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Dred Scott v. Sanford
In this Supreme Court case ruled that Dred Scott was a slave and was not considered a citizen of the United States. The court ruled that slaves could not be citizens adn that former slaves are not protected by the Constitution. -
13th Amendment
This a constitutional amendment that was passed after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude. -
14th Amendment
The constitutional amendment that was made after the Civil war, it stated, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprice any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were intially created after the 15th Amendment passed. These were small taxes levied on the right to vote that often fell due at a time of year when poor African Americans sharecroppers had the lease cash on hand. This was a common method used by Southerners to exclude African Americans from voting. -
15th Amendment
The constituional amendment that extended suffrage to African Americans. This amendment prohibited any federal and state government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This was a significant court case during the Civl Rights Era. The ruling from the court was that segregation is legal but every had to be equal amongst the whites and the African Americans. The famous quote was "separate but equal." -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment marked an important date in history, This amendment gave woment the right to vote. -
White Primaries
White Primaries was essentially another way of excluding African Americans from voting. This was a method that permitted political parties in the South to exclude African Americans from voting in primary elections. This took away their voice in the most important parts of voting and only allowed them to vote when it did count as much. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This court case was about the segregation of public schools. The Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of schools was unconstitutional. It ended up overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson decision about public facilities being separate but equal. -
24th Amendment
This is the constitutional amendment that prohibited poll tax at the voting polls. This ensured that all minorities and lower class people had the equal opportunity to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the law that made racial discrimination against any group in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbade many forms of job discrimination. This act also created the EEOC to monitor and enforce protections against job discrimination. It also let the U.S. Justice Department initiate lawsuits to desegregate public schools and facilities. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act was designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. This act prohibited any government from using voting procedures, such as literacy tests or poll taxes from, that denied anyone the right to vote. This also formally abolished the literacy tests. -
Reed v. Reed
This was considered a landmark case because this was the first time the Supreme Court upheld a claim of gender discrimination. The court ruled that any "arbitrary" gender based calssification violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This was another way to gurantee that there would be no discrimination based on gender. It stated, "equality rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." This did not pass because it did not get the three-fourths support from the state legislatures. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This court case was centered around this University because they were using race as the only factor of choice when admitting students. The court ruled this unconstitutional and that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This court case was significant when it came to the rights of homosexuals. The court allowed states to ban homosexual relations. -
Americans with Disablities Act
This amendment was created to prohibit any discrimination agaisnt the disabled. It also enforced all public facilities to make their facility easily accessible to the disabled community. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group. It has efforts to bring about increased employment, promotion or admission. The goal of affirmative action was to go beyond equal opportunity and move toward equal results. -
Lawerence v. Texas
This Supreme Court case was a significant turning point for the rights of homosexuals. This court case overturned the previous decision of the Bowers v. Hardwick case. This made same sex marriage legal and their privacy rights are protected. -
Texas v. Fisher
This court case concerned the affirmative action admissions policy. Fisher said she was discriminated based on her race as to why she did not get admitted into the University of Texas. The Supreme Court ruled that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals failed to apply strict scrutiny in the case.
