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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri, the lived in Illinois which was a free state and in the Louisiana Territory, so Scott thought he should be a free man. The supreme court decided that enslaved people were not citizens and did not have rights. -
13th Amendment
This Amendment abolished slavery throughout the entire United States. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the United States. This means all enslaved people would be citizens. -
15th Amendment
This amendment granted African American males the right to vote, and stated that no citizen can be denied the right to vote based off of their race. -
Jim Crow Era
The Jim Crow Era was a time when laws were established in the south to enforce racial segregation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This court case resulted in Congress saying that racial segregation was legally okay as long as they were separate but equal. This was eventually overturned in 1954. -
19th Amendment
This amendment granted women the right to vote, by prohibiting any state to deny the right to vote based off of sex. -
Brown v Board of Education
In this court case Congress ruled that the segregation of schools based on race was unconstitutional because the schools were not separate but equal. This was the start of integrated schools. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act prohibits discrimination based off of race, color, religion, sex, or natural origin in hiring, firing, or promoting. This means discrimination was outlawed in public places. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act prohibits racial discrimination in voting. This is already a law per the 15th amendment, however President Lyndon B Johnson aimed to overcome state and legal barriers that prevented African Americans from voting. -
Affirmative Act
This law was designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants. In other words more inclusion in jobs for women, African Americans, and minorities. -
Reed v Reed
In this court case Congress held that the law's dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional, meaning that both sexes had to be treated the same. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This Amendment is designed to guarantee rights to all Americans no matter their sex. It was drafted by two women who were leaders of the woman's suffrage movement. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
In this case it was decided that in school you cannot discriminate based on race and there cannot be a racial quota system in school. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
In this court case the Supreme court said that it was okay for states to outlaw homosexual sodomy, and that the Constitution had no protections for it. This was eventually overturned in 2003. -
Americans with disabilities act
This act is a law that prohibits the discrimination based on disability. The ADA was designed to help American citizens with disabilities to get equal rights. -
Motor Voter Act
This act's full name is The National Voter Registration Act, but it's called Motor Voter Act for short. This act simplifies voter registration for all people who are eligible, and requires the postal service to mail electoral ballots. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This court case overturned Bowers v. Hardwick. In this court case it was decided that making consensual sexual conduct illegal, was unconstitutional because of the Due Process Clause. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This court case made it legal in all states for same sex marriages. It is a fundamental right for same sex marriages because of the due process clause.
