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13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery. Although this abolished slavery, racism was still very evident and slavery went under other names such as Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. -
14th Amendment
The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. It was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. This amendment was opposed by the Southern states but they were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. -
15th Amendment
This amendment prohibited the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This was the last of the 3 Reconstruction Amendments. -
Jim Crow
Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily in southern and border states. He was named after a person that would dress up and act like a "buffoon". It happened between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was thought of as a way of life. They were a series of rigid anti-black laws. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy, a man who was one eighths black, attempted to sit in a "whites only" car of a train. He was arrested and charged for violating the Seperate Car Act. When asked to move to the section designated for blacks, Plessy refused and was thrown off the train. Plessy brought the case to the Surpreme Court saying his 13th and 14th Amendments were being violated. Because of this case, the Seperate but Equal Act was intact, and was followed more carefully. -
Literacy Tests
Literacy tests were used to keep people of color from voting, and they were administered at the discretion of the officials in charge of voter registration. In order to vote, you had to pass this test. -
Poll Taxes
A practice used typically in the Southern states to restrict the ability of blacks to vote. It required you to pay a fee in order to vote, most blacks could not afford this, and for the whites that were poor there were Grandfather Clauses which meant that if your grandfather voted then you were guaranteed to vote without paying the poll tax. -
19th Amendment
This amendment allowed women the right to vote. The amendment was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote. -
Korematsu v. United Sates
The case was deciding whether or not it should be legal to put Japanese Americans into concentration camps. The Court decided Korematsu's rights did not outweigh the rights of an American citizen. -
Sweatt v. Painter
Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied to the University of Texas Law School. This school was a school made for whites only, meaning Sweatt was rejected admittance. When Sweatt argued, the university attempted to create a separate but equal facility for blacks. The “law school for Negroes” was found by the Supreme Court to not be equal by any means, so it was decided upon the Equal Protection Clause the Sweatt would be admitted to the university. -
Brown v. Board of Education
These cases were concerning the segregation in schools. The main point that the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment was being violated. The outcome of the case was that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This was a 13 month mass-protest (1955-1956) sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks. It ended with the Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action was first brought up by President Kennedy in 1961 as an answer to racial inequality. The policy favored those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education. This is still present today, although actions have been made to make all fields more equal. -
24th Amendment
This Amendment prohibited both Congress and the States from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. Poll taxes appeared in Southern states after Reconstruction as a way to prevent blacks from voting. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This authorized the national government to end segregation in public education and public accomodations. It aslo banned discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Authorized the Justice Department to suspend restrictive electoral tests in southern states that had a history of low black turnout. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis upon death of MLK
The United States NY senator was campaigning to earn the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination when he learned that King had been assassinated. Earlier that day Kennedy spoke at the University of Notre Dame and Ball State University. Kennedy went ahead with plans to attend a rally at 17th and Broadway in the heart of Indianapolis's African-American ghetto. Kennedy addressed the crowd, many who hadn’t heard of King’s assassination. Kennedy offered passionate remarks for peace that is considered -
Reed v. Reed
This case was over a seperated couple fighting over the right to ownership of their dead sons estate. The Idaho Probate Code specified that males are preferred to females and so the husband was given the estate. when the wife took the case to the Surpreme court, and the court ruled in her favor saying that dissimilar treatment of men and women based soley on gender was unconstitutional. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakkes, a white man, applied and was denied two years in a row to the University of California. The university had a certian number of spots for minorities, yet Blakke's wualifications were of higher quality than all of the minorities amidted both years he was denied. He went to the Surpreme Court saying that he was excluded from admission soley on the basis of race. Blakke got admited to the school, yet the Court extended gains for minorites because of affirmative action. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women.It only recieved 35 of the 38 ratifications and never passed by the deadline. Several feminist organizations, disputing the validity and/or the permanence of the ratification deadline, and also disputing the validity of the five rescissions, continue to work at the federal and state levels for the adoption of the ERA. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was found participating in homosexual activity in his home by a police officer. At the time sodomy was illegal in Georgia, the state he lived in. When taken to the Court, Hardwick lost because there was no law on the federal level protecting the act of sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act was made in order to protect people with disabilities aganst discrimination. ADA disabilities include mental and physical disabilities. The act requires employers to provide accommodations for their employees with disabilities, and requires public places to provide accomodations for hadicapped people. -
Lawrence v. Texas
John Lawrence was caught participating in a sexual act with another male. They were arrested under Texas law, for engaging in same sex sexual conduct. When taken to the Court, Lawrence and his partner were found not guilty, because they were free adults and they had the right to exercise their liberty under the Due Process Clause. -
Fisher v. University of Texas
In 2003 Abigail Fisher fought affirmative action because of the Grutter case because it was stated that race should play a role in accept aplications but not choosing who should or should not be accepted into a university. The decision was vacated for further research. -
Gay Rights in Indiana
Over the summer, same-sex marriage was granted in Indiana. Although the law only lasted a few days, it showed that the state is making giant leaps towards equality for same-sex marriage.
