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13th Amendment
• Abolished slavery, except for as a punishment for a crime.
• Passed by the Senate on April 8th, 1864
• June 15, 1864 - The House of Representatives initially defeated the 13th Amendment by a vote of 93 in favor, 65 opposed, and 23 not voting, which is less than the two-thirds majority needed to pass a Constitutional Amendment.
• Passed by the house on January 31st, 1865
• Adopted on December 6, 1865.
• Was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments -
14th Amendment
• Granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”, including former slaves, and forbid the states to deny any person “life, liberty or property without due process of law”.
• Greatly expanded the protection of civil rights to all Americans, and is cited in more litigation than any other amendment.
• Ratified July 9th, 1868. -
15th Amendment
• Granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that “the right of the citizens, of the united states or by any state, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.”
• House of Representatives passed on February 25th, 1869.
• Senate passed the amendment on February 26th, 1869.
• Secretary of State Hamilton Fish issued a proclamation certifying the ratification of the 15th amendment. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Court decision that 'seperate but equal' was not unfair. The case was incorrect due to the fact that the black's everything was in poorer condition. -
Jim Crow
• Laws that were racial segregation laws put in to effect between 1876 and 1965.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
• In December of 1955, Rosa Parks sat down in the front of the bus after a long day at work.
• The front seats were for when the bus was full and for white passengers only.
• The Montgomery bus driver ordered Parks and three other African Americans to move to the back of the bus.
• Parks did not comply with what the bus driver asked.
• Parks was then arrested for not complying with the driv -
Poll Taxes
• “Implicit pre-condition of the exercise of the ability to vote.”
• Came into effect in the late 19th century as part of the Jim Crow laws. -
Literacy Tests
• Government practice, testing the literacy of citizens in order to vote
• Began in the 1890’s to the 1960’s. -
19th Amendment
• Ratified on august 18th, 1920.
• Granted American women the right to vote (suffrage) -
Korematsu v. United States
Concerned the Executive Order 9066. This order put Japanese Americans in internment camps during WWII. -
Sweatt v. Painter
This court decision successfully challenged the seperate but equal case. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Seperate public schools would have to intergrate due to the unkept and poor condition of the public black schools. The schools after tried to begin intergration. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A boycott where blacks walked instead of taking public transportation. This all begun with the brave Rosa Parks. This lasted for 19 days until a federal ruling decided that the segregation in the public transportation was unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
"Positive Discrimination" or Affirmative action is the process in which you favor a member of a suffering minority group. -
24th Amendment
• Passed on August 27, 1962.
• Outlawed the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections.
• Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas kept poll taxes.
• On January 23rd, 1964, the 24th amendment became a part of the constitution when South Dakota ratified it. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination upon race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
• Proposed by John F. Kennedy, and was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson.
• Congress expanded the acct and passed additional legislation, aiming to bring equality to African Americans like voting rights act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
• Signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson during the climax of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6th, 1965. -
Robert Kennedy Speech upon Death of MLK
• New York Senator, was campaigning to win the 1968 Democratic Presidential nomination.
• Speech was given on April 4th, 1968
• This speech was in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Kennedy spoke about King, and now his speech is considered one of the greatest public addresses. -
Reed v. Reed
Administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes -
Equal Rights Amendment
• "Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
• Guarantee equal rights for women.
• Introduced in 1923.
• March 22nd, 1972 the act passed through both houses and went to state legislatures for ratification. -
Regents of University of California v. Bakke
After a white male trying to enroll in the University of California was denied, he found out he had better test scores than a black male trying to enroll and did not make it over the black male due to the color of his skin. This showed an example of Affirmative Action. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This case was held after two gay males were arrested for having sexual relations in their own home. It found oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals was constitutional. -
Americans With Disabilities Act
Declared a prohibition to the discrimination of unabled body people. This bill was authored by Tom Harkin who gave the beginning of his speech in sign language for his deaf brother. -
Lawrence v. Texas
A Texas law classifying consensual, adult homosexual intercourse as illegal sodomy violated the privacy and liberty of adults to engage in private intimate conduct under the 14th Amendment. Texas state courts reversed and charges dismissed -
Fisher v. Texas
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals failed to apply strict scrutiny in its decision affirming the admissions policy. The decision is vacated, and the case remanded for further consideration -
Court Battles for Indiana's Gay Rights
Indiana and Wisconsin both have asked the nation's highest court to uphold their respective bans in appeals from a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling earlier in September that overturned bans in both states.
