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Dred Scott v. Sandford
This case dealt with an issue of citizenship. Dred Scott had lived in territories where slavery had been banned though, Scott still did not experience the luxuries of being a free man. He thought since the land was free he should be free as well so he sued for his freedom and brought about this case. The first ruling in 1854 said Scott was to remain a slave. His lawyers appealed this and the final decision was made in 1857 saying no African American had citizenship and Scott was still a slave. -
13th Amendment
This amendment concerns the banning of slavery and involuntary servitude. What inspired the full extent of this amendment was the Emancipation Proclamation however this Proclamation only freed 11 confederate states from slavery. This amendment secures the prohibition of federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. including former slaves. It's main aim was to give citizenship to former slaves. The 14th amendment was required to be ratified by southern states in order to gain their representation in Congress again. From there it was ratified and now harder for infringement by the states. -
15th Amendment
African Americans were granted the right to vote because of this amendment, the right of citizens of the U.S. to vote should not be denied or abridged based on race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. Efforts of the Black Codes made it more difficult for African American's to put their new freedoms to use. These problems wouldn't be put to an end until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 but this amendment was a start to creating a more equal life for African Americans. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This Supreme Court decision said segregated equal but separate situations does not violate the 14th amendment. Plessy was only a 1/8 black man who bought a first class white car ticket on a train. He refused to move when the conductor asked him so he was arrested. This ruling in essence made segregation legal. Though some railroad companies were with Plessy because it was more money to keep up with separate cars. -
19th Amendment
The amendment was big for women because it granted them suffrage. It asserts that state and federal government can't deny the right to vote based on sex. This process was a long and constant fight for women so this date was a relief for women rights activists. In 1916 almost all suffrage organizations backed an amendment for it. Next, President Wilson changed his position and supported an amendment and in 1918 the political opinion shifted. -
White Primaries
White primaries were seen in southern states in effort to prohibit non-whites from joining the Democratic Party or participating in the primary elections. A good example of this was in Texas. They practiced this white primary and eventually passed a law that blocked African Americans from participating in the Democratic Party Primary. That was later overturned and ruled unconstitutional under the 14th amendment equal protection clause. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The ruling here was that racial segregation of children in public school is unconstitutional. This case helped establish that the separate but equal doctrine is not equal. There was a problem found with segregation of schools following the 14th amendment. Naturally, the idea was kicked out and the case ruled for an end to segregation in schools. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action are policies that help even odds for people at a disadvantage because of race, color, religion, etc. This is usually used in employment, education, and business. President Kennedy wanted to ensure equal opportunity for minority groups. However, this can lead to a controversial side in ruling that racial quotas are unconstitutional. -
Poll taxes
A poll tax is a required tax in order to qualify for voting in a national election. These became another way to make the voting process more difficult for African Americans. As many other restrictions that were keeping social equality further were getting taken care of and banned, the poll tax followed. The 24th amendment prohibited the use of poll taxes of elected federal officials. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment prohibited poll taxes on in elections for federal officials. Before citizens had to pay to vote in the national election. This requirement was seen to be another effort to disenfranchise African American voters though once again, an amendment was made to further the freedom of African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was a triumph for civil rights, it ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on color, race, religion, sex, and national origin. Even with the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment protections there was still mistreatment among people and this act took protection further. Equality was desired by the majority and action after action continued to be taken such as this act. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act did not allow tests to deny the right of voting anymore. It also provided authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that disenfranchised African Americans. Before this, African Americans were told to take literacy tests and recite other tasks in order to vote. They became victim of these tests and failing under unfair terms due to their status. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 secures African American's a closer spot to social equality with yet another protection. -
Reed v. Reed
This case ruled that decisions of administrators of can not be named based on their sex. In Reed v. Reed, the husband was preferred over the wife and the fact of this dealt with the Idaho Probate Code which was decided as unconstitutional. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This was an attempted amendment proposed by the National Woman's Political Party and it was intended to provide legal equality for all sexes and prohibit discrimination against all sexes. It was sent to the states to be ratified and was doing rather well with Hawaii being the first and 30 other states approving of it. However, support for this ratification was wiped out and it was never officially put into the constitution. To help this legislation has been passed promising legal protection. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case was a little controversial. The university had a racial quota of acceptances and this guy Bakke had more than enough qualifications to be accepted however, he was denied twice. He argued that he experienced reverse discrimination. The ruling was that a strict racial quota was unconstitutional so Bakke was accepted but race could still be used as criteria of decision making. In a way this legalized affirmative action but prohibition of this has been made in states. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This case ruled that Hardwick's sodomy was not protected by the constitution even though the right to privacy is. The right to privacy protects these things in terms of marriage and this sodomy was seen as not right. The Georgia law was seen legal and Hardwick's charges stood. This ruling would be contradicted with another case called Lawrence v. Texas and says that antisodomy is unconstitutional and homosexual sodomy is part of the fundamental rights of adults in private sexual activity. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act prohibits discrimination based on disability in any and every case. It is meant to provide the same equality and opportunities as everyone else. They are put on a similar basis as those with color, different race, and all else. To be considered for this act you have to have a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits everyday things. The act requires specific construction to every place possible to be accessible to persons who qualify for accommodation. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This case was the do over for Bowers v. Hardwick. The arrest of Lawrence and Garner for being caught in intimacy was deemed unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. Texas had no back up of state interest to invade an individuals privacy and arrest two people of the same sex to involved sexual conduct. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
There was back and fourth with whether banning same-sex marriage was constitutional or not but the final conclusion came to be that it is.The Due Process Clause protects the right to marry including same-sex just as opposite-sex. By judicial precedent, it qualified as a fundamental liberty because it protects the most intimacy between two people. The Equal Protection Clause considers same-sex marriage protected as well under similar circumstances.
