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Dred Scott V. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri and resided in Illinois. He filed suit in Missouri court for his freedom claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man. Scott lost and brought a new suit in federal court and lost again with a 7-2 majority vote for Sanford. John McLean later said that men of African descent could be citizens because they already had the right to vote in five states. -
13th Amendment
This amendment ratified in 1865 after the Civil War, abolished slavery in the U.S. It states, "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." -
14th Amendment
This amendment addresses aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens- "equal protection of laws"- Roe v Wade, Brown v Board of Education, Reed v Reed, University of California v Bakke -
15th Amendment
This amendment grants African-American men the right to vote and was adopted into the constitution. Even after this amendment, discriminatory practices were used to prevent blacks from exercising their right to vote. the Voting Act of 1965 finally gave them their true rights under the 15th amendment. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
U.S. Supreme Court's decision under the "separate but equal" doctrine. Plessy argued that his rights were violated and the Supreme Court ruled that the law "implies merely a legal distinction" between white and blacks and it was "not unconstitutional" -
White Primaries
This was just one of the methods used by white democrats to disenfranchise most black men and other minority voters. Laws and constitutions were passed to raise even bigger barriers to voter registrations and eventually completed in all states if the former confederacy. -
19th Amendment
this amendment granted African-American women the right to vote, women's suffrage. When the amendment was finally ratified, almost a century had gone by of protest and it was all over. Groups that led the convention demanded the right to vote as a part of the women's rights movement. After much time and waiting, the groups finally emerged victorious with the 19th amendment being ratified. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In his lawsuit, Brown claimed that schools for black children were not at all equal to the white schools and the segregation created violated the "equal protection clause" of the 14th amendment. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional and helped precedent that "separate but equal" education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action was created to protect minorities and women against discrimination in education, employment, and social benefits. The Equal Protection Clause, the 14th Amendment, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
After the Civil War, this act ended segregation in public places, and banned employment discrimination on race, color, religion, sec, or national origin. In later years, congress expanded the act and passed additional civil rights legislation such as the Voting Rights act of 1965. -
24th Amendment
this amendment outlaws the poll taxes that white southerners were enforcing on African-American citizens trying to vote. the poll-tax exemplified "Jim Crow" Laws, developed post-reconstruction south, which aimed to disenfranchise black voters and institute segregation. Some people even to this day believe that the law could have been a little bit more meaningful and actually enforced what it was trying to do. -
Poll Taxes
These taxes began in the 1890's as a "legal" way to keep African Americans from voting in southern states. They were basically a voting fee which is unconstitutional. A "grandfather clause" excused some poor whites from payment if they had an ancestor who voted before the Civil War but there were no exemptions for African Americans. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This act is considered one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. The Selma to Montgomery March in 1963 got very violent and was broadcasted all over the country. It brought peoples attention up and finally something was done about it. -
Reed v. Reed
This court case was the first to be applied to the 14th amendment as a fight for women's rights. The Idaho Probate Code specified that "males must be preferred to females" in appointing administrators of estates. After the death of their adopted son, both Sally and Cecil Reed sought to be named the administrator of their son's estate. Cecil was appointed but Sally challenged the law in court. The court ruled that the law's dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It wants to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. -
Regents of University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke wanted to go to University of California Medical School at Davis but was rejected multiple times because of his race. The court ruled that the use of race was permissible as one of several admission criteria. The court managed to minimize white opposition to the goal of equality white extending gains for racial minorities through affirmative action. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was found by a Georgia police officer while engaging in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy with another adult in the bedroom of his own home. He was charged with violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy. Harwick challenged in the Federal court and the court ruled that there was no constitutional protection and states could outlaw those practices, This was later overruled by Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government programs and services. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man engaging in private consensual sexual act. They were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two people of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. The court ruled that making it a crime violates the Due Process Clause and overruled the case Bowers v. Hardwick from years before. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Groups of same-sex couples sued their state agencies in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee to challenge their constitutionality of those states' bans same-sex marriage. The court ruled that Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of fundamental liberties it protects. While same-sex marriage might be good and fairy policy, the constitution does not address it.
