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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was an enslaved person living in Missouri. He moved to Illinois (a free state) and lived there for many years. Scott returned to Missouri and claimed because he lived in a free state, he was then a free man. Chief Justice Taney also claimed that the Missouri Compromise from 1820 was unconstitutional. This Supreme Court decision ruled that enslaved people did not have rights in federal courts. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was ratified by the House in 1865. This amendment abolished slavery in the United States. This amendment freed more than 100,000 enslaved people in the United States. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment was a constitutional amendment that "granted citizenship to all persons 'born or naturalized in the United States,' including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with 'equal protection under the laws...'". The 14th Amendment is used now in selective incorporation.
(https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/14th-amendment.htm) -
White Primaries
As a result of the disenfranchisement of African American voters, there were several "white primaries", where African American voters did not have a say in elections. -
Poll Taxes
The idea for poll taxes was established in the 1870s to prevent African Americans from voting in elections despite the ratification of the 15th amendment. This is important because it restricted the rights of African Americans despite being given Constitutional rights. -
15th Amendment
This Constitutional amendment gave African American men the right to vote. Although this was a step in the right direction, it took many years until "African Americans could begin to participate fully in American public and civic life".
(https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/15th-amendment). -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A Supreme Court decision that supported racial segregation and created the "separate but equal" doctrine, which was the legal basis for racial segregation for many years. -
19th Amendment
After years of protests for women suffrage, in 1920, Congress ratified a constitutional amendment that legally gave women the right to vote. -
Equal Rights Amendment
A Constitutional amendment was proposed to Congress in 1923 that sought to make men and women equal "in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters". This constitutional amendment, despite being proposed in 1923, has yet to be ratified by Congress.
(https://www.archives.gov/women/era). -
Brown v. Board of Education
This Supreme Court decision decided that the "separate but equal" doctrine was inherently unequal because segregation created a sense of inferiority, and thus had detrimental effects on the education and personal growth of African American children. -
Affirmative Action
A system that is meant to eliminate unlawful discrimination, and is used in college admission processes or in the professional world.
Executive Order 10925 was meant to make government contractors take affirmative action that disregarded race, national origin, or religion in the hiring action. -
24th Amendment
A Constitutional amendment that prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. This is important because poll taxes "disproportionately affected African-American voters" (https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/37045). -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A legislative act that prohibited "discrimination on the basis of race...religion, sex or national origin". This act is so important because it was the "most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction" (https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act). -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This legislative act "outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literary tests as a prerequisite to voting"(https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act). -
Reed v. Reed
A Supreme Court case that decided it was unconstitutional to give a mandatory preference to one sex over the other due to the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
A Supreme Court case that decided the University of California's practice of restricting admissions on the basis of race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
A Supreme Court case that negated a right of privacy and allowed states to form restricting legislation. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
A legislative act passed in 1990 which prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities in a multitude of areas of life - with jobs, schools, transportation, etc. -
Motor Voter Act
Otherwise known as the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, this act made registering to vote easier as citizens can register at DMVs. -
Lawrence v. Texas
A Supreme Court decision that overturned Bowers v. Hardwick and, citing the Due Process clause of the 14th amendment, state governments did not have the power to limit these citizens' rights. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
A Supreme Court decision that decided the right to marry is a fundamental liberty that is protected by the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment, and should be protected with same-sex as well as opposite-sex couples. This Case overall legalized same-sex marriage