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13th Amendment
This event was significant in that it was such a huge leap forward for the U.S. Slavery had always been an intregral part of the economy and the way of life up until its adoption. It was a great change for the U.S. that affected nearly every facet of the country in some way. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted equal rights to any persons under the law. Though this seems like a pretty encompassing statement, there were still many groups of people that did not have all the same protections under the law, it would be a long time before everything was equalized. -
15th Amendment
The amendment prevents the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". This is significant in that it gives this right to all men, no matter what. There were many disagreements about this and many things were done to continue preventing them from voting. -
Origination of Jim Crow Laws
These laws were not just one specific case, they arose and were gotten rid of over several years spanning from the 1890's to the 1960's. They were a backlash from the blacks gaining their rights and the refusal of the others to accept them into society. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A Supreme Court case where the court upheld the constitutionality of state laws requireing racial segregation in public facilities. The used the "seperate but equal" doctorine. The vote was handed down by a 7 to 1 decision. -
19th Amendment
Ratified on August 18, 1920. The 19th Amendment prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. It gives women the right to vote. -
Korematsu v. United States
This is that Japanese people no matter if they had citizenship to the US they had to report to the internment camps in America. The Government said that this would protect against people trying to plan inside of the US. In the end the court had decided to say that the case had nothing to do with racial prejudice which in turn the United States had won and Korematsu had lost. -
Literacy Test
It was a governmental practice in the United States from the 1890's to the 1960's. It tested the literacy of potential citizens at federal level. It also tested potential voters at state level. -
Sweatt v. Painter
A U.S. Supreme Court case that successfully challenged the seperate but equal doctorine of racial segregation. What established racial segregation was the court case of Plessy v. Ferguson. This case was also used in the Brown v. Board of Education case. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A U.S. Supreme Court case where the court declared that states who had established seperate public schools for blacks and whites was unconstitutional. The decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision was made on May 17, 1954 -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby marked one of the hottest disputes during the desegregation era. Up until then schools had been segregated and it was a huge change for them to allow black people into traditionally white schools. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This event was significant in that it was a large step forward for blacks. They stood up for themselves and their rights and forced a monumental ruling that started to shatter the segregation laws that had been in place for a long time. -
Affirmative Action
This is the act of judging or discriminating on the basis of culture or the colour of their skin. Such as if you apply at a college and they do not accept you on the behalf that you are the minority and they do not want you because of that fact then this is what affirmative action helps to prevent. So that everyone has the equal rights to do everything. -
24th Amendment
This amendment was significant because it finally ended the discrimination that states could use against minorities. Nowadays the ability to vote is basically equally available to all persons. -
Poll Taxes
It was a practice in the United States and was huge duing the Jim Crow Laws. The reason it was soo big during thhis time was that since every race was given the right to vote, poll taxes were huge. However, the 24th Amendment came about in 1964 and abolished the poll tax -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act put an end to just about every form of discrimination still present in the U.S. For our entire history we had been segregated in at least some form. And now for the first time it was all outlawed. It obviously took some time to fully implement but it was still a big step forward for the U.S. and was the last major piece of legislation concerning this issue. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. This law gives colored people the right to vote. No one can tell them otherwise -
Loving v. Virginia
This court case is about interacial marriages and if they are legal or not legal. This case had been brought up because the couple that had gotten married a white male and a black women had been sentenced to a year in jail for marrying one another. They brought the case to court and the court agreed that they could marry. -
Robert Kennedy Speech on MLK
This event was significant for Robert Kennedy and white politicians in that they fully supported stopping all the violence and such that was ocurring between blacks and whites. He took a firm stand by going through with the speech even against the danger of riots and violence. -
Reed V. Reed
This case is about the gender equality of property. These two people where married then split. Their son died and the two wanted property of the dead son. So they went to court and the judge favored the man. But the wife brought the such case to court again on different charges for gender equality and the court then favored in this that they cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case is about the upheld of affirmative action. This is allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. But with this case the 16 to 100 seat ratio was not acceptable for this. The ending result on this case is that the race factor can be a factor in the school choosing it. -
Equal Rights Amendment
It was a proposed amendment to the constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women. They can now vote. They have the same rights as men. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This court case is about sodomy and the practice of oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals. This case was mostly about the right of privacy. The case would end when saying that sodomy is not legal even in the privacy of their own home. -
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Senator Tom Harkin authored the bill and was its chief sponsor. This law was made to stop discrimination against citizens with disabilities in the workplace. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This court case is about the sodomy law in Texas. This is the 6-3 court ruling that same-sex sexual activity is legal in every U.S. state and territory. Which in turn overturned the previous ruling on the exact same issue in 1986 which was the Bowers v. Hardwick court case. -
Fisher v. Texas
This court case deals with the affirmative action admission policy. Is that the school used race in its undergraduate admissions process. She was saying that since she was white and the majority if the students are not white that there had to be some racial predjudice somewhere so she filed the lawsuit. In this case Texas had won. -
Gay Rights
This is what the gay, lesbian, and transgender people of Indiana are trying to get. The people are fighting so that the state of Indiana will allow their marriages to be seen as regular and so that they can get married without anything getting in the way. But for now they are still fighting it and may soon get their way in the near future.
