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13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. After Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the Senate and House soon passed the amendment by January 31st, 1865. Within the year, enough states had ratified the amendment for it to become a part of the Constitution. Thus, slavery was abolished, however racist ways still continued. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and rights of citizens. It was adopted to adress the citizenship rights and equal protection of laws after slavery was abolished and African Americans were discriminated against in the South. Many clauses from the amendment have been used to determine the ruling of landmark cases such as Dred Scott v. Sandford. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on a citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This was ratified during the Reconstruction Period in order to limit Jim Crow laws in the South. However, southern states only devleoped new ways to prevent African Americans from voting, such as literacy tests of which most could not pass due to a lack of education. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes made the payment of a tax required before voting. This was used to prevent the suffrage of African Americans and poor whites due to the inability to pay the tax. Eventually, these taxes were outlawed by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment. -
Literacy Tests
Literacy test was the act of a state government administering tests to prospective voters to test their literacy in order to vote. If the prospective voter failed the test, then he was unable to vote. THis was used to prevent minorities from voting due to their inferior education. The act was later ruled unconstitutional in the case of Guinn v. U.S. in 1915. -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow laws were racial segregation state and local laws enacted after the Reconstruction period in the South. These laws were used to maintain the superiority of white people in the south by segregating in schools and most all public places. These laws were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954 in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This was the Supreme Court ruling that required racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". This remained the law until the case of Brown v. Board of Eduacation. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on teh basis of sex. This was a landmark case in women's rights, specifically the right to vote, that came as a culmination of the women's suffrage movement. It overruled a previous case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not give women the right to vote. -
Korematsu v. United States
This event happend during WWII and it was the case in which the Japanese Americans were forced into relocation camps. Fred Korematsu argued that the Executive Order 9066 was unconstitutional and that it violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The supreme court ruled in favor of Korematsu saying that it violated their equal rights. -
Sweatt v. Painter
This was the Suprme Court ruling that challenged the separate but equal doctrine. A black male student was denied admission to a law school in Texas. This violated the fourteenth admendement protecting students equal rights. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This was a landmark United States supreme court case. This determined that separate public schools for black and whites studenst was unconstitutional. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest against the policy of racial segretation in the Montgomery, AL public transit system. It began when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat a person and ended up being arrested. This battle ended on December 20, 1956 when the Sumpreme Court made a ruling that declared segregated buses in Alabama and Montgomery to be unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
President John F. Kennedy passed this law. This was the law that said that government employers could not discriminate agaianst any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin. This helps to eliminate racial discrimination in the work place. -
24th Amendment
The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits requiring a poll tax for voters in federal elections. The taxes were adopted in the late 19th century to prevent the Democratic Party from maintaining control by preventing African Americans and poor whites from voting. This amendment was used to rule that poll taxes at any level of voting are prohibited in teh Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act ended unequal application of voter registration and racial segregation. However, the act requred more power in order to actually make an impact which eventually came. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 pronibits racial discrimination in voting. This act was designed to enforce the voting rights guarenteed by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments by allowing for a mass suffrage of racial minorties throughout the coutnry. The Act was amended many times in order to further ensure voting rights which made this act of the most effective civil rights legislation ever enacted in the U.S. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon the Death fo M.L.K.
Early that day Kennedy was compaigning in South Bend and Muncie, Indiana at major universities. Later, he learned of King's death and attended to plan a rally at 17th and Broadway in the heart of Indy's African-American ghetto. That evening Kennedy addressed the crowd with breif, impassioned remarks for peace that resulted in what is considered to be one of the great public addresses of the modern era. -
Reed v. Reed
This was a case involving sex discrimation. They said that they liked men better and gave the estate to Sally's ex- husband Cecil Reed. The supreme court ruled for the first time that the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment prohibited differential treatment based on sex. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This was another case invovling affirmative action. Bake was in his early thirties and was rejected by the medical he was tring to attend. This violated the fourteenth amendement with the equal protection clause. The courts ruled in favor of Bakke saying that was done to him was unconsituntinal. -
Equal Rights Amendement
this was a amedment passed to give equal rights to women. This part of the nineteenth amendment which granted women the right to vote. It also said that discrimination was not allowed through different sexes. This helped to start the womens equal rights movement. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This was another case involving same sex sexaual activity. They tried to say that same sex oral and anal sex should not be allowed. The courst rueld in favor of homosexuals. They said consenting adults in private can do whatever they want. They ruled that anti- sodomy laws are unconstitutional. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This is a wide ranging law that prohibits discrimation based on disability. This requires empolyers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommmodations. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This court hearing made same sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state and territory. This is protected by the 14th Amendment in the due process. They can do anything they want in private, no matter the sex, as long as they are consenting adults. -
Fisher v. Texas
Abigail Fisher an undergraduate brought this case to court. She asked that race had a appropiate but limited role in admissions to a public university. This case is still up for further consideration. -
Indiana Gay Rights Court Battle
The state of Indiana originally made gay marriage legal. Some people took them to court and made a ban on the marriage illegal again. Just recently the law passed and gays are allowed to marry as they please.
