Civil Rights Movement Timeline

Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857

The Constitution was not meant to include citizenship for black descent regardless if they are free or enslaved. Even if they move to a free state they are still considered enslaved.

13th Amendment

Jan 31, 1865

Abolish slavery in the United States. Only applies as punishment for a crime.

14th Amendment

Jul 9, 1868

All people born in the US are subject for jurisdiction. No state shall enforce laws that abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the US.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Apr 13, 1896

Establishment of the laws mandating separate but equal accommodations for African Americans. Racial segregation laws didn't violate the constitution as long as facilities for each race were equal.

19th Amendmant

Aug 18, 1920

Allowed women the right to vote. Women suffrage movement was one reason why this amendment has passed.

White Primaries

1944

Primary elections held in Southern United States where only white people were permitted to participate.

Brown v. Board of Education

1951

Established the precedent that "separate-but-equal" in schools about the racial segregation in public schools in which violated by the 14th Amendment.

Affirmative Action

1961

Helps protect people with employment/resources no matter their race, gender, sexuality, ethnic origin, and disability. No discrimination with employment opportunities.

24th Amendment

Jan 23, 1964

This amendment abolished the poll taxation on all federal elections. The poll tax caused voters to pay a couple of dollars in order to be able to cast a vote.

Poll Taxes

Jan 23, 1964

A condition put towards people that vote. Doesn't matter how much income someone makes or resources but rather a taxation put on every adult that votes for reassurance.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Jul 2, 1964

Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination based on sex and race in hiring, promoting, and firing.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Aug 6, 1965

Landmark piece in federal legislation that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It helped expand the 14th and 15th amendment. It helped stop the barriers on the African Americans.

15th Amendment

Feb 3, 1970

Prohibits discrimination in the voting rights of citizens based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Reed v. Reed

Oct 19, 1971

A court ruling that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Oct 12, 1977

The Supreme Court case held that a university’s admissions criteria used race as a definite and exclusive basis for an admission decision violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Equal Rights Amendment

1979

A proposed amendment to the US Constitution states that civil rights may not be denied based on one's sex.

Bowers v. Hardwick

Mar 31, 1986

Bowers v. Hardwick, a legal case, was decided on June 30, 1986, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld (5–4) a Georgia state law banning sodomy. The court overturned the ruling 17 years later in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down a Texas state law that had criminalized homosexual sex between consenting adults.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Jul 26, 1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or ADA, is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.

Motor Voter Act

1993

The motor voter law was a bill passed by congress in 1963 to make it easier for americans to register to vote. The law requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when one applies for a driver's license, and at state offices that serve the disabled or poor.

Lawrence v. Texas

Mar 26, 2003

Civil rights case by the United States Supreme Court. The Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas in a 6–3 decision and, by extension, invalidated sodomy laws in 13 other states, making same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state and territory.

Obergefell v. Hodges

Apr 28, 2015

Surpreme court ruled 5-4 that state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same-sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.