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13th Amendment
RIght after the Civil War, the North had won but there were still slaves in America. The 13th Amendment freed these slaves. This ended slavery(for the most part) although it received a lot of resistance from many of the southern slaves. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was ratified during the reconstruction stage of America. The Civil War had just ended and all of the former slaves were free but still did not have the rights that the white men had. The 14th Amendment guarenteed these freed slaves the same protection under the law as the other Americans. -
15th Amendment
The third and final of the reconstruction amendments was the 15th. After the slaves were freed and given protection under the law, the last major right they had left was the right to vote. The 15th gave them this right. Once again however, it was resisted heavily by the south through literacy tests and poll taxes. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
As reconstruction was coming to a close and civil rights movements were gaining some power, this court case came about. The supreme court ruled that segregation was constitutional and that as long as it was equal, it was legal. This put an end to any of the movements at the time. -
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws were brought about after the civil war and lasted up until the mid 1900s. They were laws that were aimed at blacks in order to keep them either lower than white people or to keep them segregated. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were the other way that blacks were kept from voting. If they weren't educated enough for the literacy tests, they would have to pay a tax. Most blacks could not pay the tax so, once again, they could not vote. -
Literacy Tests
These tests were used in the south as a way of keeping most blacks from voting in the elections. They tested to see if the person voting was educated(most blacks were not) so many blacks did not get representation they deserved. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment allowed people of all sex to vote in America. Women could finally voice themselves in the government. The -
Equal Rights Amendment
First introduced in 1923, this amendment was created to give women equal rights in the country. Although it didn't quite work 100%, over the years it has significantly helped women. There is still a way to go but it is getting better year by year. -
Korematsu v. United States
This case was concerning the internment of Japanese people during WWII. The court sided with the United States. This meant that they thought it was constitutional to lock up innocent japanese people just because they were japanese. -
Sweatt Vs. Painter
A black student wanted to attend a law school that would not accept him because it was a white school. He said that this could not be both separate and equal because there was no black law school. This case later influenced Brown v. Board a few years later. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
This was the case that determined that seperate was naturally unequal. The schools the blacks were going to were not any where near the quality of the white ones. The court ruled that these students must be allowed to attend the white school. This started the desegragation of the schools in the south. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
After the whole Rosa Parks incident, many people started to boycott the Montgomery Bus System. It was a way of speeding up the process in which buses were desegragated. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is a way of "positively discriminating". It gives advantages to a certain group of people that do not have the same oppurtunities as more privelidged groups. -
24th Amendment
This amendment prevents any state or federal government from creating anything that may limit someones right to vote. This got rid of the poll taxes and literacy tests in place in the south. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This amendment outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or origin. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act disallows the restriction of voting based on race. This removed any laws preventing someone from voting based on their race. -
Robert Kennedy Speech
Given in Indianapolis Indiana, Kennedy gave a speech aobut the death of MLK. He outlined what needed to be done now that the leader of the civil rights movement had now died. -
Reed vs. Reed
When their son died, this separated couple both wanted his estate. The previous law said that a male must be prefered to a female when it came to who gets the property. It was found to be unconstitutional and this law was removed. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case had to deal with Affirmative Action. It allowed colleges to base some of the admission process on race. It did not allow however colleges to set aside a specific amount of spots. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This case criminalized oral and anal sex in a consenting couple. This was later overturned in 2003. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act outlawed discrimination based on a disability. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This case legalized same-sex sex in every state in the country. -
Fisher v. Texas
It once again upheld Affirmative Action when a student questioned the policy used by the University of Texas. -
Same-Sex Marriage in Indiana
Recently it was found that Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and was revoked. Indiana now recognizes marriage that happens here and in other states as well.
