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Scott v. Sanford
In 1846, Dred Scout sued the Sanfords because she wouldn’t let him buy his family’s freedom. He won the case and was free. However, Sanford wouldn’t pay him what she owed. When Scout tried to sue again, the original ruling was overturned by the higher court. Scout was sent back to slavery. -
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Reconstruction
The efforts of formal slaves to become equal citizens of the United States. -
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Reconstruction Amendments
13th A- Abolished slavery
14th A- Right to Due Process
15th A- Gave African Americans the right to vote
24th A- Abolished poll tax for all federal elections -
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Jim Crow Era
State and local laws were placed to enforce racial segregation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson challenged the legality of “Jim Crow laws”. These laws segregated things like drinking fountains, train cars, buses, and restrooms. Homer Plessy refused to move to the black car on a train and was arrested. He argued that these segregations violated his 14th amendment right. The court ruled that these “Jim Crow laws” were legal, as long as blacks and whites were given the same accommodation. -
19th Amendment
Womens suffrage/rights -
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Scottsboro Boys
9 Boys were accused of rape while riding on a train illegally. Two girls accused them so they wouldn’t be caught riding on the train. This case violated many of the boy’s 14th amendment rights. In the end, all 9 boys were cleared, after most of them were dead. -
George Stinney case
George Stinney, 14 years old, was accused of murdering 2 white girls ages 11 and 7. He was convicted and sentenced to death. However, there was a lot of evidence pointing towards his innocence and the court case was filled with many unconstitutional errors and misconduct. -
Brown v. Board
Where minors of the darker race were separated into schools apart from "white" schools. It was claimed to be constitutional because they had the same recourses and were considered "separate but equal". In court, however, it was decided that "separate but equal" was not actually equal because they were being segregated; therefore, this act was unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Banned segregation in public places and discrimination on the bias of race, religion, gender, or national origin -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Banned discriminatory voting practices/enforced the 15th amendment (voting rights shall not be denied of the citizens of the United States). -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
Prohibits discrimination in the sale, retail, financing, and other housing transactions because of race, gender, religion, etc. -
California v. Bakke
The University of California set aside more spots for minority applicants than for white applicants. The court declared this unconstitutional because it was "reverse discrimination". -
Gratz v. Bollinger
Barbara Grutter was rejected from the University of Michigan Law school because they used the "predominant" factor giving applicants that belong to the minority groups a noticeably significant greater chance of acceptance. -
Meredith v. Jefferson Co Board
Jefferson County Public Schools promoted racial integration by restricting any school to permitting the enrollment of black students to be no less than 15% and no more than 50%. Most of the enrollments of students were bias to race. The court ruled this unconstitutional because it violated the student's rights to equal protection under the 14th amendment. -
Shelby County v. Holder
The case in question was: Is Congress' decision to reauthorize Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act exceeding its authority under the 14th and 15th Amendments and violating the constitution? The court declared it unconstitutional and stated that the 14th Amendment "commands that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race or color, and it gives Congress power to enforce that command".