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Poll Tax
Poll Taxes were levied against all voting adults in the United States up until the 24th Amendment. These taxes stopped poor minorities from voting and thus swaying the national opinion. -
Literacy Tests
Literacy Tests were a way for voting booths to stop uneducated or illiterate minorities from voting and having a say in American Politics. -
13th Amendment
This amendment elimenated slavery from the United States. Thus making all proior slaves full citizens. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted all citizens of the United States equal protection under the law. This granted all races, genders, etc. equal rights under the law and that no body of government could infringe upon that right without due process of the law. -
15th Amendment
This amendment made it illegal to hinder the vote of other colors, races, or previous condition of servitude. Therfore making it so all men, who are citizens, of the United States can vote. Although this will not be fully realized until nearly a century after it is ratified. -
Jim Crow Laws
From 1876 to 1965 these laws were put in place to stop African Americans from having the same rights as white ctizens. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
This case held that segregation by law was legal in the United States. Further increasing the problem for years to come. -
19th Amendment
Passed by Congress and then ratifed on August 18, 1920, this amendment gave women the right to vote. This was a major milestone on the path to civil equality. -
Korematsu vs. United States
This case decided that the government's need to stop espoinage outwieghed an individuals rights. The case decided that within a state of emergency and peril the government need over powers individual need. -
Sweatt vs. Painter
In this court case the supreme court decided that the school had gone against the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th amendment. Therefore, the man was admitted to the school of law. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Unanimously decided that segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause and was therefore unconstitutional. This led to the desegregation of all schools in the U.S.A. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges is the first African American to attend an all white school in the South. This will lead to the eventual desegragation of all schools. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This boycott was the a long term boycott of the public transportation system. It eventually led to the elimenation of segragation on public transportation. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This law made it so that employers can no longer discriminate against hiring, promoting, or firing people based on sex and race. Therefore making people much more equal in the world of jobs. -
24th Amendment
This amendment ended the poll tax. Making it so that other less fortunate citizens could add their vote to the say of the American public. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Made the use of literacy tests to stop voting illegal. Therefore allowing more minorities to vote. -
Loving vs. Virginia
The courts decided that it was completely against the 14th Amendment for the States to decide who can and can not marry. Leading to the allowance for people of all races to be able to marry one another. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon the Death of MLK
It is in the this speech that Robert Kennedy broke the news of MLK's death to the nation (was it broadcasted?). Even though advised to not give a speech he did it anyways because he felt that the nation needed to know. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This amendment would have given all equal rights under the constitution. Making this idea a written one instead of an implied one. -
Reed vs. Reed
The dissimlar treatment of men and women within the law was unanimously deemed unconstitutional and this case has carried through to many others saying that laws can not favor one sex over the other. -
Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke
The case was torn that the racial quotas held by schools was against the Equal Protection Clause. But the court sided with Bakke. -
Bowers vs. Hardwick
The court found that there was no constitutional protection for sodomy. And held that the states could outlaw such actions. -
Americans With Disabilities Act
This act once passed forced all employers under certain constraints to have to employ people with disabilities. Therefore stopping the discrimination against disabled people. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmitive action makes it so that minorities, women, disabled people, and covered vetrans should be recruited and advanced within businesses. -
Lawrence vs. Texas
The Due Process Clause protected the right of two constenting adults to do whatever sexual actions they choose in private. -
Fisher vs. Texas
Is the quetion of race a consideration for undergraduate admissions? Yes, but only under the strict judical scrutiny. The question must not be on the terms of favoring a specific race but on of achieving racial diversity within the campus. -
Indiana Gay Rights Court Battle
The importance of this case is that both the local and the appeals courts have decided that laws against gay peoples having the right to marry are unconstitutional and now the case is being brought to the supreme court. This case could very well be the deciding factor in gay rights.
