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13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery, overturning all implicit permission within the original Constitution to have slaves. Though many slaves considered themselves free following Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, this amendment confirmed their status as free individuals following the Civil War. It is considered the first of three Reconstruction Amendments. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution addressed citizenship rights in response to excessive discrimination against former slave. The Due Process Clause guarantees that United States citizens cannot be denied life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. The Equal Protection Clause requires that all states to provide equal protection under the law to all people. The amendment is considered the second of three Reconstruction Amendments. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of race. The amendment was considered the last of three Reconstruction Amendments. However, regardless of this amendment, many states continued to prevent black citizens from voting through the incorporation of poll taxes, literacy tests, and violence. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes began around 1877 following the Reconstruction era. Though all American citizens were granted the right to vote, poll taxes were proposed as a way to keep the poorer African American population from being able to vote. Such taxes were required upon registering to vote and there were often different taxes posed for different elections. In 1966, poll taxes were outlawed in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court case “Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections.” -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws that promoted racial segregation, specifically in the southern United States. Laws extended to the realms of education, transportation, and other public facilities. The laws started at the end of the Reconstruction period (in 1877) as a way to continue the principle of segregation but were generally deemed illegal following the initiation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
De Jure Segregation
De jure segregation is a type of racial segregation that is upheld by law. It began in 1877 with the initiation of the Jim Crow Laws following the Reconstruction era. The United States permitted such segregation laws to continue, further perpetuating the racial discrimination within the county, until 1964 with the initiation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
De Facto Segregation
De facto segregation is a type of segregation that is mostly done by choice. When widespread groups of individuals make the decision to separate themselves from others, specifically African Americans, this type of segregation occurs. While mostly done by choice, the initiation of de facto segregation within private practices has been called to question often. This type of segregation became popular in 1877 following the Reconstruction era and continues into today. -
Literacy Tests
The first formal literacy tests were introduced in 1890 as a way to disenfranchise minorities. Such literacy tests were designed to be complicated and confusing and were used to dissuade prospective voters that were not white. Illiterate white voters that could not pass the test were able to still register to vote as long as their grandfathers were registered voters because of the grandfather clause. Literacy tests were formally prohibited in 1965 via the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The decision in the Plessy v. Ferguson case was one that was detrimental to the civil rights movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The decision upheld racial segregation laws for public facilities under the “separate but equal” principle. This doctrine mandated that facilities could be racially segregated as long as they were in relatively the same shape. The case was upheld as law until the 1954 decision of Brown v. Board of Education. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution formally prohibited state and federal governments from denying people the right to vote on the basis of sex. The amendment came as a result of the women’s suffrage movement and was considered a huge victory for those fighting for women’s rights. The amendment also overturned the 1875 decision of Minor v. Happersett which deemed women did not have a right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Korematsu v. United States
During World War II, an executive order as well as congressional statutes mandated the exclusion of Japanese Americans in some areas and the creation of internment camps. The Supreme Court found these actions Constitutional because of the circumstances in the U.S. at the time, and the need to protect against espionage. -
Sweatt v. Painter
A black man applied to the University of Texas, and the application was denied because it was a white only university. Instead, the state offered other "equal" choices for black students. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Equal Protection Clause mandated that Sweatt was admitted, because the black schools were not equal in any form. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The decision in Brown v. Board of Education was one of the most important in United States history. The decision overturned that of Plessy v. Ferguson, the case that deemed racial segregation could be permitted under the “separate but equal” doctrine. Brown v. Board of Education deemed that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional and laid the groundwork for desegregating other public facilities. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycotts were a political and social protest against segregation on the basis of race in the public transportation system in Montgomery, Alabama. The campaign began on December 5, 1955, the Monday after Rosa Parks was famously arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white person. The boycotting ended on December 20, 1956, following the “Browder v. Gayle” decision that declared segregated buses to be unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action in the United States is a set of guidelines that are designed to prevent discrimination. The term was most notably used by the Kennedy administration. The first implementation of the term was in March 1961 with the initiation of Executive Order 10925, which ordered that companies work to prevent discrimination in their workplace policies. The term continues to be used today as a means of preventing discrimination against minorities. -
