-
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri that fled to Illinois, which was a free state. When he returned to Missouri, he sued for his freedom and stated that because he was now a resident of Illinois, he was a free man. It was decided by the Court that because Scott's ancestors were slaves, he was not considered a citizen and therefore could not sue the federal court. It was also ruled that the Missouri Compromise were unconstitutional and that slaves were property under the 5th Amendment. -
13th Amendment
The 13th amendment outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude except for a punishment for a crime. It was passed at the end of the Civil War by President LIncoln. -
Period: to
Jim Crow Era
Jim Crow Laws were a combination of state and local statutes that made it legal for racial segregation to take place. It additionally denied the right to vote for African Americans and their ability to hold jobs as well as other opportunities. The penalty of denying Jim Crow Laws often resulted in arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence, and death. Black Codes were put in place at the beginning of 1865 and they forced the previous slaves into indentured servitude in place of slavery. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment expanded the equal protection of the law to the states. This equal protection included all citizens that were born or naturalized in the United States. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment gave suffrage to all Americans regardless of race. It was passed during Reconstruction. African Americans were still denied the right to vote through methods such as literacy tests and fines. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Separate Car Act required segregation on railway cars. Homer Plessy decided to challenge the act and created a committee to repeal the act. Plessy was told to leave the white-only car, and when he refused, he was arrested. The Court decided that the Separate Car Act was constitutional and not in violation of the 14th Amendment, so it allowed segregation in the states. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment granted the right to vote to all American citizens regardless of gender and made it illegal to deny the right to vote to any citizen based on sex. However, it only gave white women the right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Court decided that racially segregated schools were discriminatory and in violation of the 14th Amendment. This caused a legal basis to attack all forms of legally sanctioned racial segregation. This includes denying Americans access to jobs, public facilities, and services. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is made to rid of unlawful discrimination and prevent future descrimination by protecting minorities. It was pa part of President Kennedy's Executive Order in 1961. It later led to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and multiple anti-discrimination laws in education -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The act prohobited discrimination in public places and involving employment opportunities for minorities. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. A prominent goal of the law was to remove the disenfranchisement of African Americans, especially whereas it often occured in the South. Bloody Sunday refers to the march in Selma where peaceful demonstrators were advocating for voting rights and protesting the murder of a young African American man. A week later, Johnson delivered a speech regarding the equal right to vote that led to hearings for the VRA. -
Reed v. Reed
There was an Idaho Probate Code that specified that "males must be preferred to females" when appointing administrators of estates. Sally and Cecil Reed wanted to be the administrator of their son's estate after his passing and Cecil was appointed as the administrator. The Court decided that the Probate Code was unconstitutional and to give preference of one sex over another to eliminate hearings on merits was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment proposed to prevent sexual discrimination for women under the law. However, a conservative backlash ended its support and led to the failure of its ratification of 3/4 of the states. It is still being debated today. Because of its rejection, gender equality is not protected under the Constitution except for the right to vote. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke was a white man that had been denied admission at the California Medical School. The school had reserved spots for minorities for the affirmative action program. There was not a majority in the court decision, however, they minimized white opposition by supporting Bakke. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Hardwick was observed by a police officer while engaging in homosexual relations in his bedroom, which was consentual. He was charged with Georgia's statute that criminalized sodomy, which was then challenged in court. The Court decided that there wasn't constitutional protection for sodomy and states could outlaw its practices. It wasn't overruled until Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits the descrimination against individuals with disabilities in public areas to ensure equal opportunity for people with disabilities. Later in 2008, The Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act was signed into law which expanded the accomodations. -
Motor Voter Act
The Motor Voter Act or the National Voter Registration Act that allowed more people to gain access to voting. It allowed for opportunities such as mail-in ballots for elgible voters who could not vote previously. Elgible voters can also register to vote at the DMV, which is how it earned the nickname. -
Lawrence v. Texas
The police entered Lawrence's home and witnessed him consentually engaging with another man. They were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse when Texase had forbidden two persons of the same sex engaging in sexual conduct. The Court decided that the Texas statute violated the Due Process Clause. They decided that Lawrence had the freedom under the Due Process Clause. The Court overruled Bowers. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
A same-sex couple challenged the constitutionality of the states that had refused to recognize same-sex marriages. It was argued that the states violated the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court decided that the Due Process Clause guarantees the right to marry as a fundamental liberty and that also applies to same-sex couples.
