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Dred Scott v Sandford
This landmark court decision involved the rights of African Americans to sue in federal courts. The supreme court ruled that African Americans had no rights in the government and were not citizens. The court also ruled that congress had no power to ban slavery. -
13th Amendment
This amendment was the first of the civil war amendments. The thirteenth amendment abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude except for when used as a punishment for a crime. In theory this amendment set free all African Americans held in slavery. -
Poll Taxes
A poll tax is a tax that citizens are required to pay in order to vote. The goal that governments wished to accomplish through poll taxes was to keep African Americans and poor Whites from voting because they would not vote how the wealthy whites wanted. -
14th Amendment
This is the second of the civil war amendments. This amendment protects the rights of African Americans as well as all other people in the United States from state powers. This also guarantees citizenship to all who are born in the borders of the United States. The amendment guarantees the protection of life, liberty, and property and equal protection under the law to all. -
15th Amendment
This is the last of the three civil war amendments. The 15th amendment prohibits the state and federal governments from denying someone the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. In theory this amendment gave African Americans the right to vote. -
White Primaries
White Primaries refer to the process of excluding African Americans from voting in primary elections. Political parties were able to exclude African Americans from voting in these elections and instead African Americans were only able to vote in general elections. Since the primary elections hold more value than general elections, the political parties of the south were able to limit the voice African Americans had in the policy making process. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Louisiana enacted the Separate Car Act, which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. When Plessy was told to vacate the whites-only car, he was refused and arrested. At trial, Plessy’s lawyers argued that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. The judge found that Louisiana could enforce this law insofar as it affected railroads within its boundaries. Plessy was convicted. -
19th Amendment
This amendment prohibits a government's ability to limit a citizen's right to vote based on sex. The amendment also gives congress the power to enforce the article by appropriate legislation. This amendment followed the long battle that women fought to gain suffrage. -
Brown v. board of education
African American students had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on laws allowing public education to be segregated by race. They argued that such segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court held that “separate but equal” facilities are inherently unequal and violate the protections of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action refers to admission policies that provide equal access to education for those groups that have been historically excluded or underrepresented, such as women and minorities. This is significant because it tried to allow equal opportunity for minority groups that were discriminated against before. -
24th Amendment
This amendment eliminated the ability of the state and federal governments from issuing a poll tax. Many southern states issued poll taxes or other taxes that often prohibited African Americans from voting. This amendment aimed to give all African Americans an equal voice in the policy making process. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act includes sections that declare racial discrimination illegal in all public accommodations like hotels, forbade discrimination in employment, created that Equal Opportunity Commission to monitor and enforce protections against employment discrimination along with other things. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Written into law by president Lyndon Johnson this act had the goal of protecting all people's right to vote. This prohibits governments from using voting procedures like poll taxes and literacy tests to deny people the right to vote based on race. -
Reed v Reed
The Idaho Probate Code specified that "males must be preferred to females" in appointing administrators of estates. After the death of their adopted son, both Sally and Cecil Reed sought to be named the administrator of their son's estate (the Reeds were separated). According to the Probate Code, Cecil was appointed administrator and Sally challenged the law in court. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the law's dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment designed to guarantee equal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. The goal of this amendment was to end the distinction between men in women in situations including divorce, property, and employment. -
Regents of the University of California v Bakke
Allan Bakke had twice applied for admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. He was rejected both times even though his qualifications exceeded those of any of the minority students admitted. Bakke contended that he was excluded from admission solely on the basis of race. The court contented that the rigid use of racial quotas as employed at the school violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Bowers v Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was observed by a Georgia police officer while engaging in the act of consensual 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.The divided Court found that there was no constitutional protection for acts of sodomy, and that states could outlaw those practices. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits the discrimination of a person based on their disabilities. This act prohibits discrimination in employment, transportation, public accommodations, access to government programs and communication. Both citizens who are currently employed and seeking a job and have disabilities are protected under this act. The act also requires closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Responding to a reported weapons disturbance in a private residence, Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man, Tyron Garner, engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse. Court held that the Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause.
