexual Orientation: Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado
A Supreme court case that held that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had violated the state's constitutional obligation to treat religious expression neutrally when it showed religious hostility in an anti discrimination situation.
