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13 th Amendment
the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." In september 1862, following the union victory Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, saying that all slaves still in union territory on January 1, 1863, would be declared free. -
14th Amendment
the 14th amendment granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the united states." this included former slaves, recently freed. it forbids states from denying any person life, liberty or property with out due proccess of law. -
15th Amendment
this amendment basically signifyed the fulfillment of all promises to African Americans. the 15th amandment grants black males the right to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy attempted to sit in an all-white railroad car. After refusing to sit in the black railway carriage car, Plessy was arrested. The Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". -
Jim Crow laws
the jim crow laws mandated de jure segregation in all public places including schools, movie theaters, returaunts, and so on. This created a "sperate but equal" status for African Americans, which led to conditions that were much worse than those provided to white Americans. -
poll taxes
after african americans were given the right to vote, many southern states came up with the idea of poll taxes, this restricted many people who were eligable to vote. a poll tax is basically making someone pay to vote, or to meet specific requiremants such as the grandfather clause. -
literacy test
a literacy test was used to restrict the total number of immigrants.a litreracy test was the practice of testing the literacy of a potential citizen at a federal level and a potential voter at a state level. -
the 19th Amendment
the 19th Amendment garuntees all american women the righ to vote. in the early 1800s women organized protests to try and get the right to vote, but it took them decades to accomplish this. many acctivists were invlved in the push for womes right to vote -
Korematsu v. United States
In 1942 the President issued Executive Order 9906, granting the U.S. military the power to put tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps. Fred Korematsu, an American born citizen but of Japanese descent, refused to leave his home. He was convicted for disobeying the law and he appealed his case to the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court decided against Fred Korematsu and that the law was constitutional. -
Sweatt v. Painter
Marion Sweatt was denied admission into the University of Texas because integrated learning is not allowed. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. -
Brown v. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's 9-0 decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The race-based segregation of children into “separate but equal” public schools is unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
this was a campaign againt racial segragation on the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. it all started when Rosa Parks, an African American was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. they protested for 13 months and it ended up going to the supreme coart, and it ruled that segragation on the public bus system was unconstitutional. -
Ruby Bridges
ruby bridges is known for being the first African American child to attend an all white school. ruby was one of six black children in new orleans to pass the test that dtermned if the could go to an all white school. -
24th Amendment
citizens in some states had to pay a fee to vote in a national election, this was called a poll tax. this Amendement prohibited any poll tax in elections for federal offices. -
civil rights act of 1964
the civil rights act outlawed any dicrimination based upon race, sex, religion, or nationl orgin. it baiscally covers everything in the 14th amendment that grants everyone equal protection and also the 15th which protects voting rights. -
voting right act of 1965
this act prohibits racial discrimination in voting. it was signed by president Lyndon B. Johnson. the act was designed to enforce voting rights garunteed by the 14th and 15th amendment. the act outlaws literacy tests and other things that were used as racial discrimination. -
Loving v. Virginia
Mildred Jeter, a black female, and her childhood sweetheart Richard Loving, a white male, attempted to get married in 1958. The couple was charged because they were living together and were jailed. After a year in prison, the couple left the state and went to live with their family in Washington D.C.. The case made it to the Supreme Court and the ruling was that state bans on interracial marriage was unconstitutional. -
Robert Kennedy speech
Robert kennedy was campaigning to win the 1968 presidential nomination when he found out about the assasination of MLK. he had already spoken at two universitys in indiana and he was on his was to give a campaign speech to a group of african american who had not heard about the assanation, but instead he gave brief peaceful remarks about the assasiation. -
Reed v. Reed
A woman had died and one of the children, Ms. Reed, claimed that males were favored over women when it comes to the divying up estate. the Supreme Court ruled that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. -
Equal rights Amendment
this amendment was designed to gauntee women equal rights. women belived tha they should be on equal terms as men, the amendment was not ratified quickly but the womens activist kept pushing for it and it finally went through -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. But there had to be a minimum of a certain number of seats for minorities. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
A case in which Bowers' privacy was violated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 favo rcriminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals is illegal. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This is an act to establish a clear prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability. This act has the purpose of equality with even the handicapped. -
Affirmative Action
A policy favoring members of a discriminated against group within society. This is intended to improve the opportunities of minorities to give them equal access to those of the majority. -
Lawrence v. Texas
The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 favor allowing same sex sexual activity to be legal in every U.S. state and territory. This case came up because Lawrence and 2 others were caught engaging in sexual activity. -
Fisher v. Texas
Two white female students applied to the University of Texas and were denied. They filed a lawsuit claiming they were denied based on the color of their skin in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The case has bounced from District Courts to even the Supreme Court. On July 15, 2014, the 5th Circuit Court found in favor of the University. Fisher and the associated parties plan to appeal. -
Same Sex Marriage Court Battle in Indiana
At the end of June, there was a period of 2 days or so when gays could legally get married in Indiana. The appeals court brought that to halt by appealing to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Indiana’s gay marriage ban was unconstitutional. Supporters are currently petitioning for their case to go to the Supreme Court.
