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13th Ammendment
The 13th ammendmet freed all slaves. This was a step in the right direction, however it still left them without rights. Although it technically abolished slavery, many african americans still faced Black Codes, white supremecist violence and some states conitued to subject African American people into invouluntary labor. -
14th Amendment
This was , one of the "Reconstruction Amendments". The Amendment adresses equal protection of the governtment and citizenship rights for African Americans. Southern states were forced to ratify this in order to regain represenation in congress. -
The 15th Amendment
This amendment gave the right to vote to former slaves. While in theory this was a good idea, Many states had laws to disenfranchise African Americans. This was the last of the reconstruction amendments. -
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Jim Crow Era
The Jim Crow era was a time period marked by racial segregation. Many times the segragation was by law but also some seperation was from social constructs. Often the structues for black people were inferior to the white structures. -
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Literacy Tests
Literacy tests were used by southern states after freed slaves gained voting rights. These tests were used in coodination of a few other things in order to disenfranchise African Americans. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A thirty year old named Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting "white" car on a railroad train. He had a lighter colored skin wich could have let him pass for being white but was considered black so he was still commanded to sit in the black section. Louisiana passed the seperate cars act in 1892, allowing them to legally seperate people by race. After passing this law a civil rights organization decided to challenge this law by taking it to the courts. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment came after many years of struggle by women in America. This amendment gave women suffrage. The amendment was actually drafted by Susan B. Anthony, a famous women's rights activist. -
Korematsu v. United States
Korematsu v. United States was a very important case involving civil rights. It questioned the constitutionality of an executive order that placed Japanese Americans in camps. The 6-3 ruling by the supreme court found that it was indeed constitutional. -
Sweatt v. Painter
Sweatt v. Painter challenged "seperate but equal". This case involved a Texas law school for African Americans that was nowhere near equal to the white one. The NAACP used their stradegy of litigation to achieve equal schooling for African Americans. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This case looks at segregation in public schools. Brown sued the school board cuz the "black" school was not equal to the "white" school. The supreme court decided that segregation was wrong and ordered schools to desegregate. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
After Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white male the boycott began. African Americans in Montgomery Alabama protested public buses for not allowing blacks to sit in the front of the bus. The boycott lasted 381 days. It got a lot of attention from the media and the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges is a known activist. She is known for being the first black child to intergrate an all white school. The school she intergrted was William Frantz Elementary School. Ruby was six years old when all of this took place. -
Loving v. Virignina
This civil rights victory struck down a law that prohibited interracial marriage. The sepreme court uniamously decided that the Marriage Integrity Act was unconstitutional. This case spurred an increase in the interracial marriages across the USA -
The 24th Amendment
This amendment makes it illegal for congress and states to put restrictions on the right to vote in federal elections (i.e. poll tax).This allowed black voters become actually exsistent. -
Poll Taxes
Poll Taxes were prohibited on this date in history. Poll taxes were one of many stradgies used during the Jim Crow Era. Southern southern states charged a fee to vote. Many African Americans were poor during this time and could not pay in order to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act outlawed many different forms of discrimination. Specifically the act mentions: race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It also ended inequality in voter registration. While it was a step in the right direction, there are still instances of discrimination that still exist today. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This is another act signed by Johnson. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The 14th and 15th amendments were reinforced by this. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is also known as positive discrimination. It was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson as an executive act. Affirmative action is meant to prevent racial discrimination in the hiring process. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis
Robert Kennedy spoke in Indianapolis about MLK jr.'s assassination. He learned that King had been killed while campaining. Even though his staff was concerned for his safety, Kennedy still spoke to the people. -
Reed v. Reed
This case looks at equal protection in estates. The ruling found that it is illegal to discriminate by sex for estate edminastrators. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment is also known as the ERA. This amendment was designed to provide equal rights for women. It only recieved 35 of the 38 states needed to ratify it.. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This case also involves the issue of discrimination in schools. Despite affirmative action being taken, many were upset that schools had specific quotas for minory races. The supreme court ruled that these quotas were not legal. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This case questioned the legality of discrimination against homosexuals. The ruling upheld a law that made sex between homosexuals illegal. It was overturned in 2003. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Also known as the ADA. The act made discrimination against disabled people illegal. The disabilities protected are both mental and physical. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This case overturned the ruling of Bowers V. Hardwick. The Supreme Court found that laws outlawing homosexual activity were illegal. The ruling allows sex between two consenting adults regardless of gender. -
Fisher v. Uniersity of Texas
This case looked at Affirmative Action at the University of Texas. Specifically it sought to see if the admissions policy at the Austin school. The court voided a lower courts ruling and remanded the case for further ruling. -
Baskin v. Bogan
Judge in Indiana strikes down gay marriage ban. Later a three panel committee of judges upheld the striking down of gay marriage. It is expected that the supreme court will see this case within the year.
