-
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri. He lived in Illinois for ten years, where slavery was forbidden. When Scott moved back to Missouri, he filed a lawsuit for his freedom. He lost the suit and ultimately was told that no "negro" could be a citizen based on Article III of the Constitution. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was an amendment passed at the end of the Civil War saying that slavery was abolished within the United States. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is an amendment that states that no state should be able to make or enforce laws. Also, it states that any American citizen of the United States should have access to all rights and should not be denied them. -
15th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is an amendment that granted African American MEN the right to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a case that ultimately decided that equal but separate was legal and didn't violate the Equal Protection Clause. Homer Adolph Plessy got onto a whites only railway car and was asked to move, he refused and ended up being arrested. Plessy argued that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th amendments. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. -
White Primaries
White primaries were elections that were held in the South to say that only white voters were allowed to vote in the United States polls in Southern states. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a case where the Brown family's daughter was denied admittance into a public school because she was African American, even though it was closer than the one that was an all-black school. They took it to court and said it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Ultimately, it was decided that it was unequal and it did break the 14th Amendment. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment is an amendment that prohibits any poll tax in elections for officials. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes, according to the dictionary, is "a tax levied on every adult, without reference to income or resources." In the 1890s, as a way to keep Black Americans from voting, poll taxes were made so that you had to pay to cast a vote. The passing of the 24th Amendment helped to put an end to poll taxes. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act made it illegal to discriminate on the base of sex along with race, as in the perspective of hiring, firing, or promoting jobs. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon Johnson signed this act into law. This act stated that it was to stop the barriers that prevented Black Americans from voting as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is a set of policies that seek to include different groups based on them being underrepresented. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed was a case where due to Idaho Probate Code, it was said that males had to be preferred over females. After the death of Sally and Cecil Reed's son, Cecil was appointed the administrator of their son's estate so Sally challenged this law in court. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Right Amendment is an amendment that guarantees equality for men and women. The ERA was first passed by the U.S. Senate on March 2, 1972, yet it hasn't been ratified. It has only been ratified by 38 states. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case was a case where Allan Bakke, applies to the University of California Medical School. He was rejected due to their affirmative action program to address unfair minority exclusions. He sued the University of California saying that he was excluded because he was white. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick was a case where Michael Hardwick was observed, by police officers, having homosexual consensual sodomy with another adult in his own home. He was charged with violating a statute in Georgia that makes sodomy a crime. Hardwick challenged the statue saying it wasn't constitutional. The Supreme Court ultimately had a divided court. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act is an act that stops people with disabilities from being discriminated against. -
Motor Voter Act
The Motor Voter Act, also known as, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, was an act that applies certain voter registration requirements as far as elections to federal office go. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This case was a case where Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another male engaging in consensual sex. They were both arrested because it violated a Texas statute banning two people of the same sex from having sex. In a 6-3 opinion, the court decided that the Texas statute violated the Due Process Clause. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This case was a case where same-sex couples sued their relevant agencies to challenge the constitutionality of the bans on same-sex marriage as well as their refusal to recognize that it was legal.