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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Ruled that slaves and their children whether free or not could not be American citizens and therefore had no right to sue in a federal court. Ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional. -
13th Amendment
Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime. -
14th Amendment
Granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." This included former slaves recently freed. -
15th Amendment
Granted African American men the right to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
"Separate but equal" provision of public accommodations was found to be constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. -
19th Amendment
Granted women the right to vote -
White Primaries
A method used to disenfranchise minority voters. Restricted voting to those whose grandfathers had voted before 1867. Outlawed in 1944 -
Brown v. Board of Education
Determined that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
The practice of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously -
24th Amendment
Prohibits conditioning the right to vote in federal elections. Made poll taxes illegal -
Civil Rights Act
Outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Poll Taxes
Requirement to pay a fee to vote. Prohibited by the 24th Amendment in 1964. -
Voting Rights Act
Overcame legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans the right to vote. -
Reed v. Reed
Equal Protection case that ruled that the administrators of estates can't be named in a way that discriminates between the sexes -
Equal Rights Amendment
Provides legal equality of the sexes and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. -
Regions of the University of California v. Bakke
Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial quotas in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but affirmative action is constitutional. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
The constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Prohibits discrimination based on disability. -
Lawrence v. Texas
State laws banning homosexual sodomy are unconstitutional as a violation to the right of privacy -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Requires all states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex marriages.