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Scott v Stanford
The court decided that black people were considered property and they were not American citizens, so slave owners were protected under the 5th A. They also ruled that Congress did not have the power to abolish slavery and they said that black people couldn't sue in federal courts. -
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Reconstruction
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Jim Crow Era
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Plessy v Ferguson
A black man named Homer Plessy sat in the whites-only section of a train and refused to move, getting himself arrested. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court because Plessy said that making him move was a violation of his 14th A rights. In the court, the Supreme Court stated that segregation was NOT a violation of the 14th A's Equal Protection Clause as long as it was "separate but equal". -
19th Amendment
This amendment granted women's suffrage, or the right to vote. -
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Scottsboro Boys
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George Stinney case
A 14-year-old black boy named George Stinney was falsely accused of killing two younger (ages 7 and 11) white girls. In complete violation of his civil rights and the EPC, he was executed by electric chair. He didn't have a fair trial. He had an all-white jury and an incompetent lawyer. -
Brown v Board
This extremely important case concerned segregated schools in Topeka, Kansas. The schools had all of the same tangible factors- teachers, funding, supplies, curriculum, etc, so they were fine under the "separate but equal" rule. But the court ruled in this case that the schools were NOT equal because they gave black students a sense of inferiority which lead them to lose their motivation to learn. This case got rid of "separate but equal". The Doll Test was used to prove their point. -
James Meredith enrolls in Ole Miss University
James Meredith, a black student, enrolled in Ole Miss University in Mississippi. It was a segregated school that didn't allow for non-white people to enroll. Eventually, the discourse about James enrolling lead to a riot where the US Army had to step in to get things under control. James did successfully enroll but he had to be escorted to everything by soldiers for his safety. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A landmark law that prohibited discrimination based on someone’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act also outlawed racial discrimination in schools, employment, and public accommodations. This law allows the federal government to cut federal funding to states if the state doesn’t abide by the law. This leads to the removal of Jim Crow laws in Southern states. This law also applies to private businesses and employers. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Preclearance- before a state can change its voting laws, they first have to get it okayed by the federal government. This prevented Southern states from making more ways to prevent black people from voting.
This Act attempted to overturn legal barriers at the state/local levels that prevented black people from exercising their right to vote. The act did away with “literacy tests”, the grandfather clauses and poll taxes. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
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California v Bakke
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Gratz v Bollinger
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Meredith v Jefferson Co Board
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Shelby County v Holder
The state of Alabama argued that their 10th A rights were being violated by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Court threw out the preclearance because the states that needed preclearance needed it because of their voter turn out in 1964. So it was very outdated.