civil rights timeline

Dred Scott v Sandford

Mar 6, 1857

The Dred Scott case was about a black slave who was brought into a free state by his owners and thought this meant his freedom. He sued for his freedom and lost 7-2 in the supreme court. They ruled that black slaves did not count as "citizens" as mentioned in the constitution and therefore he didn't even have to right to sue or be free, as those were rights of US citizens. This was important case that said that slaves were citizens and really decided their fate for a while.

13th amendment

Dec 6, 1865

This amendment outlawed slavery along with involuntary servitude in all 50 states and anywhere under the jurisdiction of the US government. This was the first of the reconstruction amendments after the civil war. This was a monumental amendment for slaves and slave owners in America.

14th amendment

Jul 9, 1868

The 14th amendment made anyone born or naturalized in America and American citizen. This meant that all the freed slaves would be able to become citizens. The amendment also guaranteed that all US citizens were protected by the rights in the constitution. This was a very important amendment for the recently freed slaves who wanted protections against enslavement. This was that amendment.

15th amendment

Feb 3, 1870

This was an amendment from the reconstruction era that allowed for black men to vote. what the amendment actually said was that you could not discriminate voting rights based on race, color, or previous servitude. This did not allow for black women to vote and it didn't prevent white racists from keeping blacks from voting with useless tests and requirements.

plessy v ferguson

May 18, 1896

This was known as the separate but equal case. In this case the supreme court said that racial segregation was legal as long as the two facilities were equal in quality. This decision encouraged segregation. it was also known that law enforcement did not check in on segregated communities to make sure both sides were equal. Blacks had the worst end of the stick while whites were able to enjoy luxury.

19th amendment

Aug 18, 1920

This was the landmark amendment that finally allowed women the right to vote. Before this amendment, black and white men could vote but all women could not. This was during the time of the first women's movement that would come through America.

white primaries

1944

The white primaries were mostly held in the south but rich white men. This was a way to keep the black population from voting. what it did was only allow white voters to participate in the primaries. this was another way for racists to get around the new laws being passed and still keeping control. In 1944 there was a court case that ruled that states controlling their own primaries was unconstitutional, this decision ended white primaries.

brown v board of education

May 7, 1954

This was another landmark case that decided that segregation in children's public schools was not constitutional. This decision went back on Plessy v Ferguson and said that even if the two public institutions were of the same quality, public schools could not constitutionally be segregated. This decision took a lot of time to be fully in effect and came with a lot of lash back. But it was a very important case.

affirmative action

Mar 6, 1961

affirmative action is the process of choosing candidates based on if they were previously discriminated in the past. This process was done by evaluating two candidates and if they were the same, then the idea was to chose the one who was a part of a minority. this was especially fought against in college decisions. This was started in 1961 when discrimination was outlawed

24th amendment

Jan 23, 1964

This amendment outlawed the poll tax on federal elections. the poll taxed was aimed at poor blacks and whites in the south to prevent them from voting. This amendment prevented this poll tax and stopped some of the discrimination against poor blacks.

poll taxes

Jan 23, 1964

This was a tax on adults with low income as a fixed amount thaat they has to pay. it was often connected to taking the right to vote from those who couldn't afford it. This was also a very large source of income for government buildings until the 19th century. it ended on jan 23, 1964

civil rights act of 1964

Jul 2, 1964

This was a very large and important act that forbade the discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This was applied in the work place with hiring, firing, and promotions. This act has been used to justify the protection of the LGBTQ+ community as well but it wasn't explicitly stated that it protected on the base of sexual orientation.

voting rights act of 1965

Aug 6, 1965

This was a monumental act signed by Johnson that outlawed a lot of the voting discrimination especially in the south that required literacy tests and prerequisite voting for blacks after the civil war. This took place after a lot of fighting done by MLK jr.

Reed v Reed

Nov 22, 1971

This court decision was one that came of one of the many feminist movements in America. This decision said that administrators of estates could not name property in a way that discriminated against sexes. This was led by RBG and remains in tact today.

regents of the university of cali v bakke

Jun 28, 1978

This supreme court decision said that having certain quotas to meet based on race and gender was unconstitutional. But that affirmative action was in most cases. The difference is that universities were told to chose the minority candidate if they were equal to another, but requiring a certain number of minority people was not right.

equal rights amendment

Mar 22, 1979

The equal rights amendment (ERA) was an amendment designed to grant all american citizens equal rights based on sex. This was supposed to help women in regards to divorce, property, employment, and in other manners. This was never actually ratified because of its concerns with the labor laws, and discriminating against house wives. It's been brought up in almost every feminist movement since then but has been ratified. It's original ratification date was march 22, 1979

Bowers v Hardwick

Jun 30, 1986

This decision upheld Georgia's law about criminalizing oral and anal sex in private. This was at a time when homo-sexuality was being accused of being the reason for AIDS and other diseases. So sates were trying their best to outlaw homo-sexuality and this was a way that they did it. that decision has since been overturned and homo-sexuality has become legal.

Americans with disabilities act

Jul 6, 1990

This act was passed in order to outlaw discrimination on the basis of disability. It was meant to protect the disabled in getting jobs, schools, transportation, and all private and public places in the US. This law was the first to mention the disabled and was a part of the series of civil rights acts that continuously gave citizen rights to all types of groups.

lawrence v texas

Jun 26, 2003

This was the decision that overturned the Bowers v Hardwick case. This case said that banning homosexuality activity, sodomy, or oral sex between two consenting adults is unconstitutional. This was one of the first cases where we start to see the incorporation of gay rights into America.

obergefell v hodges

Jun 26, 2015

This was the landmark supreme court decision that said that same-sex marriage is protected by the constitution in both the equal-protection clause and in the 14th amendment of the constitution. This decision was a very controversial one but stands today. this decision also started a movement for more protections including those for trans and queer people.