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Civil Rights Timespan
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13th Amendment
President Lincoln signed the thirteenth amendment to finally abolish slavery for good. It was no longer legal to captive african slaves to use them for labor. This was signed eight months after the war had ended when the North had triumphed over the south. The war wasn't because of slavery though, it was to unify the union. The thirteenth amendent plays a huge role in our constitution by making african americans the people we now know today. -
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868 to give any persons that were born in America full citizenship. This was particularly was made for African American slaves that were recently freed. Most southern states denied this amendment but the 3/4 rule gave the government enough power to pass this amendment into the constitution. -
The 15th Amendment
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This is straight out of the constitution and it explains itself very well. Any citizen is allowed to vote even if they are a different race or religion. This is important because before anyone could vote, they had literacy tests to give to african americans because whites didn't want them to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
On June 7, 1892, 30-year-old Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in the "White" car of the East Louisiana Railroad. At this time America had the Seperate Car Act where whites and blacks had be in seperate train cars to get to threir destination. Even though he was not fully black, he was still convicted for being in the white car. He fought his case and said that this was unconstitutional under the 13th and 14th amendment. -
Jim Crow
"The marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu shall be null and void." This is an example of one Jim Crow law. He was a very racist man that thought that whites were a supperior race to any other race. He made many other unnecessary laws that seperated whites from any other race. -
The 19th Amendment
This amendment gave women the right to vote and voice their opinion. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle. Victory took decades of protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a huge change of the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920. -
Sweatt v. Painter
In 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School. The state law automatically rejected his access to get into the school because of his race. The court said that he be admitted to the Texas Law School because their "Negro Law School" was failing to provide everything that the white school gave to their students. -
Brown v. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren unanimous ruled the civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was unconstitutional. This decision ended the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court from the famous Plessy v. Ferguson case. -
Ruby Bridges
She was born in Tylertown Mississippi and was one of many african americans that lived very close to all white school but had to go to an all black school very far away. There was a test that some black children could take so that they could go an all white school. Her mother convinced her father that she should take it so she could further her education in a better way. She was one of six to pass the test and was the first african american child to attend a all white school. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This boycott was sparked because of the Rosa Parks incident when she was arrested because she would not move when a white man told her to. This showed alot of discrimination against blacks so thousands of african americans started a boycott against seats on public buses. The WCP actually started the boycott because they questioned the Montgomery bus rules that said that blacks entered from the rear and had to stand even if there was an open seat in the front of the bus. -
Literacy Tests
Literacy tests were made to be very hard for african americans because most blacks were not literate and had very little education. The voting regislators only gave out these literacy tests to say that they were not discriminating because they were giving blacks a chance to vote. They just had to pass the test in order to do so. This was still discriminating though because most blacks had zero to none of education that were the age to vote. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination. This played a role to explain how african americans were treated and also how people eventually agreed to equality between races. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
James Meredith became the first african american to enroll at University of Mississippi. I think this is important to the civil right act. This caused many riots in Mississippi because of the discrimination of blacks being in white schools. Especially, going to a college because that is where you further your education to the next level to get a good job and people thought blacks would mess that up. His bravery helped continue the road to a healthy and caring environment. -
The 24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment finally ended the poll taxes on any elections for federal officials. This allowed literally everyone above the age of eighteen to vote. Before this was ratified, some people couldn't vote because they couldn't afford the poll tax. Now, even if you are poor but you have the opportunity to voice your opinion. -
Poll tax
Poll taxes were used for people that were less fortunate, especially blacks, so that they couldn't vote. Many of these poll taxes were too expensive for the poor so many people could not vote. The 24th amendment ended poll taxes though so that anyone could vote even if they were less fortunate. People could show their own opinion -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
More than 500 non violent civil rights marchers are attacked by law enforcement officers while attempting to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to demand the need for African American voting rights. Later President Johnson signs the voting rights act into law where all black can vote. -
Loving v. Virginia
In 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia. They returned to Virginia that year. The couple was then charged with violating the state's antimiscegenation statute, which banned interracial marriages. The Lovings were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail. The trial judge agreed to suspend the sentence if the Lovings would leave Virginia and not return for 25 years. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis
It was supposed to be on a routine campaign stop for Robert F. Kennedy. He was speaking to a poor, african american group of people and before he started to speak, he asked his aide, "Do they know about Martin Luther King?" They didn't so, Kennedy told them that he had been shot and killed in Memphis the night before. He spoke of King's dedication to "love and to justice between fellow human beings," adding that "he died in the cause of that effort." He also read his favorite poem, Aeschyl -
Reed v. Reed
In 1971, Reed v. Reed became the first U.S. Supreme Court case to declare sex discrimination a violation of the 14th Amendment. In this case, the Court said that an Idaho law's unequal treatment of men and women based on sex was a violation of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA, affirming the equal application of the Constitution to all persons regardless of their sex, was written in 1923 by Alice Paul, suffragist leader and founder of the National Woman's Party. After the 19th amendment was ratified, the ERA wanted to confirm on the equal rights amendment to establish that all citizens are equal. This was eventually not passed because only 35 states agreed to it and they had to get 38. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was seen by a Georgia police officer while having homosexual sodomy with another adult in the bedroom of his home. After being charged with violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy, Hardwick challenged the statute's constitutionality in Federal District Court. After the ruling that Hardwick failed to state a claim, the court dismissed. The Court of Appeals reversed holding that Georgia's statute was unconstitual. -
The Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities. It falso establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services. The Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy provides publications and other technical assistance on the basic requirements of the act. It does not enforce any part of the law. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man having a sexual somody. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain sexual conduct. The State Court of Appeals held that the statute was not unconstitutional. -
Fisher v. Texas
Abigail N. Fisher, a Caucasian female, applied for undergraduate admission to the University of Texas in 2008. Fisher was not in the top ten percent of her class, so she competed for admission with other non-top ten percent in-state students. The University of Texas denied Fisher's application. Fisher sued against the university and other related defendants, claiming that the University of Texas's use of race as a consideration in admission decisions was in violation of the 14th amendment.
