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Jim Crow
Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice. Rice, a struggling "actor" (he did short solo skits between play scenes) at the Park Theater in New York, happened upon a black person singing the above song, some accounts say it was an old black slave who walked with difficulty, others say it was a ragged black stable boy. Whether modeled on an old man or a young boy we will never know, but we know that in 1828 Rice appeared on stage as "Jim Crow" an exaggerated, highly stereotypical black character. -
13 Amendment
"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."
This abolished slavery in the United States and was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments adopted in five years following the American Civil War. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment is among the most complicated of the 3 amendments added to the Constitution during the reconstrucion era. Four principles were asserted in the text of the 14th amendment. 1.State and federal citizenship for all persons regardless of race both born or naturalized in the United States was reaffirmed.
2.No state would be allowed to abridge the "privileges and immunities" of citizens.
3.No person was allowed to be deprived of life, liberty,or property without "due pro -
15th Amendment
Granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans. It would take the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the majority of African Americans in the -
Literacy Tests
Although the 15th Amendment secured the rights for African Americans to vote freely, this law was not fully realized for almost an entire century. Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a "white" car even though his light complection could qualify him as "white". Since his skin tone was considered colored despite his ancestory he was arrested. Plessy's lawyer argued that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
The Plessy decision set the precedent that "seperate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal." -
19th Amendment
This law guarentee's women's right to vote. This law has been fought for since the mid 19th century. Several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. -
Korematsu v. United States
Korematsu V. United States was a case involving the Japanese Ancestory from the west coast at the time they where excluded, the court ruled that they are subject to the most rigid scrutiny. -
Sweatt v. Painter
Heman Marion Sweatt applied for an application to the University of Texas Law School solely because of his race. The University only accepted applications from whites. The Cour made the decision that because the seperate school for Negros was grossly unequal, the university was required to let anyone in despite race. -
Ruby Bridges
Born on September 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Mississippi, Ruby Bridges was 6 when she became the first African-American child to integrate a white Southern elementary school, having to be escorted to class by her mother and U.S. marshals due to violent mobs. Bridges' bravery paved the way for continued Civil Rights action and she's shared her story with future generations in educational forums. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating, took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the U.S. On December 1, 1955, four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to yield her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is one of the most effective tools for redressing the injustices caused by our nation's historic discrimation against people of color and women, and for leveling what has long been an uneven playing field -
24th Amendment
It ended mandatory poll taxes that prevented many African Americans. Poll taxes, combined with grandfather clauses and intimidation, effectively prevented African Americans from having any sort of political power, especially in the South. When the 24th amendment passed, five southern states, Virginia, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi still had poll taxes. -
Poll Taxes
The law that a fee was to be paid in order to vote began in the late 1800's. Even though the 15th Amendment gave former slaves the right to vote, many poor people, both blacks and whites, did not have enough money to vote. Thanks to the 24th Amendment, the right of all U.S. citizens to freely cast their votes has been secured. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. First proposed by President John F. Kennedy, it survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress and was then signed into law by Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
By this time, disfranchisement gained a limited amout of power in society. The murder of voting-rights activists in Philadelphia, Mississippi, gained national attention, along with numerous other acts of violence and terrorism. President Johnson later proposed a call for a strong voting rights law. Congress found that the current law at that time was not sufficient to overcome resistance by state officials. -
Loving V. Virginia
Loving V. Virginia was a case fighting for equal rights of blacks and whites marrying and the courts ruled it in favor of Loving becasue it was on the basis of the central meaning of equal protection clause -
Robert Kennedy speech in Indianapolis
The gathering was actually a planned campaign rally for Robert Kennedy in his bid to get the 1968 Democratic nomination for president. Just after he arrived by plane at Indianapolis, Kennedy was told of King's death. He was advised by local police against making the campaign stop which was in a part of the city considered to be a dangerous ghetto. But Kennedy insisted on going. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Ended legal segregation in public schools. The rule was that schools could be racially segregated only if they were equal to each other. But thats to Brown and Lawyers, they stated that the schools were not equal and never would be. -
Reed V. Reed
Reed V. Reed is an important case in the law on the basis of sexual discrimination. This is important because it is the first time in the Supreme Court that dealed with the fourteenth amendment and that could be used to protect people from sexual discremination. -
Regents of the University of California V. Bakke
The University of California, Davis Medical School reserved 16 spots out of the 100 in any given class for “disadvantaged minorities.” The Respondent, when he was compared to students admitted under the special admissions program, had more favorable characteristics, while his race was the only difference. The Respondent sued, alleging that the special admissions program denied him equal protection of laws under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Act was written in 1923 by Alice Paul to affirm equal justice under law to all citizens. The ERA was introduced into every session of Congress between 1923 and 1972, when it was passed and sent to the states for ratification. the ERA's proposing clause was extended by Congress to June 30, 1982, but at the deadline, the ERA had been ratified by 35 states, leaving it three states short of the 38 required for ratification. -
Bowers V. Hardwick
Bowers V. Hardwick was fighting the case of whether or not you are protected or not when two males are having sex. The ruling states that there is not any constitutional right to engage in consensual homosexual sodomy -
Americans with disabilites Act
The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. Its purpose is to make things in America more accesible to those with disabilities. -
Fisher V. Texas
Fisher V. Texas is a case where the university of Texas denied the acceptance of Abigail Fisher into the college because of her race. The court ruled in favor of the university in a 2-1 vote from a panel of three -
Lawrence V. Texas
Lawrence V. Texas is fighting over if the fourteenth amendment protects certain acts of sex between one sex. The ruling states that even though conduct is not a fundamental right, intimate relationships between two people of the same sex is protected by the fourteenth amendment.
