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Dred Scott VS Sandford
Dred Scott was born as a slave. His owner died and was purchased by a doctor and he moved to a free state. His owner then died so he was technically free since he was in a free state. Him and his wife sued for freedom. His saying was once moved into a non slavery state you become free and can be enslaved again. It went all the way to the supreme court of them too rule that any american of African descent isn't a american citizen and cant sue in federal courts. -
13th Amendment
It says, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." The 13th amendment abolished slavery. Probably one of the most important amendments there is. It sets forth everything to come after it. It was put into place after the civil war and after Lincoln's inauguration speech. -
14th amendment
The 14th amendment is another important one. It is one of the three that helped slavery be no more. It grants citizenship to anyone born in the United states. This amendment is important because it makes America what it is. This amendment is one of the reasons many people come here from other countries so their children will have greater opportunities. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment is the last one of the main three that helps African Americans with their rights. It says that the government can't take someone's right to vote away from them. So every person has the right to vote, and cant be denied that right based on race color or sex. This amendment sets a firm structure throughout the rest of history and still has meaning to this date. -
Plessy v Ferguson
Was a supreme court decision which upheld racial segregation under the “seperate but equal” doctrine. It originated in Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890 which required African Americans and whites to sit in separate parts. Homer Adolph Plessy was described as ⅞ white and was arrested after he refused to give up his seat. This allowed states at the time to segregate the races. Plessy showed the difficulty to enforce segregation and determine where to seperate the races. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment says that no one should be denied or bridged because of sex when it comes to voting. So really this amendment helps woman's rights especially voting in this circumstance. this amendment is another big one because its the start of woman wanting equal rights. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in Congress by the National Women's party in 1923. It was designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all Americans regardless of sex. It was passed in 1972 by congress and sent to the states. Hawaii was the first state to ratify and 30 others within a year. The most recently proposed form states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” -
White primaries
White primaries are just what it sounds like. Whites make them self superior to Blacks. It mainly happened in southern states. But it was whites would have laws put in place or things blacks would have to do like the literacy test so only they could vote and make decisions because they thought blacks shouldn't have a say in what goes in the united states. -
Brown v Board of Education
Oliver Brown sued the Topeka Kansas Board of Education because of his daughter Linda. She was a black public school student who lived very close to an elementary school but was denied going having to travel over an hour to attend the all black school. The court decided in browns favor and that separate education systems were unequal which showed that “separate but equal” has no place in education. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action was first introduced by president Kennedy in 1961 which talks about promoting social equality of groups thet have been previously suffered discrimination. This policy depending on n individuals race, color, sex, religion or origin are taken into account to increase oppurtunities to an unrepresented part of society. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment is another big one. It says that the federal and state government cant have a poll tax when voting. That means if you wanted to vote back then you would have to pay to exercise one of your rights. They did this because if you were poor back then you really couldn't vote and it goes back to England taxing us when they were here and it just wasn't right. -
poll tax
Poll taxes were made so African Americans couldn't vote along with the literacy test. A poll tax is what it sounds like a tax put there so you pay to vote. Americans didn't like that so a lot of people were not voting. The government realized that and got rid of it realizing the elections would be different considering more people would vote. -
1964 Civil Rights Act
The 1964 Civil rights act is one of the biggest acts the United states has made. It stands for anyone of color and disabilities. It says that no one state or federal cant discriminate anyone of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. That basically says you can't make someone feel less than you because of those reasons. This was one of MLK’s greatest achievements. -
1965 Voting rights Act
The 1965 voting rights act is another huge accomplishment in the United States government. During that time if a African american would go and try to vote in a southern state, they would make them do a literacy test, test no one could pass, just so they can't vote. The 15th amendment says that anyone has the right to vote, but the southern states didn't want that. That's why this act was put into place so they don't do the literacy test anymore and African Americans can vote. -
Reed v Reed
Sally and Cecil Reed, a married couple who have divorced, were in conflict over which of them should be designated as administrator of the estate of their deceased son. The court appointed Cecil as administrator of estate due to Idaho code that “males must be preferred to females”. Argued that the 14th amendment forbids discrimination based on gender, the supreme court ruled that administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke a 35 year old white man applied to the University of California medical school where he was rejected both times. The school reserved 16 places for “qualified” minorities. Bakke had exceptional qualifications compared to the minorities that applied and says that he was excluded for getting in solely on race. There was no single majority opinion on the case but the court ruled that the use of racial “quotas ” in its admissions process was unconstitutional -
Bowers v Hardwick
In Atlanta, Georgia 1985 Michael Hardwick received a citation for public drinking then was issued a warrant issued for his arrest when he missed his court day. He payed off the fine but police went into his home to issue the warrant, they found Hardwick engaging in the act of homosexual sodemly. Both men were arrested for violating Georgias sodomy laws. It reached the Supreme Court and found that there was no constitutional protection for acts of sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. It requires employers and public facilities to make reasonable accomadations and prohibit discrimination. It is the nation's first comprehensive civil rights law passed on January 23, 1990. -
Lawrence v Texas
Houston police entered John Lawrences apartment and saw him and another man engaging in consensual sexual act. They were both arrested and convicted of deviation in violation of Texas statute which forbids two people of the same sex to engage in certain sexual conduct. The Supreme Court concluded that whether they were free as adults that under the Due Process Clause gives them full right to engage their conduct w/o government involvement. -
Obergefell v Hodges
The Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples have the right to marry. Through the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. Between 2012-2014 in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee ruled the state level bans found that a ban was constitution, but this created a split between the circuits and led to the Supreme Court to review.
