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Dred Scott v. Stanford
The U.S. Supreme Court stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts and Congress could not do anything to ban slavery from federal states. This is probably the worst ruling in American History as it allowed slavery to continue through America. -
13th Amendment
The thirteenth amendment was the first of the Civil War amendments. This Amendment abolished slavery and then created a chain reaction in the South to establish Jim Crow laws. Although Blacks were officially free because of this amendment they still were segregated against and not really treated like people and citizens. -
14th Amendment
The fourteenth amendment is the second of three Civil War amendments. This one is considered by many to be the most important amendment of all. The fourteenth amendment not only granted everyone citizenship no matter what race or gender. This amendment also allowed for incorporation of the Bill of rights to the states to happen. -
15th Amendment
the fifteenth amendment was the last of the Civil War amendments. This one gave all black men the right to vote. Its important to remember that it only applied to black men so black women and white women could still not vote. Despite this being passed it was still very difficult for black men to be able to vote because of local and state governments implementing literacy tests and grand father rules to try and prevent blacks from voting. -
15th Amendment
The fifteenth amendment was the last Civil War amendments. This amendment gave all black men the right to vote. It is important to note that only black men could vote not black or white women. However despite this amendment many state and local governments established literacy tests, poll taxes and other rules to prevent black men from being able to vote and gain representation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a Supreme Court case that was not a good ruling in American history. This case made the term "separate but equal" meaning that segregation was legal in America. This allowed for segregation and Jim Crow laws to continue in America for years and years. -
19th Amendment
The nineteenth amendment made it illegal to not allow anyone to vote on the basis of sex. This Finally allowed Women to vote and gain representation in government. This was passed by president Woodrow Wilson. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This ruling at the Supreme Court went directly against the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson 50ish years earlier. This ruling desegregated schools and said that having segregation in schools was a violation of the constitution. Despite this ruling it still took years and some force to make southern states apply the ruling to their schools. -
24th Amendment
This amendment abolished the ability for state governments to impose poll taxes or any other kind of tax to try and prevent people from voting. This is important for the black community because these taxes were made specifically to prevent them from voting. -
Civil Right Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was led by martin Luther King Jr. along with several other Black leaders like Rosa Parks and Malcolm X. The Civil Rights Act made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, or sex. This is true in hiring, promoting and firing as well as just doing normal business. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act made it illegal for states to require prerequisites like literacy tests to be able to vote. This was established to get rid of what southern states had been doing to try and prevent Black people from voting. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to benefit minority groups. This is another very highly debated topic that has come up recently. President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 which was the start of Affirmative Action. -
Title XI
Title XI prohibits discrimination in education or from any institution that receives public funding on the basis of sex. Meaning schools can't discriminate on sex or give female athletes less equipment or access to equipment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This is not actually an amendment because it was never passed. This was a proposed amendment that would guarantee equal rights between men and women. One of the main reasons this was never passed was because of the passing of Roe v. Wade in the supreme court. People were upset about that SCOTUS decision and there was lots of backlash. This is one of the things that suffered because of it. -
University of Cal v. Bakke
This case involved a dispute of whether preferential treatment for minorities could reduce educational opportunities for whites without violating the Constitution. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. However, the court ruled that specific racial quotas, were impermissible. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld, in a 5–4 ruling, the constitutionality of a Georgia law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults, in this case with respect to homosexual, though the law did not differentiate between homosexual and heterosexual. It was overturned in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act made it illegal to discriminate against people who have disabilities. Making it so you can't not hire someone or fire or pay less because of a disability. Also it made it so people have to make accommodations for people with disabilities in the workplace such as wheelchair access. -
Shelby County v. Holder
Shelby County v. Holder regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, and subsection of Section 4, which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subject to preclearance based on their histories of racial discrimination in voting the Court ruled by a 5 to 4 vote that Section was unconstitutional -
Obergefell v. Hodges
In Obergefell v. Hodges the Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. This has set a precedent for many other gay rights to follow. -
Voter ID laws
This is optional laws that the different states enforce, mainly conservative states. This requires people to show identification to see who is voting. This is a highly debated topic and one side says it is discriminating against Blacks and the other says it is common sense to provide ID to vote in elections.