-
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri, but moved to and lived as a free man in Illinois and the Louisiana Territory. When he returned to Missouri, he filed a suit for his freedom. The court dismissed his case, claiming that an African American could not be a citizen, didn't have standing to sue, and couldn't deny a slave owner the right to their property. The case declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional and determined that slaves were property. It was a major set back. -
The 13th Amendment
This amendment was one of the civil war amendments. It abolished slavery in the United States. While the ratification of the amendment didn't have immediate effects, it was the start of the period of Reconstruction and eventual freedom from slavery for all African Americans. The amendment empowered legislators to make laws to enforce it and was soon invoked in the passage of laws banning black codes, among other things. -
The 14th Amendment
This civil war amendment granted all male Americans citizenship and equal protection of the law. This amendment has been used as the basis of court cases on discrimination (both racial and gender), including Brown v. Board and Roe v. Wade. All African Americans were granted citizenship, contradicting Scott v. Sanford. Naturalized Americans were also granted citizenship. -
White Primaries
The use of white primaries in the South was another part of the Jim Crow laws. The Democratic Party had virtually taken control of Southern politics, and white voters wanted to keep it that way. Sometimes, there were outright bans on non-white voters in the primaries. The Democratic Party would deny membership to black voters. The exclusion of black voters in the primaries ensured that the candidates for office were all white and almost entirely Democrat. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This Supreme Court case was a major setback to the advancement of African American civil rights. Homer Plessy was a biracial man living in the South who sat in a whites-only train car and was arrested for not moving. The court ruled that separate but equal facilities were constitutional. This ruling was later struck down with Brown v. Board of Education, but it would be decades before segregation finally began to unravel. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were in use from the 1890s until 1964, even 1966 in some states. They were specifically designed to target black voters, especially in the South. A grandfather clause on the tax stated that anyone too poor to pay it who had an ancestor who voted before the Civil War could be exempt. Since most African Americans couldn't vote until after the Civil War, most of them couldn't afford to pay the poll tax and received no exemption. -
The 19th Amendment
The women's suffrage movement began decades before the passage of the 19th amendment that granted women's suffrage. Activists for women's rights were key in the abolition movement but felt slighted when the 15th amendment granted voting rights to men only. Women's roles in World War 1 and militant protests finally pushed the government over the edge, and the 19th amendment was passed. It was landmark legislation that progressed women's rights on a national scale. -
The Equal Rights Amendment
The National Women's Party initially proposed an equal rights amendment to constitutionally ban discrimination based on gender and include women in the constitution. The feminist movement of the 60s and 70s brought it back with fervent urgency, believing it was the only way to equality. It nearly passed with 30/38 states needed, until a huge anti-ERA movement began. The buzz about the ERA has never quite died out, even today. It was considered a blow to gender equality in the US. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In an unprecedented reversal, the Supreme Court ruled that separate facilities were inherently unequal, therefore violating the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The case was a lawsuit of African American students who were denied admission to all-white schools. The decision reversed Plessy v. Ferguson and initiated the long and grueling process of desegregation (particularly in the South). -
Affirmative Action
John F Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 in 1961, coining the term affirmative action. The order required employers to fairly hire individuals without regard for their race or origin. Over time, affirmative action was extended to women, veterans, disabled people, and more. Affirmative action gives preferential treatment to disadvantaged groups in order to balance out deeply rooted inequality. Society has become distant to many of these sources, leading to calls for its end. -
The 24th Amendment
This amendment abolished poll taxes. Prior to the passage of the amendment, poll taxes were used in the South to discourage African Americans from voting. They were disproportionately affected by the poll taxes, which were a part of the legislative movement of Jim Crow laws that attempted to perpetuate segregation and racial discrimination. This amendment was a massive gain in civil rights after the stall in the post-reconstruction era. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Proposed by John F Kennedy and signed by Lyndon B Johnson, this law was the biggest civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. This act banned discrimination and segregation in public places (schools, public accommodations). Discrimination was also prohibited in employment. This act was the key to school integration and the advancement of civil rights in America after many years at a standstill. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This law was passed shortly after the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Johnson signed the act into law in response to the violence against peaceful protestors in Selma, Alabama. The act banned discriminatory poll practices, like literacy tests. This act helped to deconstruct the discriminatory practices of many of the Southern states. Very few African Americans were registered to vote prior to its passage due to intimidation. The federal government asserted its role in ending this. -
Reed v. Reed
Sally and Cecil Reed were a separated couple when their adopted son died. Idaho's Probate Code stated that a male relative would be preferred to a female relative as the administrator of his estate. The court ruled that the code violated the 14th amendment due to its blatant sexual discrimination. This case represents the deep roots of property and marital laws that systematically discriminated against women and their slow dismantling. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case addressed affirmative action. Bakke was a man applying to a medical school that had a racial quota of making 16/100 students minorities. Bakke had higher test scores than all 16 but was still rejected. The court ruled that the racial quota violated the Civil Rights Act and discriminated against Bakke, a white man. However, the court also allowed race to be a factor in college admissions. The ruling struck down quotas but not affirmative action. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
A man named Michael Hardwick was arrested for having consensual homosexual sodomy, which violated Georgia's anti-sodomy laws. Hardwick actually won his case in a Court of Appeals, but Georgia petitioned to the Supreme Court. The court decided that sodomy was not constitutionally protected. The justices reasoned that protected rights in the Constitution are based on liberty, order, and tradition, so sodomy was not included. The decision was a disappointment to the LGBT rights movement. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the ADA was one of the most comprehensive pieces of equality legislature. It protects all disabled persons from discrimination in the work-place, government programs, and purchasing goods/services. Prior to this legislation, disabled people were discriminated against, considered "unemployable" and, during a eugenics movement in the early 20th century, a degradation to society. The ADA has allowed people to enjoy culture and public life. -
Lawrence v. Texas
During a police call, two men were seen engaged in a sexual act and were arrested for violating a homosexual conduct law. The court decided that the code was unconstitutional because states have no legitimate interest in private lives, thereby overruling Bowers v. Hardwick. The court invoked the due process clause of the 14th amendment. The decision was a landmark for LGBT rights and helped decriminalize homosexuality. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This court case was a huge, controversial decision to legalize same-sex marriage in America. A group of same-sex couples challenged the laws in their states prohibiting same-sex marriage, taking it to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal from the due process clause of the 14th amendment. They determined that marriage is a fundamental part of social order, thereby constitutionally protected for order and liberty.
