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Dred Scott v. Sandforf
Dred Scott believed he should be free since he lived in Missouri where slavery was outlawed. The Court decided slaves who lived in the free states were not considered American citizens. This established the precedent that African Americans were no longer property but not citizens. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. This created the precedent that within the United States that humans can not be property. It was the first step to create equality for Black Americans. -
14th Amendment
This granted anyone born in the United States citizenship. This allowed former slaves to not just be freed, but to be actual citizens, American citizens. This meant that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights applied to them (even though that was not always put into practice.) -
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Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were used to narrow who was allowed to vote, specifically discriminating Black voters. The voices of Black men and women were distinguished by only allowing people who could afford to pay the ability to vote. It was a legal way for the government to deny the right to vote after the 14th Amendment allowed Black men to vote. -
15th Amendment
Black American MEN have the right to vote. This created the precedent that Black women did not equal to Black men. White supremacists used fear and violence to make voting for Black dangerous. Because of this, many Black men did not vote a lot. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The infamous words, "seperate but equal" comes from this Supreme Court ruling. The Court set the precedent that segregation is allowed. The government acknowledged segregation and OKAYED it. Discrimination was legal and upheld. It set foundation for the double standard of America, home of the free. Legally, people of color were seen as less than white people and set foundations to the future fight for the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 20th century. -
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White Primaries
Black Americans were not allowed in the Democratic party. However, after the Civil War, Democrats were the only party that held any holding within any elections. Being barred from the Democratic party, Black Americans held no power or voice within the government. White primaries undermined Black Americans constitutional rights to voting and it was legal up until Terry v. Adams. -
19th Amendment
19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. This put women politically equal to men. However, women of color still had barriers that barred them from voting, such as literacy tests and poll taxes. The amendment gave foundation for Black women to fight for their right to vote, since it was now guaranteed to them in the constitution. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The precedent that Plessy v. Ferguson set was undone by this case. The Court ruled that by segregating school, black children were being put in environments that were negatively affecting their educations. "Seperate but equal" did not apply to schools. This case help move the Civil Rights Movement because it opened up doors that Black Americans had always been denied. It inspired many to protest the segregation of other things, such as buses. -
24th Amendment
Tax polls were not allowed to deny people the ability to vote. Tax polls were used to segregate voting by only applying to Black voters. By abolishing them through an amendment, there was no loop hole for states to legally deny voting through tax polls. It was supposed to make voting more equal and fair. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Under this act, legal segregation was banned in the United States. This guaranteed people of color the basic rights they deserved. It got rid of the double standard that America had implemented; home of the free (aka white people only). Legally it made white and Black Americans equal. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Literacy for voting were no longer legal. People did not need to take literacy tests in order to vote or anything. These were used as ways to minimize Black peoples' right to vote, just like poll taxes. This act combined with the 24th amendment allows even the poor and uneducated to vote. For Black Americans, they have unrestricted voting rights (on paper). -
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Affirmative Action
This was set to give hiring opportunities to minorities and oppressed peoples. These were efforts from the government to prevent/remove discrimination from the hiring process. Rather than not hiring someone because of their race, now people are hiring because of race. This opened opportunities for people that were available. -
Reed v. Reed
The Equal Protection Clause was incorporated and was the first time that it was used to decided a case was discriminating against women. This was monumental because it gave women some say in financials. Women were not allowed to have an estate (in Idaho). It was implied that men were more important that women but the ruling upheld that men and women were equal. It gave women more say in things that they never had before. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This amendment gets rid of discrimination based on sex. Although originally proposed in the 20's, it was not ratified until the 70s'. Because of this, women were able to have opportunities that had always been barred from them because of their vaginas. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Affirmative action did not mean that you could deny someone with the requirements just because of their race. Upheld that fact that merit should still be considered even with affirmative action being applied. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
the Supreme Court ruled that anal sex, which is primarily gay sex, was not a constitutional right. It invalidated the entire gay community at large. You could have served years of price by just loving someone. It set the precedent that being gay was a crime. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act made discrimination towards people with disabilities illegal. This is called the ADA. Before this, things like subcaptions and braille were not guaranteed things to help people. There weren't legal accommodations to people how needed them. -
Motor Voter Act
Making it easier to vote is giving people an easier chance to have their voices heard. By allowing mail-in registration, people who are not able to travel are able to vote now. There voices can be heard when they previously weren't. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This case got rid of the precedent that Bowers v. Hardwick set. Besides marriage, this put straight couples and gay couples at equal standing in the modern age. This gave people within the gay community the right to love each other in the same way as straight people would.
Naruto Uzumaki is the greatest Hokage. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Now in all ways, gay marriages and straight marriages have equal standing. In a country that once considered homosexuality a mental illness, being able to openly MARRY the same sex was astonishing. No longer were gay couples view as inferior in law.
