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13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. The 13th Amendment was a follow up the Abraham Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" which freed the slaves in the rebelling states during the Civil War. The 13th Amendment changed the economy forever, especially in the South which relied heavily on slave labor. The freeing of the slaves also led to the racial discrimination and violence that plagued the South throught the next century. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. It also gave former slaves citizenship. This was important for several reasons. For one, this was part of the Reconstruction amendments which helped fix up the South after the Civil War. This amendment also defined citizenship in the United States. Furthermore, this amendment gives equal protection to all citizens. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment was another Reconstruction amendment. This amendment prevents the state and federal governemtns from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their race or ethnicity. This was important because it gave former slaves the right to vote -
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were mandate de jure segregation laws in the South. The Jim Crow laws stated that African-Americans were "seperate but equal" however they definitely were not equal. The Jim Crow laws essentially created African-Americans as second class citizens and led to the racial conflicts throughout the 20th century. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were often established in the South to deter African-American voters after the passage of the 14th and 15h Amendment. During the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, poll taxes were banned in order to ensure that everyone could vote. -
Literacy Tests
Literacy tests for voting were first introduced in the South in 1890.Literacy tests were introuced along with poll taxes to deter illiterate former African-American leaves. Literacy tests were officially outlawed for voting. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the doctrine of "separate but equal" regarding state laws that required racial segregation in public schools. Schools used this to remain segregated until Brown v. Board of Education overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, which ruled that they are not actually equal. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits any US citizen from being denied the right to vote based off of his/her gender. This amendment is know for finally granting suffrage to women. This was the result that had been desired by many women's rights group since the late 19th century. -
Korematsu v. United States
Korematsu v. United States was a Supreme Court ruling that Executive Order 9066, which detained Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II, was constitutional. Their logic was that it was constitutional because it was for national safety and because it was during a time of war -
Sweatt v. Painter
Sweatt v. Painter was a Supreme Court case that sucessfully challenged "seperate but equal" that was establish by Plessy v. Ferguson. This court case was used as precedent for Brown v. Board of Education. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a Supreme Court case that determined that establish sperate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. It overruled Plessy v. Ferguson and began the integration of public schools at every level of education. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a boycott organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and others in response to Rosa Parks being arrested. The boycott lasted for over a year and was one of the first successful protests during the Civil Rights Movement. The protests forced the Supreme Court to rule bus segregation unconstitutional. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment prohibits both Congress and the States from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax. The elimation of the poll tax made it easier for every citizen-especially African Americans in the South- to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, color, or national origin. This legislature also outlawed segregation in the work place and schools. The federal government was able to enforce it under interstate commerce under Article 1 in the Constitution. This ended institutional segregation in the United States. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges was an African-American school girl and was the first African-American to attend an all White school in the South. This was the beginning of the desegregation of Schools at all levls. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting RIghts Act of 1965 includes numerous provisions regarding the regulation of the administration of elections. Most importantly, it prohibits any state or local government from imposinga any voting law that discriminates against race or language. This further guranteed the voting rights for African-Americans. -
Loving v. Virginia
Loving v. Virginia was a Supreme Court case regarding laws prohibitting interracial marriage. The Supreme Court decided that this prohibition was unconstitutional, This overturned Pace v. Alabame (1883) and ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage. -
Robery Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis
While on his campaign trip, Robert Kennedy was in Indianpolis when he heard of the death of Martin Luther King Kr. Kennedy then spoke in the central of the Indianapolis African-American ghetto despite fear of riots. This demonstrated the need for unity and peace during troubling times and that race needed to be put aside. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed was a Equal Protection, Supreme Court case that determined that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. This was another step for the women's rights movement as women got closer and closer to full equality. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a Supreme Court case that upheld affirmative action. This meant that schools could continue to allow race as one of several factors in college admission. The court also ruled that certain quotas were impermissible. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was orginally drafted by Alice Paul who was a suffragist leader. The amendment called for equal rights for women under the federal and State goverments. On the deadline day for ratification 1982, the ERA was three states short for ratification. This amendment has since been introudced to every Congress since 1982. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick was a controversial Supreme Court case that upheld Georgia's sodomy law which criminalized oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals. This obviously targeted homosexuals and was considered by many an infringement on the rights of homesexuals. It was overturned in 2003. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination to those with disabilities. It offers similar protection to what the Civil Rights Act offered to women, minorities, etc. Maybe most importantly, it recquires that employers provide " reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations." -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action refers to equal oppurtunity employment measures that federal employers must take. However, it has also been used in college admissions. This has led to "gender quotas" and "race quotas" that schools try to meet. Many people deem that this is "reverse discrimination" and is extremely controversial. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas, was a Supreme Court case that struck down the sodomy law in Texas and, by extension, invalidated sodomy laws in thirteen other states, making same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state and territory. This was a major step for the homosexual civil rights movement. -
Fisher v. Texas
Fisher v. University of Texas is a Supreme Court case regarding affirmative action admissions policy at the University of Texas. The Court made no strong ruling regardign affirmative action admissions policy at the University of Texas. However, they said that race can be a determinant but not a large one. -
Indiana's gay rights
A lawsuit regarding the states' refusal to issue marriage licenses' to gay couples, Baskin v. Bogan, won a favorable ruling from the District Court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit granted an emergency stay of the district court's ruling on June 27, most Indiana counties issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Court of Appeals supported the court's ruling on September 4th.
