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Dred Scott v. Sandford
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution, black people were not allowed to have American citizenship. It did not matter if they were free or not, they still did not have the privileges that the Constitution gives to the American citizens. This case was created because of Dred Scott, a slave in Missouri (a slave-holding state) and then he was taken to Missouri Territory (a "free" territory) and he sued for technically being set free in the territory. -
13th Amendment
This amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in all cases except punishment. The 13th started Lincoln's dream of union and reconstruction in the South, although the amendment was heavily undercut in its first years due to white supremacy from groups like the KKK, Jim Crow laws and other black codes, and so on. The amendment was passed in April of 1864 but took 9 months to be ratified by the states. -
14th Amendment
The second of the reconstruction amendments, the 14th established that anybody born or naturalized in the United States were citizens with no exception. The purpose of this law was to bar the oppression of minorities, specifically black citizens, by guaranteeing their constitutional rights as citizens. Again, however, white supremacy in the South made it difficult for this amendment to be effectively implemented. -
15th Amendment
The third and final reconstruction amendment, the 15th attempted to guarantee the right to vote to all racial minorities (but primarily male, black ex-slaves). Like the other two amendments, this one was met with Southern resistance, specifically with rules like the grandfather clause. These rules restricted voting based on ancestry and other arbitrary requirements, so full implementation took longer. Nearly a year passed before the amendment was ratified after being passed by the Senate. -
Poll Taxes
Though "the 1890s" is the ambiguous time frame for these taxes due to implementation in different states, they all made an effort to restrict freed black men from voting. Though they would be fair in theory, charging money for voting disproportionately affected minorities, as more were poor and couldn't afford the tax. Though later abolished by the 24th Amendment, they remained discriminatory parts of American democracy for decades. -
White Primaries
As they sound, white primaries were primary elections in which only white citizens were allowed to attend. Wholly straightforward, white Southerners wanted to exclude black citizens from voting by any means necessary. South Carolina maintained their racist history and pioneered the practice, with the first white primaries roughly taking place in 1896 with other southern states following suit. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
In this case, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation in public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality. The doctrine that came out of this case is called "separate but equal." This case was about a New Orleans citizens, Homer Plessy, who deliberately violated Louisiana's Separate Car Act. He appealed his initial loss and his conviction was affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court. -
19th Amendment
This amendment prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. This amendment was introduced to Congress many times before it was ratified. But then this Amendment allowed women suffrage to become legal. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In 1954, this landmark case decided that "separate but equal" was not a constitutional policy and that schools could no longer be segregated. This case is commonly contrasted with Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), as Brown v. Board invalidated many of the precedents set by the former. Brown v. Board was a huge step forward in equality and is seen with due significance. -
Affirmative Action
The practice of affirmative action favors minorities in education and employment to compensate for past discrimination. Affirmative action was implemented to counteract the socioeconomic disadvantages that many minority communities face. Though it has been criticized as forced diversity and reverse racism, many minority Americans have made strides through this program. The term was first used by President John F. Kennedy on the corresponding date. -
24th Amendment
This amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. When the 24th Amendment was ratified by the states, there were still five that had a poll tax (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia). But it was not until 1966, when the Supreme Court ruled that poll taxes for any level of elections were unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act 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 does not allow segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. It also prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements. It was difficult, at first, to enforce the act, but then it got easier to enforce it during the years. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act prohibits the racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President L.B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement and then Congress later amended the act five times to expand its protections.It also secured the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially the South. -
Reed v. Reed
This case was an Equal Protection case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. This case was formed because Sally and Cecil Reed (a married couple who got divorced) were in conflict over which of them to designate as administrator of the estate of their deceased son. Each of them filed a petition to be named, and they got back, "males must be preferred to females." But then it came out to be unconstitutional. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This amendment is designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Its effort is to seek to end legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. In the early times of this amendment, many middle-class women favored the amendment while many others did not. It was meant to point out that the employed women are in need to be treated more equally. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case saw Bakke, a medical student, suing the University of California over admissions; Bakke had better scores than all the minorities guaranteed by affirmative action, but was rejected because of his race. The justices split up the case, deciding that a specific quota (as was used by UC) was not allowed and Bakke should be accepted, but that race was still a viable factor in the admissions process. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
In this case, the Supreme Court rules that the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults, in this case with respect to homosexual sodomy, but the law did not differentiate between homosexual sodomy and heterosexual sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The act also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations. -
Lawrence v. Texas
In this case, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were having consensual sexual intercourse when the police barged in. The two men were arrested based on a Texas statute on sexual deviancy, and the case was brought to the Supreme Court. The ruling was that the Texas statute violated the 14th Amendment, and the decision gave LGBT Americans much more freedom to live as they were. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This case is a landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court 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 14th Amendment. This case caused all 50 states to allow same-sex marriage to be constitutional.
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