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Dred Scott v. Sandford
This case determined whether or not Dred Scott was a slave or a free man due to the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 drew an invisible line through the United States that decided what states were free or slave states. Dred Scott had lived in a free state and hoped to claim his freedom because he had lived in a free state. However, they ruled that just because he lived in a free state doesn't mean he was free, they also ruled the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
The 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery throughout the United States. It stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime" this meant that there could no longer be any type of slavery aside from punishment for a crime. This was the first big step towards equality towards African Americans, however, it was just the beginning of a long grueling road to get them their civil rights. Abraham Lincoln was the president that approved the amendment. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to anybody born in the United States, which included former slaves who had been freed due to the 13th Amendment. This amendment wasn't liked by the South because it forbid any state from "denying someone life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" or to deny anyone "equal protection of laws". This was another major development towards equality as it meant that the legal system could not ignore someone due to their race. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment granted African American's the right to vote. Of course it was only men at the time, as it took many more years for women suffrage to be noticed by the government. However, even though African Americans were granted the right to vote, most of them were stopped by literacy tests or poll taxes that weren't affordable. This is a situation where they technically got the right to vote but the South still didn't like the idea of it and wanted to make it extremely difficult. -
Poll Taxes
The South didn't like the idea of African Americans voting, so they put many obstacles in their way to ensure that they wouldn't be able to. One of these obstacles know as the poll tax was put in place without reference to the income of the people it's put on. These newly freed African Americans didn't have the money to pay it and they didn't have access to being grandfathered in, so for many African Americans this was just a baby step toward true civil freedom. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This was the supreme court case that ruled that segregation was okay, as long as the African American's option was the same as the whites. In most cases this turned out not to be very true, many of the establishments weren't equal at all. Plessy's plan to bring attention to segregation was to sit on the white section of a train (similarly to Rosa Parks). It did end up bringing attention to the matter, but it didn't end segregation, it just made it legal with certain parameters. -
White Primaries
White Primaries were another way that southern states could stop African Americans from being represented in the government. A white primary consisted of only white politicians and the only votes that were valid for the politicians were white voters. So even if the African Americans had the chance to vote they wouldn't have an option they'd be fond of just due to the fact that any candidate would most likely be a white racist. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment guaranteed all American women the right to vote, this is one of the first times in US history that women were acknowledged to contribute to society. They didn't get their right to vote until after African Americans which to me is crazy just because I figured they would favor the whites back then. However, just like African Americans had to fight for their rights women did to, they petitioned, picketed, and protested until they got the right to vote. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This supreme court case was detrimental to ending segregation in schools, as it ruled that segregation within schools was unconstitutional. They did this by demonstrating that the separate but equal idea was equal at all. They also did psychological tests on young African American kids to prove that the segregation had damaged them internally. With this they began busing which was the integration of African American students into white schools. -
Affirmative Action
Kennedy introduced affirmative action as a way of trying to help minorities that had been previously discriminated against. This made it so that when people were considered for jobs they couldn't be discriminated against for their race. It also was aimed to ensure that minorities had equal representation in where they work, so that they don't have the lowest quality job. Employers that work with government funds have to report their affirmative action to show they're following through with it. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment prohibited any type of poll tax so that it made it easier/more affordable for African Americans to vote. This amendment also gave Congress the power to send in the military if there were areas where they still charged poll taxes or tried to prohibit anybody from voting. This was created in order to fully fulfill the 15th Amendment as the South just decided to put other obstacles in the way of African Americans that wanted to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned discrimination based on race, religion, or gender. This is one of the biggest all around changes made as it wasn't just focused on the men this time or just one race but everyone in the US. This was again designed to make sure that there was no way of inhibiting someone from being the best version of themselves, as the equal but separate plan proved to not be so equal at all. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was made in order to overcome legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans from voting. A lot of attention was brought towards this topic through Martin Luther King Jr.'s marches. These showed the world the brutality that young African Americans had to face just to try to vote. This was one of the most watched live events on TV which caused people to realize that they just want to vote and are peacefully willing to fight for it. -
Reed v. Reed
This case was based around a single mother trying to obtain her dead sons property instead of the father due to his vacancy during her sons life and his abusive ways. What she found though was that Idaho law required men to be favored over women. She went all the way to the supreme court to fight her case, they found for the first time that the law discriminated on gender unconstitutionally. At the time it was simple to decide who would inherit family property but this case changed that forever. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This was first proposed by the National Woman's political party, and they aimed for it to provided equality between men and women in every aspect of life. Like many other things equality takes time, we still have lingering racial issues and the pay gap is also another modern example of issues still not solved by the government. This is what laid down the ground work for equality of the sexes, however there is still room for improvement. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This was one of the first times that the government had acknowledged racial quotas in college. They ruled it unconstitutional, but thought that affirmative action was appropriate in certain cases.The admissions were monitored and they found that a specific number of seats were saved for minorities. Bakke sued the school due to this violating his 14th amendment and it violated his civil rights. The court ruled it unconstitutional to solely base acceptance on race. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This case went to the Supreme court because it involved homosexual men engaging in consensual activities in privacy. They ruled that the constitution doesn't protect gay men even while its consensual activities even while it being on their private property. It started when Hardwick was wanted for not appearing to court which led to the police coming for him at his residence. This is where they found him engaging in activities that violated a Georgia statute. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act prohibited discrimination against individuals with a disability, this act aimed to stop discrimination for schools, jobs, and public/private places. This was put in place to ensure that the disabled had the same opportunities as everyone else in the US, which is what we're always aiming to do. We want to ensure that in the US everybody had equal chances and opportunities at being successful and this is just one of the acts that has been put in place to get us closer to that goal. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This is another case involving two homosexual men that engage in private consensual activities are being charged for violating Texas' statute. The supreme court this time ruled that the statute violated their rights, which differed from their decision in Bowers v. Hardwick. This was a big day in the homosexual community as it meant that they no longer could be incriminated for being themselves. It also started a movement towards legalizing gay marriage which has been a more recent development. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This Supreme court case was filed by 14 same sex couples because they believed that their 14th amendment was being violated by not allowing them to legally marry someone of the same sex. The case then led to more states having to recognize that same sex marriages are valid in every state, because it would be unconstitutional to not acknowledge other states marriage laws. This has become more accepted as I've grown up so it's interesting to see how things become more accepted into society.
