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Civil Rights
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Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott, a slave in Missouri, resided in Illinois (a free state) for some time, and also in an area that was part of the Louisiana Territory (where slavery was made illegal by the Missouri Compromise). Scott sued the courts in Missouri or his freedom, where he ended up losing. He then brought a new case to the federal court, saying that he deserved to be a citizen under the Missouri Compromise. Ultimately, the court decided he was a slave. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were used as a form of de facto segregation during the 19th century. Specifically, these taxes were designed in response to the 15th amendment in a further attempt to discourage voting by African Americans. -
White Primaries
White primaries were primary elections in the southern states which prohibited any non-white voters from participating in the primary. This was another attempt by racist white southerners to discourage blacks from voting. -
13th Amendment
o The thirteenth amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Slavery, having been protected by the constitution through clauses similar to and including the Three-Fifths Compromise, was no longer acceptable. However, things like the black codes, and white supremacist violence still loomed. -
14th Amendment
o As one of the Reconstruction Amendments, the fourteenth amendment guarantees citizenship rights and equal protection of laws. The fourteenth amendment was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the Civil War. Southern states were especially against it, but were forced to ratify it in order to be represented in congress. -
15th Amendment
o The 14th amendment prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This amendment was an effort to protect to protect the voting rights of African Americans, but nonetheless things like poll taxes and literacy tests were implemented to keep them off the ballots after the amendment had been interpreted narrowly in prior court cases. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A landmark United States Supreme Court case that justified "seperate but equal". The law required racial segregation in public facilities. The court handed down a 7 to 1 decision but overturned several decades later because facilities were shown to be unequal. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment prohibits any citizen from being denied the right to vote based on gender. Just after the civil war, this amendment came about during a surge in the fight for women’s rights, specifically women’s suffrage. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A United States Supreme Court case that overturned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. Seperated schools were shown not to have equal facilities. The 9-0 decision that "seperate educational facilities are inherently unequal" resulted in de jure racial segregation in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is the policy of providing special opportunities for a disadvantaged group who suffer from discrimination. The term was first used in the United States in Executive Order 10925 and was signed by President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961. -
24th Amendment
o The 24th amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal election of a poll tax or other types of tax. After poll taxes were a commonality in the southern states to keep blacks off the ballots, this amendment was adopted in order to it unconstitutional to implement a poll tax. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
o The Civil Rights Act of 1964 highlights one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever put forth. Essentially, the act outlawed discrimination based on race, color religion, sex, or national origin. It was especially significant because it end racial segregation in schools and the work place, as well as unequal application of voter registration. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 acted as a corollary to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by prohibiting discrimination in voting. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the act was put forth with intentions to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th amendments. -
Reed v. Reed
An Equal Protection case in the U.S. Supreme Court. A seperated married couple were in a conflict over their deceased sons estate. Idaho granted the male the administrator of the estate due to Idaho Code which states, "males must be preferred to females". This law was ruled unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
A proposed amendment, to the United States Constitution constructed to grant equal rights for women. Written by Alice Paul, the ERA made ground in 1972 when it passed both houses of Congress, and it went to the states for ratification. However, it failed to earn the 38 votes it needed to pass. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
A landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of the several factors in college admission policy. However,the court decided in this specific case that the automatic 16 out of 100 seats set aside for minorities were impermissible. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld Georgia's sodomy law criminalizing sexual activity between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals. This decision was overturned in 2003 -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA was a law enacted by the U.S. Congress. The law forbids discrimination based on disability. Disability is defined by the ADA as " a physical or mental impariment that substantially limits a major life activity." The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case by case basis. -
Lawerence v. Texas
The U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned the Bowers v. Hardwick ruling. In a 6-3 decision that struck down the sodomy law in Texas. This made same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. State. -
Fisher v. Texas
A United States Supreme Court Case concerning affirmative action. Abagail Fisher was denied admission to the University of Texas and she believed it was due to the college's policy to consider race as part of the admission process. In a 7-1 decision the Court upheld the University's policy.
