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Poll Tax
(This event does not have a specific date. It takes place around 1865-1877) A poll tax is a tax that is imposed equally on all adults at the time of voting. The poll tax isn't affected by property or income. It was used as means of circumventing the 14th amendment and denying civil rights to blacks. -
13th Amendment
This amendment declared that "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." The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War before the Southern states had been restored to the Union and should have easily passed the Congress. -
14th Amendment
In July of the year 1868 the 14th amendment was ratified. This amendment granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." This amendment also forbids states from denying "life, liberty, or property, without due process. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote. It declared that "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Jim Crow
(This event does not have a certain date but it ocurred during the time period of 1876-1965)
The Jim Crow laws were racial segregation laws. Some Jim Crow laws were the segregation of public schools, public places and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants and drinking fountains for whites and blacks. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". His 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. It stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African-American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car, breaking a Louisiana law -
19th Amendment
This amendment was passed by congress June 4, 1919. The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. The struggle to make the 19th amendment possible began in the mid-19th century. Few of the people who supported it early on lived to see the final victory in 1920. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment, also known as The ERA, affirms the equal application of the constitution to anyone regardless of their sex. The ERA was written in 1923 by a woman named Alice Paul. The first time it was proposed to every state it was short 3 states from being ratified. -
Korematsu v. United States
In the case of Korematsu v. The United States problems were seen in the executive order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. The court ended up siding with the government, and said that what they were doing was constitutional. The decision that was made has been very controversial. -
Sweatt v. Painter
The case involved a black man, Heman Marion Sweatt, who was refused admission to the School of Law of the University of Texas, whose president was Theophilus Painter, on the grounds that the Texas State Constitution prohibited integrated education. At the time, no law school in Texas would admit black students, or, in the language of the time, "negro" students. -
Brown v Board of Education
The Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "seperate but equal." On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest compaign.People campaigned against against the policy of racial segragation on public transportation systems. It all began with an African American woman, Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on a bus. -
Literacy Tests
(There is no specific date for this event, but we know that it started in the 1960's) In the context of American political history it refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at federal level. Although the literacy tests are said to be applicable to both black and white; prospective voters who couldn't prove a certain level of education, are actually disproportionally administered to black voters. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment allowed for more people to cast their vote. This amendment put an end to the poll tax. This allowed for more people to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an act that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 works to enforce the 15th amendment in the constitution. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the act is considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon Death of MLK
On the day of King's death Kennedy was going around giving speeches throughout Indiana. He had heard about his death but did not want to stop going around to voice his opinion. Kennedy spoke about peace in his speech, which is seen more today than it was back then. -
Reed v. Reed
The Reeds were a married couple who had seperated and were in conflict over who would designate as administrator of the estate of their deceased son. After hearing both sides the Supreme Court ruled for the first time in Reed v. Reed that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited differential treatment based on sex. -
Regents of the University of California z. Bakke
Decided June 28, 1978, This case presents a challenge to the special admissions program of the petitioner, the Medical School of the University of California at Davis, which is designed to assure the admission. -
Bowers v Hardwick
The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual sodomy. The case began back in 1982 when the police walked into a room where two men were found engaging in oral sex. The police arrested both of the men on charges that stated things against gays. The supreme court ruled against the men. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
• (1990) an act to establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability, and was inactive by 101st United Sates Congress. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. -
Lawrence v Texas
The Court decided that homosexuals had a protected liberty interest to engage in private, sexual activity. Kennedy wrote that the men in the case were entitled to privacy and respect for their personal lives. -
Fisher v. Texas
• On October 10, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for Fisher v. University of Texas. The petitioner, Abigail Fisher, a white student, challenged the university's consideration of race in the undergraduate admissions process. Fisher, who was denied admission to UT Austin in fall 2008, argued that UT's use of race in admissions decisions violated her right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Afirmaive Action
Can also be called positive discrimination. Which is the policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group who are perceived to suffer from discrimination within a culture. In the United States, affirmative action refers to equal opportunity employment measures that Federal contractors and subcontractors are legally required to adopt. These measures are intended to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of "color, religion, sex, or national origin. T -
Include on the timeline an entry about Indiana’s gay rights court battle (2014)
• Same-sex couples hoping to get married in Indiana will have to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court addresses the question of whether gay marriage bans are constitutional. Although Indiana's gay marriage ban remains in effect, the state has agreed to recognize two out-of-state marriages involving same-sex couples who live in Indiana. Those two cases involve two lesbian couples where one of the women's partners is battling ovarian cancer.
