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Dred Scott v. Stanford
Dred Scott was a former slave who lived in Illinois which was a free state. He returned to Missouri to file a case to gain his freedom since he currently lived in a free state. The ruling held that any person whose ancestors were taken to the US or sold as slaves could not be a American Citizen. This also meant that they did not have a standing to sue in a federal court. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was passed following the end of the of the Civil War in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery. It was also the first of the three reconstruction amendments that were created after the civil war. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment grants citizenship to all people born in the United States, even those who used to be enslaved. It all states that a person can not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, and that a person can not be denied equal protection of the laws within its jurisdiction. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment granted all men regardless of their skin color, the right to vote. This amendment was passed because to ensure states were not denying people their right to vote. Many women protested the 15th amendment because it only granted men the right to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy was seven-eighths Caucasian and and decided to sit in a whites only train car to see the response. Plessy was told to leave the whites only train car and when he refused, he was arrested. When taken to court it was decided that the states law to have separate train cars was constitutional as long as they were separate but equal and Plessy was convicted. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment gives women the right to vote. A important figure in the fight for women's rights was Susan B. Anthony. She started up and led the National Women's Suffrage Association giving speeches and petitioning for women to gain the right to vote. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a case where it was decided that separating students in school based on their race was unconstitutional. African American students were being denied entrance into schools in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Washington D.C. This case over ruled the separate but equal principal which was created in Plessy v. Ferguson and said it violated the equal protection clause in the fourteenth amendment. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment prohibited states from making citizens pay a poll tax when they were voting in federal elections. The purpose of the poll tax was originally to prevent poor citizens and those of color to prevent them from being able to vote. This was ultimately deemed unconstitutional in the case of Breedlove v. Suttles. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
President John Kennedy was working to pass a civil rights bill in June of 1963. After his assassination, Lyndon B Johnson pushed to make sure the bill was passed and was passed the following year in 1964. This act prohibits discrimination based on religion, sex, color, race or national origin. This prohibits discrimination in public places and federally funded programs. This as helped contribute to the desegregation of schools. -
Voting Rights Act 0f 1965
The voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by Lyndon B Johnson. This act stopped states from being able to deny the right to vote based on race, including requiring literacy test which made it difficult for people of a lesser majority to vote. This act was propelled by the civil rights activist located in Selma, Alabama. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The equal rights amendment was originally passed through congress in 1972 and has been sent to the states for ratification. The most recent state to ratify this amendment was Virginia in 2020 which would be the 38th and last state needed for ratification. This amendment would prohibit a persons rights from being denied on the basis of sex. -
Title IX
Title IX prohibits the discrimination on the basis of sex in educational activities and women's sports. Most recently, the regulations for title IX have been updated, making the definition of "sex" unclear because it states that " sex can encompass many traits...and is not necessary for the regulations to define the term for all circumstances." Many worry this update will strip the original protection for women specifically in sports and education. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This is a case where a Bakke, a white male applied for law school twice to the University of California. Although his qualifications where higher than 16 students whose spots were reserved for being an unfair minority, he claims he was excluded on the basis of his race. Four of the judges ruled that it was unconstitutional and violated the civil rights act of 1964. While the other judges believed that using racial quotas violated the equal protection clause. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick is a case where Hardwick was seen by a police officer engaging in consensual homosexual intimacy inside of his house. He was originally charged with violating one of Georgia's statues. When sent to the appeals court, they determined that Georgia's statue was unconstitutional. When Georgia's attorney appealed to the supreme court he was granted certiorari. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act was created to prohibit discrimination against those with disabilities. This allows them to be given the same employment opportunities, public accommodations and transportation. This also restricts work places from asking questions about a persons disability before being offered the job, so they earn an equal job opportunity. -
Voter ID Laws
Voter ID laws were established to require that any person who is going to vote must show a government issued photo ID. Some people believe that it is important to show an id to prevent fraudulent votes from being counted. On the other hand, some people disagree with voter id laws because they disregard a persons integrity and believe that it makes it harder for people of a minority group to be able to vote. -
Shelby County v. Holder
Shelby County v. Holder was a case where Alabama struck down the biggest part of the voting rights act saying that it was wrong for states with a higher minority population to to use test such as literacy devices to make it harder for them to vote. Alabama decided to re-evaluate the voting rights act because as 50 years has passed they were not the same discriminatory state as before. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Obergefell v. Hodges was a case where same sex couples from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee challenged the ban on same-sex marriage. They stated that it violated the equal protection clause and the fourteenth amendment. The court ruled that the due process clause was being violated as it guarantees the right to marry as a persons liberty. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a policy designed to eliminate discrimination related to receiving scholarships, government funding, jobs or educational programs. Affirmative action was issued in an executive order by president Kennedy.