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13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment bans slavery in every state. Though slavery is banned, the government can force people to work as punishment for a crime they were found guilty for. It also allows Congress to pass legislation against slavery and gives them the power to punish those who force people to work against their free will. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship. There are three key clauses. The Citizenship Clause gives anyone born in the United States citizenship without denial. The Due Process Clause protects someone’s rights and prevents them being taken by the government without “due process.” The Equal Protection Clause prevents discrimination by the law. This helped end discrimination and segregation in the South. It also states that debt from the emancipation of slaves is not allowed. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment gives all US (male) citizens the right to vote. It says that no state can take away someone’s right to vote based on their race, ethnicity, or former slave status. It also says that states have to enforce the 15th Amendment by passing legislation to protect the right to vote. -
Literacy Tests
These were tests that were used as a means to prevent African Americans from voting. While everyone had to take the tests, African Americans were the ones who, most of the time, weren't literate. Furthermore, grandfather clauses were used to ensure that illiterate and poor whites were protected. This was a way that states infringed on the rights protected by the 15th amendment. They ended around 1965. -
Plessy v Ferguson
In this case, it was ruled that the Louisiana law requiring “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” was constitutional. It gave justification for segregation by saying that facilities were equal. However, states generally maintained the “separate” rather than the “equal” by giving opportunities to whites (such as high schools and professional schools) that were not given to African Americans. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were fees that citizens had to pay as a prerequisite for voting. These were enacted in the southern states between roughly 1890 and 1910. It was a means to disenfranchise the poor African Americans, as well as the poor whites. This kept many citizens from exercising their right to vote. Poll taxes were collected in the United States until the 24th amendment was ratified in 1964. -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow laws were laws implemented after Reconstruction to take away the rights of newly freed African Americans. The Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from voting and promoted the phrase “separate but equal” by also promoting segregation. Jim Crow laws included laws disabling whites and blacks from marrying, using the same bathrooms, going to the same schools, riding the same buses, and going to the same restaurants. These laws were found throughout the US from 1877 until 1965. -
19th Amendment
This prohibited any citizen of the United States to be denied the right to vote based on sex. This (finally) extended the right to vote to include women. This gave women an equal voice as citizens of a democracy. -
Korematsu v United States
Korematsu was a Japanese American who fought the government on the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In this decision , the Court sided with the government. Their position was that national security and protection against espionage outweighed Korematsu's rights. It held that internment of the Japanese was constitutional. This shows the government's power over this group of people, despite their nationality. -
De Jure and De Facto Segregation
De jure Segregation is by law. For example, Congress' implementation of “separate but equal" facilities and Jim Crow laws. De facto segregation is by practice. For example, when the federal government demanded desegregation among the schools, white parents would move students from the cities to the suburbs, causing the school to have more blacks than whites. While de jure segregation ended during the Civil Rights Movement, de facto segregation continues to happen in everyday life, even today. -
Sweatt v Painter
Herman Sweatt applied to a Texas university in 1946. He was rejected due to the school’s race policy. The school tried to provide separate but equal facilities after Sweatt asked the courts to order the school to admit him. The case reached the Supreme Court, and the Court ruled that the school must grant him admission. Furthermore, the separate school which would have opened would have been extremely unequal. This provided a very influential precedent for Brown v Board of Education. -
Brown v Board of Education
In a 9-0 decision, this case struck down the "separate but equal" clause and overturned Plessy v Ferguson. Chief Justice Earl Warren states that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal". This led to the integration of schools across the United States. It ended federal tolerance for racial segregation and forced the states to integrate. It also helped to inspire the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a time when African Americans refused to ride buses in Montgomery, Alabama to protest segregated seating. Four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks- an African American lady- was arrested and fined because she refused to give up her seat to a white man. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first large-scale US demonstration against segregation that lasted from December 5, 1955 until December 20, 1956 -
Affirmative Action
This refers to when an organization/institution actively tries to improve opportunities for those groups which historically have been discriminated against. It initially focused on African Americans, but has since expanded to include women and other minorities. In college admissions, this usually means considering race as a factor in deciding whether a student is admitted or not. There is debate over whether this violates equal protection clause. President Kennedy first used the term in 1961. -
JFK Address to Nation on Civil Rights
