-
Period: to
• Poll Taxes
• Poll taxes where prerequisites that states collected when voting. These taxes were used to keep minorities from voting. The poll tax would be set too high for minorities and poor people to afford. The 24th Amendment abolished the use of poll taxes, in federal elections in 1964. -
Period: to
• Literacy Tests
• 19th century
• Literacy tests were exams that must be passed before a person could vote. These test were very difficult for African Americans and uneducated people because they could not read. The test were often altered for different races. -
Period: to
• Jim Crow
• Jim Crow was not a real person, but the name of a minstrel routine created by author Thomas Rice in 1828. Jim Crow was also the name of the racial caste system used mainly by southern and Border States. These anti-black laws discriminated against African Americans and segregated them from the white community. The infamous Plessy vs. Ferguson case, in 1896, challenged that the Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional. The court ruled that "equal but separate" was legal. -
• 13th amendment
• The 13th amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. This ended all slavery and set all of the enslaved African Americans free. The Bill was difficult to pass and was ratified by the states on December 6, but the secretary of State proclaimed its adoption. All though it was passed, many southern states did not enforce the amendment. -
• 14th amendment
• The 14th amendment addresses the rights and equal protection of all citizens, by law. The government wanted to protect African Americans from being abused and unlawfully hurt by other citizens and police officers. This amendment also forced states to abolish any laws that interfered with African American's rights and privileges. -
• 15th amendment
• The 15th amendment took almost two years to be adopted and went through three rustications. The amendment prohibits the state and government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their color or race. This gave the African American men the right to vote in the south. The Amendment was not all that effective because the state made African men fearful to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
• Argued April 13, 1896. Decided May 18, 1896.
• This was the “separate but equal” case.
• This case held to determine whether is was constitutional or not to require racial segregation in public facilities.
• In a 7 to 1 vote, the majority ruled that it was constitutional to segregate. -
• 19th amendment
• The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. The amendment was a huge milestone in the difficult struggle for women's suffrage. Many generations of women protested for the right to vote and they finally achieved it with the 19th amendment. -
Korematsu v. United States
• Argued October 11-12, 1944, Decided December 18, 1944.
• This dealt with the constitutionality of the Executive order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II.
• In a 6-3 vote it was ruled constitutional. -
Sweatt v. Painter
• Argued April 4, 1950. Decided June 5, 1950
• This case was the case that successfully challenged the “Separate but equal” case.
• A black man named Herman Marion Sweatt was refused to the School of Law of the University of Texas because they did not admit negro students at the time in Texas.
• The ruling was too create a law school for black students and only black students.
• The only problem was that the facility and quality of education was nothing like that of the University of Texas Law. -
Brown v. Board of Education
• Argued December 9, 1952, Reargued December 8, 1953, and decided on May 17, 1954
• This case basically tested the constitutionality of segregation in schools.
• People argued that the quality of education in a black school was not where near the quality that one would find in white schools at the time.
• People then began to integrate as a result of this case; this was a major victory for the blacks in the civil rights movement. -
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Four days after Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her front seat to a white man. African Americans of Montgomery, Alabama boycotted the bus systems to protest segregated seating. After 381 days of the boycott, the U.S Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus systems. One of the leaders of the boycott, Martin Luther King Jr., emerged as a national leader for American civil rights. -
Affirmative Action
• In 1961, President Kennedy became the first to utilize the term “affirmative action” in Executive order.
• This refers to equal opportunity employment.
• This deals with the prevention of discrimination in the work place based on color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Period: to
Affirmative Action
• In 1961, President Kennedy became the first to utilize the term “affirmative action” in Executive order.
• This refers to equal opportunity employment.
• This deals with the prevention of discrimination in the work place based on color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
• 24th amendment
• The 24th amendment denied the states from using poll taxes for all federal elections. This amendment allowed minorities to vote without paying a high tax that most could not afford. Although the amendment abolishes poll taxes from federal elections, it does not abolish poll taxes from state elections. -
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece in the civil rights movement. The act outlawed discrimination based on people's race, color, sex, or religion. This act ended the unequal voter requirements and racial segregated school. The act was not followed by southern states in the beginning but congress started to send military to protect and enforce these laws in the south. -
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• The U.S passed a law that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The act was designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th amendments. This gave all races the right to vote and was protected by the U.S government. -
• Robert Kennedy Speech
• Robert Kennedy was campaigning for the upcoming election in Indiana. After giving two speeches, he was then informed of the murder of MLK. Instead of canceling his next speech, in Indianapolis, he decided to go through with it. He told the crowd about the killing and Kennedy's aides were worried that the speech may start violence and riots. Kennedy went on to talk about how to protest this tragic event with non-violence. His speech is considered one of the greatest speeches for non-violence pr -
Reed v. Reed
• Argued October 19, 1971, Decided on November 22, 1971
• This case was an equal protection case that ruled that the administrators of the estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes.
• A divorced couple were in conflict over which of them to designate as administrator of the estate of their deceased son. -
• Equal Rights Amendment
• The equal rights amendment was an amendment that gave equal rights to all persons regardless of their sex. The amendment was first written in 1923 and was in front of congress until 1972. Congress could not achieve the 38 state ratification. The amendment is still under protest today. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
• Argued October 12, 1977, Decided on June 28, 1978
• The legality of voluntary affirmative action programs initiated by universities was unresolved.
• Proponents deemed such programs necessary to make up for past discrimination, while opponents believed they were illegal and a violation of the equal protection clause and the fourth amendment. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
• Argued March 31, 1986, Decided on June 30 , 1986
• In a 5-4 ruling, the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals was ruled to be valid.
• Seventeen years later, this would be overruled by the Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, saying that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional. -
Americans with disabilities act
• July, 26 1990
• Also known as ADA, this act prohibits the discrimination of people with disabilities.
• This also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees.
• This act also enforces accessibility requirements on public accommodations.
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations has a list of conditions that are considered disabilities. -
Lawrence v. Texas
• Argued March 26, 2003. Decided June 25, 2003
• In a 6-3 ruling, the supreme court shot down the sodomy law in Texas , and invalidated sodomy laws in 13 other states, making same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state and territory.
• It came to conclusion that sodomy laws violated the 14th ammendment. -
Fisher v. Texas
• Argued October 10, 2012, Decided on June 24, 2013
• This case dealt with the concerns with the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Texas at Austin.
• Not a definite conclusion was brought by this case.
• The case was remanded for further consideration. -
Indiana’s Gay Rights Court Battle
• A terminally ill woman wanted to get married and have Indiana recognize their same-sex marriage, She said that she wanted their children to know that their parents were treated like other married couples I their home state.
