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Civil Rights Timeline
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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford was a landmark case that decided that citizenship didn't include African Americans. And that Dred Scott didn't have citizenship and he had no standing to sue. -
13th Amendment
The thirteens amendment formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the US. -
14th Amendment
The amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War. -
15th Amendment
This amendment gave the right to freely vote to all citizens, which includes african americans due to the 14th amendment -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. -
White Primaries
White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. And was one method used by white Democrats to disenfranchise most black and other minority voters. Was ended in 1923 by the supreme court. -
Brown V. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that American state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were often used to prevent African Americans from voting in southern states and a few northern states. The 24th Amendment abolished the Poll Tax in 1964. -
24th Amendment
United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action must be taken by covered employers to recruit and advance qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. Affirmative actions include training programs, outreach efforts, and other positive steps. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. This “act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution” was signed into law 95 years after the amendment was ratified. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed became the first U.S. Supreme Court case to declare sex discrimination a violation of the 14th Amendment. In Reed v. Reed, the Court held that an Idaho law's unequal treatment of men and women based on sex when selecting administrators of estates was a violation of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. -
Regents of the University of California V. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
In Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
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. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. -
Lawrence V. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that American laws prohibiting private homosexual activity between consenting adults are unconstitutional. -
Obergefell V. Hodges
Obergefell v. Hodges is a landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