In 1963, Governor George Wallace attempted to block integration at the University of Alabama by creating a blockade with police officers at the school. In light of all the chaos in the US, many civil rights activists criticized the president for not taking action against racism. Kennedy responded by telling every US citizen to examine their conscience. He recognized the civil rights struggle as part of a political and cultural revolution, encouraging them to make it peaceful yet constructive. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment gives US citizens the right to vote at the state, national, local, and primary elections even when they are incapable of paying the poll tax. This was an important step in ensuring that every citizen had the capability to vote. It protected the poor, especially the poor African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This was proposed by President Kennedy. It banned discrimination in public places and discrimination of employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or nationality. The act was opposed by many of the southern state representatives in Congress. When JFK was assassinated, President Lyndon Johnson moved the act forward. When the act was passed, it created the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission to ensure laws were being followed in the work force. Also, Jim Crow laws were removed. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This is a law made by President Lyndon Johnson to protect African Americans’ right to vote. It also banned the use of literacy tests. The act was immediately proposed by President Johnson after Martin Luther King Jr. led a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, to dramatize the voting issue. The law had an immediate impact, with 250,000 new black voters being registered by the end of 1965. Though originally set to expire after 5 years, it has become a permanent federal law. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis Following the Death of MLK
When Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, Senator Robert Kennedy gave a speech in Indianapolis. Racial violence was raging throughout the US in over 100 cities. Kennedy decided to follow through with his speech unscripted without police protection. The senator told everyone that MLK, Jr. had been shot and killed. The audience consisted of influencers, young people, and semi-radical black groups. Kennedy’s speech encouraged peace, not violence. There were no riots in Indianapolis that day. -
Reed v Reed
This involved a divorced couple whose young adopted son died. They both had equal stakes on the son’s estate, but the court automatically gave it to the father. The woman challenged this law. The Court ruled that the administrators of estates can’t be named in a way that discriminates based on sex. This was the first time that the court used the Equal Protection Clause to strike down a law that discriminated against women. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in 1923 to provide legal equality between the sexes and stop discrimination based on sex in matters such as employment and divorced. About 40 years later, feminism spurred in America, and the proposal was brought to Congress. The bill got the ⅔ vote in the House of Representatives in October of 1971 and was approved by Senate in March of 1972. However, it missed the 3/4 state ratification requirement (by three states). -
Title IX
This is a part of the 1972 Education Act signed by President Nixon. It prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions or federally funded schools in any and all areas, including athletics. This ensured that women and men had equal opportunities for success. Today, there are about 2.6 million high school girl athletes and over 150,000 women collegiate athletes. Title IX has helped lower high school dropout rate and increase the number of girls wanting to pursue higher education. -
Regents of the University of California v Bakke
This involved a white man who had been rejected from the same medical school twice. The school held several spots of admission for minorities as part of the affirmative action program. Bakke's scores and qualifications were much better than those of any of the minority students, leading him to say that he was rejected based on race. The court ruled that the university could use race as part of admissions so long as they didn't make quotas. This was the first major case in affirmative action. -
Bowers v Hardwick
This was an early defeat for gay rights activists. After being observed by a police officer while engaging in sodomy with another adult in his home, Hardwick was charged for violating state anti-sodomy laws. Hardwick challenged these laws. In the end, the Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that these laws were constitutional, and state bans on gay marriage were upheld. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This was the nation's first law addressing the needs of people with disabilities. It prohibited discrimination in all social aspects, including employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications. It was signed in 1990 by President H.W. Bush. Later provisions outlined the definition of a "disability" and outlined guidelines for accommodations. However, states received very little funding for such accommodations, leading many to consider it an unfunded mandate. -
Lawrence v Texas
This was one of the first victories for gay rights activists. In a situation similar to Bowers v Hardwick, two men were found by police officers while engaging in sodomy. They were arrested under law that prohibited this conduct. This time however, the Court ruled that state laws banishing gay marriage were unconstitutional in violation of the equal protection clause and the right to privacy. It overturned the earlier decision made in Bowers v Hardwick, which upheld anti-sodomy laws. -
Fisher v University of Texas
The University of Texas decided to end their race-neutral policy of admissions. Abigail Fisher was a (Caucasian) high school senior who applied for admission. Upon rejection, she claimed that using race as a factor violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Court ruled, in a victory for affirmative action supporters, that race can be considered, but under strict scrutiny to determine whether it tailors a compelling state interest. The lower courts did not do this, so their judgement was wrong. -
Obergefell v Hodges
In a 5-4 decision, this holds that the Fourteenth Amendment (both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause) requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages. It states that marriage is a fundamental right which is granted to same-sex couples. It furthermore states that bans on such marriages are unconstitutional, and that marriages performed out-of-state must be recognized in other states. This is probably the biggest victory for the LGBTQ community to date.
