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Dred Scott v Sandford
The supreme court decided that enslaves people are not citizens of the United States, but property, and have no protection from the federal government or courts. -
13th Amendment
The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery within the United States, except as a punishment for a crime that someone has been rightfully convicted of. -
14th Amendment
Granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized within the United States including formerly enslaved people, and granted equal protection under the law. -
15th amendment
Granted African American Men the right to vote. -
Poll Taxes
It was used as voter suppression for African Americans, mostly in southern states. It was in effect until 1964 when it was declared unconstitutional under the 24th amendment. -
White Primaries
Primary Elections were held in the south which only allowed white voters to participate. These practices were ended in the 1940s following the Supreme Court case Smith v Allwright. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The supreme court ruled that Jim Crow laws allowed segregation. As long as it was "separate but equal," however often it was not equal. -
Nineteenth Amendment
Allowed women the right to vote. This took years of protesting and struggle, for women to gain the right of suffrage. -
Brown v Board of Education
Established that separate but equal does not stand, especially when it comes to public educational facilities. A major catalyst in the civil rights movement and desegregation as a whole. -
Affirmative Action
Can be known as positive discrimination, which involves putting policies in place to include groups of a certain gender, race, sexuality, or others that are underrepresented in areas of education and employment. -
24th Amendment
The amendment outlawed poll tax as a requirement in federal elections. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Outlawed discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests, as a prerequisite to voting. -
Reed v Reed
The first time that the supreme court ruled in favor of women since the 14th amendment was passed, on the dissimilar treatment of men and women under the law. -
Equal Rights Amendment
Proposed equal rights for women, by ending legal distinctions between men and women, in divorce, property, employment, and more. However, though it passed through congress in 1972, failed to reach ratification. -
Regents of the University of California v Bakke
Question the use of affirmative action within college admissions. The supreme court ruled that race in college admissions is allowed. However, having a rigid quantity on a number of a certain race is unconstitutional. -
Bowes v. Hardwick
Micheal Hardwick was arrested for having consensual homosexual sodomy in his own house, Hardwick followed by challenging the statute's constitutionality. The court divided found that there is no constitutional protection for acts of sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
A civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability, in areas such as employment, transportation, public accommodations, and access to state and federal programs. -
Motor Voter Act
The national voter registration act of 1993, set certain requirements for elections of federal officials and has helped with registration for voting to become more mainstream throughout the US. -
Lawrence v Texas
After John Lawrence is caught performing consensual sodomy in his own apartment by a police officer and arrested it was brought to the supreme court. It was ruled that the Texas law against sodomy goes against a person's liberty under the Due Process Clause. -
Obergefell v Hodges
Supreme Court ruled that it is a fundamental right for same-sex couples to be able to marry by the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment.