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Poll Taxes
Poll taxes was introduced in the 1800’s in order to prevent blacks from voting. Many recently freed blacks didn’t have the reading and writing skills to take a literacy test, so this was the alternate for them to vote. Although, many couldn’t afford it either so they didn’t vote at all. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The 13th Amendment was important because it created a constitutional amendment that banned slavery in all of the American states. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. This basically means that you have to apply the law to everyone. It is an expansion of the fifth amendment, and was intended to override the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision of 1858 which stated that African-Americans were not entitled to basic civil rights. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment granted African American men the right to vote. This was significant because it was almost like a turning point for African American rights. -
Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws created forced segregation in the public school system, kept African Americans from riding in the same section of public buses as Caucasians, kept many African Americans from moving out of segregated neighborhoods, and often made it difficult for African Americans to vote. -
Literacy Tests
Literacy tests were a government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level. On the other hand, many southern states just used the literacy test to keep black people from voting. These tests worked because blacks were not allowed to recieve an education up until after this time, so they couldn't read or write, making this test impossible for them to pass. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Homer A. Plessy was arrested and jailed for boarding a car of the East Louisiana Railroad that was designated for use by white patrons only. The case was brought to the supreme court and in a 7 to 1 decision the "separate but equal" provision was found to be constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. It was ratified on August 18, 1920. Since the mid 1800’s, women had been fighting for the right to vote and this proved to be a huge milestone for not just women but all of those who are discriminated against. -
Korematsu vs. United States
After Pearl Harbor, the US dictated that all citizens of Japenese decent be moved to internment camps. Fred Korematsu, being an American citizen, refused to leave. Basically the Supreme Court ruled against him saying they could force him into these camps because of security, and the well being of the nation. -
Sweatt vs. Painter
Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School. State law restricted access to the university to whites, and Sweatt's application was automatically rejected because of his race. The Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The Supreme Court ruled that State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This is significant because it marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 13 months and it was a protest restulting in the Supreme Court ruling that segregation for a public transport, like buses, was unconstituational. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination. These policies and programs are made to ensure that qualified individuals have equal access to opportunity and are given a fair chance to contribute their abilities. -
24th Amendment
24th amendment ended the poll tax in elections for federal officials. The 24th amendment is important because African Americans in the South faced significant discrimination and could not vote for elected officials that would work to end the discrimination. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The act made discrimination in public places illegal. No more white/black water fountains, bathrooms, or schools. This was significant because it was the biggest act since Reconstruction in the South. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act made it illegal to discriminate against black people's rights to vote. The act took away the literacy test for blacks. The significance of this act is that both the Federal and State government made voting discrimination illegal. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon death of MLK
Describes the extremely passionate that Robert Kennedy gave on the evening that Martin Luther King J.R. was shot. During the speech, Kennedy relates to the black community about their hatred and the temptation of retribution. This is significant because this showed that Robert Kennedy was a man of the people and would have easily gotten elected president. -
Reed vs. Reed
This was an equal protection case resulting in the Supreme Court ruling that the administrators of estates can't be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. This was a break through for womens rights. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA was designed to guaruntee equal rights to women. The Hayden Rider said "The provisions of this article shall not be construed to impair any rights, benefits, or exemptions now or hereafter conferred by law upon persons of the female sex." This is significant because women now are finally getting more equal treatment. -
Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke
Bakke was being discriminated againts by the University of California due to him being white. UC wanted a diverse student body. Even though Bakke had a higher GPA, they still discriminated. The supreme court ruled that race could be one of the factors considered in choosing a diverse student body in university admissions decisions. The Court also held, however, that the use of quotas in such affirmative action programs was not permissible. After UC had 16% minority rate, Bakke was admitted in. -
Bowers vs. Hardwick
The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual sodomy. The court also ruled that this was not an invasion of privacy, because sodomy has no link to marrige, family, or relationships. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act made it so that people with disabilities could not be discriminated against in the work place, public places, accomidations, and telecommunication. This was significant because it was the nation's first comprehensive civil rights law addressing the needs of people with disabilities. -
Fisher vs. Texas
Fisher sued UT because she was not admitted because she is white. UT states that she would not have been admitted anyways, even if she had not been white. This case is significant because the Supreme Court ruled a 4-4 descision so they punted to case to the 5th circut. -
Lawrence vs. Texas
The Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning homosexual and sodomy are unconstitutional as a violation of the right to privacy. The court also ruled that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause because that clause protects a substantive right to personal liberty in intimate decisions. -
Indiana Gay Rights
Indiana has restricted marrige to only males and females since 1986 with Bowers vs. Hardwick and Lawrence vs. Texas. In 2011, the proposal passed by the House and Senate was "Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized."
