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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Blacks are ruled as not American citizens, being labeled as property, and are thus deemed unfit to argue for their freedom in a court. -
13th Amendment
Slavery of any form is banned for all men, save for those within custody of the prison system. -
14th Amendment
Equal rights and protections under the law are promised. Giving the formerly enslaved the same rights as everyone else in theory. Does not work in practice. -
15th Amendment
Ensures the right to vote of all men of acceptable voting age, once again, in theory. In practice not so much. -
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Poll taxes
A sum of money must be paid to a local official to vote, prices are generally set far too high for the poor to afford to pay. -
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White Primaries
Primaries to elect candidates where only white voters were allowed to attend. Leading to only white candidates being chosen as no African Americans could attend to back their selected candidate. -
Plessy V Ferguson
Racial segregation is allowed legally, as long as the separate areas are equal in quality, leading to the phrase "Separate but Equal." -
19th Amendment
Right of women to vote is written into The Constitution. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA was a proposed amendment to end the legal distinctions between males in females in cases of divorce, employment, property and many other matters. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The segregation of public schools is prohibited completely, regardless of the quality of the schools. -
24th Amendment
Congress bans the usage of poll taxes or any taxes of any kind to bar the right of any man to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin is formally banned by the U.S. government. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Denying someones right to vote based on their race is formally banned, yet again, this time with moderately more success. -
Affirmative Action
The preference of a race above others in admissions. -
Reed v. Reed
Administrators prohibited from being required to have a preference of employees based on sexuality. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Affirmative action upheld. Race is allowed to be one of the factors colleges can use to decide acceptance. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Sexual acts of the Oral and Anal nature are prohibited by the Federal government. -
Americans With Disabilities Act
Discrimination against the physically and mentally impaired is prohibited by the government. Acting much like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but for the disabled. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Bowers v. Hardwick overturned, it is ruled that what 2 consenting adults do in the privacy of their home is not an issue of the government's concern . -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Homosexual marriage is no longer prohibited by the Federal Government.