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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott had been born into slavery in Virgnia and had been moved to Missouri, but after his two masters had passed, he found himself in Illinois which had been a free state. Though he lived in Illinois, he was still considered a slave which caused him to sue Missouri in a chance to gain freedom. In a 7-2 ruling in favor for Sandford, Scott was considered as property by the 5th amendment making it that he couldn't be free. It was later overturned in 1865 after the civil war. -
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13th Amendment
Before the 13th was introduced, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation announced that all slaves in the 11 confederacy states would be free. After the Civil war had ended, the 13th amendment was added to the U.S Constitution officially granting the slaves their freedom. It made it sure that any practice of slavery and involuntary servitude would not be allowed in the United States and that Congress had the power to enforce it. -
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14th Amendment
A year after the 13th amendment was passed, the 14th amendment had been created to make sure that the rights of African Americans would be protected and guaranteed citizenship. The 14th also introduced the due process clause that the power that the government has over individuals would be limited and also has allowed for other amendments to be enforced in the states by selective incorporation. It also brought some consequences to those who fought against the union and prevented them from running -
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15th Amendment
During the reconstruction era, the 15th was passed and made sure that all black men had the right to vote. This was successful in some cases as many African Americans found themselves in places of power. However, this wasn't directly being enforced as the states found ways to prevent them from being able to vote through literacy tests and other measures to keep them disenfranchised. On top of that, this didn't mean that women could vote yet leading to more changes down the line. -
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Plessy v Ferguson
Homer Plessy, who was only 1/8th black, was added in as being black under Louisiana law and wasn't allowed to sit in a "whites only" car on a train. His lawyers argued that this rule had violated the 13th and 14th amendments, but he was convicted anyways. The Supreme Court ruled that the state law was constitutional and then brought up the term of 'separate but equal' meaning that being treated separate didn't mean that they were inferior but that its fine for them to be treated in such a way. -
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19th Amendment
For a majority of the new nation, women's suffrage was seen as something that was impossible until the women's rights movement started. The Seneca Falls Convention kicked off the movement causing a call for women to be allowed to vote and brought little change. Finally in 1920, the 19th amendment was passed allowing all citizens of the USA to be able to vote without type of sex being a factor. This allowed women to finally have the rights that many had fought for so long. -
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Brown v. Board of Education
Though African Americans had gained their freedom, segregation was still a factor especially in schools causing them to be denied entry. It was then argued that this type of segregation had been violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment causing it to be taken to court. It was ruled that separate but equal schools had violated the 14th amendment causing the decision in Plessy v Ferguson to be overturned. Schools had slowly started to make changes though not all states followed. -
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Affirmative Action
In an effort to help minority groups and women get more jobs, the government had started to use affirmative action as a way to provide help. It allowed certain groups to be favored by means of quotas so that they could be able to find work. While it has done a lot of good, it is also caused some jobs to be filled on basis of color and not education filling certain roles just to meet a certain quota. This concern will be addressed in a later court case in 1978. -
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24th Amendment
Even though voting had come to be something that everyone had the right to do, this didn't stop states from preventing African Americans from voting. One of the ways that they did it was by having a poll tax so that they wouldn't be able to vote. In 1964, the 24th amendment was pasted so that federal and state governments could use it to prevent someone from voting in an election. -
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
Though the union wining the civil war brought freedom for slaves, not much was done to enforce the change as discrimination still loomed around the corner causing it to seem as nothing had changed. The civil rights movement, however, had caused change to occur at last finally giving them what they had lacked before. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had said that segregation of any kind was banned in all places in America, making sure that they would never be denied because of race ever again. -
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Voting Rights Act of 1965
After the Civil Rights act of 1964, a year later, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had been passed, breaking down the rest of the constraints of voting. Before this, literacy tests and other restrictions had prevented blacks from being able to vote making the change be difficult to gain. However, this act had made sure that literacy tests were banned and couldn't prevent them from voting. As a result, voters in the South had risen a good margin as African Americans were finally able to vote freely. -
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Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights amendment had been proposed as a way to make sure that rights should not be denied by any state on account of one's sex. While it did gain the needed support, many had been against it due to fears of certain privileges would be taken away. In modern times by 2020, the ERA had gotten the requirements needed to become a part of the constitution, but it is rather unclear if it has officially become the 28th amendment due to it becoming a lower priority as of now. -
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Title IX
As more rights had started to be granted to women, there had still been some instances that they were prevented from joining certain activities. With the introduction of Title IX, it made sure that no one could be prevented from joining in those activities or be put down upon in certain cases of education. This clause had allowed women to be able to participate in sports such as basketball and take on a career that wasn't thought upon for them back in the past. -
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Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke had tried to apply for admission to the University of California Medical School but had been denied entry because the rest of the spots had been reserved for 'qualified' minorities. Bakke had gotten frustrated at this because he was more qualified than the minority students that had been admitted in his place. The Court did not have a single majority opinion as any racial quota did violate the government but as a criterion was allowed because it allowed more education for minorities. -
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Voter ID laws
As more and more people had gained the right to vote, it caused some trouble on figuring out who was who. Voter ID laws had started to be introduced so that they can be identified as proof of that they are who they say they are. It varies around the states as some simply require some form of id such as a driver's license while others go more in-depth.Opponents of these laws had argued that this was a lot like the literacy tests that were used back then as a way to prevent minorities from voting. -
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Bowers v. Hardwick
Hardwick was observed doing homosexual sodomy with another man in his home that resided in Georgia which had labeled the action as a crime. In the Court, it was ruled that there wasn't protection for acts of sodomy in the constitution as there wasn't a need to protect it back then. It was said that the right to sodomy wasn't being able to be protected as they claimed that it wasn't a part of the constitution meaning that there was not important to their rights. -
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Americans with Disabilities Act
As women and African Americans had been granted more rights, it brought attention to those with disabilities that had fallen behind. The ADA allows civil right protections to those with mental and physical disabilities equal opportunity for them to be able to get a job. It allowed there to be certain accommodations so that they will be able to get the help they need so that they can work without many troubles. However, currently, it seems that there is little enforcement to protect their rights. -
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Shelby County v. Holder
Section 5 and Section 4 (b) under the Voter Rights Act had prevented districts from changing their election laws freely and having a voter test in order to change it. Shelby County claimed that it went against the 10th amendment which gave power not specified to the states and took it to court. The court ruled that Section 4 of the act was unconstitutional as that the constraints had only mattered back in the past and that now things had changed, there was no more need for such a section. -
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Obergefell v. Hodges
Same sex marriage had been something that was relatively frowned upon and didn't have the right to be together. Groups of same-sex couples had decided to ban together and argued that this was in violation of the 14th amendment. The Court had ruled in that the 14th does protect their rights and that they are able to have the same rights as an opposite-sex couple would have and that this right wouldn't be prevented from them from then on causing same sex couples to finally be free to be together.