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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was taken to a free state by his slave master and attempted to sue for his freedom. Because of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which forbid slavery in the Louisiana Territory, Scott claimed he was a free man. When Scott went to Missouri (which is a slave state), he filed a law suit against his slave master claiming that he should be a free man in Missouri. The court denied Scott's request and he remained in slavery. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. It protects the rights of newly freed slaves. President Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress, submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures, where the amendment passed. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves who were recently freed. The Equal Protection Clause is a part of the 14th Amendment and states that "nor shall any State...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." -
15th Amendment
the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that "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." -
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Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were when citizens in some states had to pay a fee to vote in a national election.Poll taxes were enacted after the ratification of the 15th amendment to fight back against the suffrage given to African Americans. These taxes were then outlawed in 1964 with the ratification of the 24th amendment. -
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White Primaries
White Primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were allowed to participate. In 1927 and 1932 court cases, the Supreme Court ruled that the white primary violated the 14th Amendment. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Louisiana enacted the Separate Car Act, which required separate cars for blacks and whites. Homer Plessy decided to challenge this Act by riding in the whites only car. In the trial, Plessy's lawyers argued the the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendments. Yet, Plessy was convicted and the judge found that Louisiana could enforce this Act. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment prohibits the states and federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States based on sex. This amendment granted women the right to vote, which is known as women's suffrage. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. It was argued that this segregation violated the Equal Protection clause. This case was one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement, and helped establish the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action laws are policies instituted by the government to help level the playing field for those historically disadvantaged due to factors such as race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote with federal elections on payment of a poll tax/other types of tax. -
Civil RIghts Act of 1964
This outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. it also prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in the United States after the Civil War, which included literacy tests in order to vote. This act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed was an Equal Protection case in which the Supreme Court decided that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way the discriminates between sexes. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women regarding divorce, property, employment, etc. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Bakke applied to the medical school twice and was rejected both times. He was better qualified than all the minority students and appealed to the court that he was discriminated against based on his 'majority' race. This case ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
In Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court rules that the Constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual, sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. It states that accommodations must be made for handicap people so that they may have the same access to public things like others do. -
Lawrence v. Texas
A police officer went inside a home to see a man having sexual relations with another man. The men were convicted and arrested because Texas had a law, at the time, preventing same-sex sexual conduct. The court ruled in favor of the two men because they found the law against this sexual conduct violated the Due Process clause. This also violated the Equal Protection Clause because the men were criminalized for having the same sexual conduct heterosexual couples have. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This case's decision made same-sex marriage legal. The Supreme Court declared that this violated the Due Process clause of the 14th amendment as well as the Equal Protection clause. They granted equal rights to same-sex couples and making their marriage legal in the nation.