JFK Address to the Nation on Civil Rights
The Report to the American People on Civil Rights was a speech on civil rights that John F. Kennedy delivered. In the speech, he informally laid the groundwork for policy that later became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His speech is known for taking a strong stance against racial discrimination because of its economic, educational, and moral repercussions. -
24th Amendment
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited states from using poll taxes to determine a citizen’s eligibility to vote in federal elections. The Supreme Court went on to use this 1964 amendment (along with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment) to support its 1966 decision to prohibit poll taxes at any level of election in the “Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections” case. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, and nationality. It is considered a landmark law because it formally ended the Jim Crow era and has been the basis of many civil rights cases since its initiation. Its major accomplishments include ending racial segregation in schools, employment, and public facilities. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark law that outlawed discrimination in voting. The act contains many different regulations that are meant to make voting equally accessible to all eligible citizens. It was designed to uphold and enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon death of MLK
In 1968, Robert Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Kennedy had recently spoken at two major universities in Indiana and was planning a campaign rally in Indianapolis but upon hearing the news that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated, he cancelled his rally. In its place, he prepared a speech which he delivered in the heart of the African-American ghettos of Indianapolis. The speech is widely considered one of the greatest in American history. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed abolished a law in Idaho that favored men over women in appointing administrators of estates. The Supreme Court decided that the Equal Protection Clause voided Idaho's code. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The amendment sought to guarantee equality to all citizens regardless of sex, specifically in terms of divorce, property, and finances. The amendment passed through Congress in 1972. However, only 35 of the necessary 38 states ratified the amendment. Though extensions were made to the ratification deadline, the amendment ultimately died, a huge defeat for those fighting for women’s rights. -
Title IX
Title IX was a law written to go along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law states that women and girls cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their sex when seeking educational opportunities. The law was considered a big success for feminists of the 1970s and has also been applied to discriminatory issues within school-sponsored athletics and clubs. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke is a Supreme Court case that resulted in a decision to allow race to be a factor in college admission. However, the case also outlawed the arrangement of racial quotas, meaning colleges could not formally set aside a specific number of seats in a class for minorities. Though many felt racial quotas were a way to make up for past discrimination, others felt like it violated the Fourteenth Amendment and thus the policy was officially banned. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
A Georgia police officer saw Hardwick engaging in homosexual sodomy, and Hardwick was criminally charged based on a Georgia statute. Hardwick challenged the statute's constitutionality and the Supreme Court ruled that the statute was Constitutional. The judges wanted to make sure that their decision was not judge-made law, and saw no provisions in the Constitution that would cause the necessity for the protection of sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was a law written to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law prohibits the discrimination against people because of disabilities. Included in the law are provisions ordering that employers provide necessary arrangements to employees with disabilities. Additionally, accessibility requirements were enacted for all public facilities that mandated the construction of accommodations such as access ramps and handicap parking spaces. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Two men were found by the police to be engaging in a private, consensual sexual act, and were arrested. Their case was taken to the Supreme Court, where is was decided that outlawing intimate homosexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause. It was reasoned that Texas could not establish a legitimate state interest in the conduct in these men's home. This effectively overturned Bowers v. Hardwick. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Multiple same-sex couples sued the states they were in for banning same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court heard the case and decided with the couples, saying that the ban on same-sex marriage violated their 14th amendment rights and the Equal Protection Clause.The right to marry was defined as a fundamental liberty before, and this definition was upheld. -
Fisher v. Texas
The University of Texas took race into account when deciding undergraduate admissions, and a white female student who got denied admission filed suit, arguing the fairness of this practice. The Supreme Court decided that the consideration of race was permissible, but only under very close watch of the judiciary.
