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Civil Rights TImeline
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The Thirteenth Amendment
The 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery in the United States. It came two years after Lincoln's Emancipation proclomation in 1863. The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War before the Southern states had been brought back into the Union and should have easily passed the Congress. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis Upon Death of MLK
Robert Kennedy gave a public statement about the assasination of Martn Luther King Jr, celebrating the great things he did as well as using the awful tragedy to bring fellow Americans together. -
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment said that every one who was born in the United States was a United States citizen. This was important to the Civil RIghts movement becuase it set up African American citizens to fight for the right to vote -
The Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment gave citizens including African Americans the right to vote. This was a huge gain for the African American community in the Civil RIghts movement. -
Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws said that White and "Blacks were seperate but eqaul" They seperated whites and blacks from all public services like schooling, bussing, water fountains, movie theaters and more. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This trial involved man named Homer Plessy who was put in a black transportation vehicle even though he appeared to be white while he had some of the African American race in his genes. The final decision of this trial was that as long as when there was a public seperation of whites and blacks and it was equal, then it would still be Constitutional. In the end, however, it wasn't really equal. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges was the first African American student to attend and all-white school. It caused great controversy because her community was mostly made up of white people. Bridges was escorted into her school with the help of U.S. Marshalls to keep her safe and protect her. -
The Ninteenth Amendment
The 19th Amendment officially gave female citizens of the United States the right to vote. When the 19th Amendment was passed, women's suffrage was officially granted -
Sweatt v. Painter
This Supreme Court case involved a black man who was rejected from Texas School of Law only becuase he was black. The Texas School of Law offered to make another law school for black people only, but with clear disadvantages. When the case was finally decided, the final decision was that the Texas School of Law could not provide a seperate but equal school. The case eventually made it clear that "seperate but equal" was just impossible to acheive. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This case involved two schools that segregated white and black students. In both schools, although the students were seperated, they seemed to have been given an equally good learning environment. The Supreme Court eventually decided that even if it is serperate and equal, the seperation can have negative efffects on the students. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1st, 1955, Civil Rghts activist, Rosa Parks took a stand for her rights by refusing to give her seat up to a white person. This caused huge uproar in her community and it resulted in all of the African American people in Montgomery, walking to their destinations instead of taking the bus. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action involves all groups who acknowledge groups who are discriminated against and are willing to give equal opportunties. Affirmative Action can refer to people who are dicriminated against because of race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation -
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was put in place so that states would stop creating poll taxes for African Americans. Poll taxes along with other things like literacty tests were created in an effort to keep African Americans from casting a vote. -
Voting Rghts Act of 1964
Lyndon Johnson passed this act so that African Americans wouldn't have to endure unreasonable testing so that they could vote. It prohibited all racial discrimination when voting. This act helped many many more African American citizens of the United States cast a vote. -
Poll Taxes
Part of racial discrimination while voting was the Poll Tax. Many African American citizens didn't get the same employment opportunities, so they were no as wealthy as the white population. When African Americans had to pay a tax to vote, many didn't have money.The 24th Amendment ended this form of discrimination. -
Literacy Tests
Another form of racial discrimination was the Literacy Test. African Americans were not given the same educational opportunites, so many were not able to read or write, while most white people could. When African Americans had to prove that they could read and write in order to vote, many couldn't do so. This type of discrimination was prohibited by the 24th Amendment. -
Loving v. Virginia
Two people were interracially married in Washington D.C., but when they moved to Virginia, their marriage was not recognized. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitional to strike down a marriage based on racial differences -
Reed v. Reed
In this case, a divorced husband and wife were both trying to be named as the administrator of their deceased son's estate. In Idaho's law, "Males should be preferred to females". The final decision of the Supreme Court was that it was unconstitutional to prefer males over females. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Allan Bakke, an African American student, applied to the University of California but was denied twice despite his exceptional grades. The Supreme Court ruled that The University of California was violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -
Equal Rights Amendment
Originally made by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman in 1923, the Equal Rights amendment wasn't passed until 1982. This amendent was created to help women have equal rights and opportunites that men have. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This case involves a man who was observed having sex with another man by a police officer in Georgia. The man practicing homosexuality was charged with a fellony and he fought back saying that it was his constitutional right to have consensual sex with anothe man, but the Supreme Court ruled that states had the authority to rule otherwise while still acting within the Constitution. -
Amercans With Disabilites Act
This act protected people who had major or minor disabilities from discrimination in the work place as well as other public places. The act required accomodations to be put in place to give people with disabilities, like something that would require a wheelchair or someone who can't hear, equal opportunites in the workplace. -
Lawrence v. Texas
In this case, two men, again, were caught having sex with each other. They were both arrested, but fought back, saying that it was thier constitutional right to practice what they want to. The case was described as a repetition of Bowers v. Hardwick, but this case went the other way, granting people practicing homosexuality to do what they please because it is their Constitutional right. -
Fisher v. Texas
Fisher v. Texas involved student who was discirminated against in the University of Texas becuase of her race. The school catagorized her and monitored her performace in comparision to other black students. This catagorization was also the basis for many important decisions and Fisher argued that it was against the Equal Protection Clause to discriminate becuase of race. The Supreme Court agreed 7 to 1. -
Indiana's Gay Rights
In 2014, there was a three day period that gay-marriage was legal. Indiana's first homosexual couple was legally married in Indiana during this period. The fight for the legality of gay-marriage is still in process, where the case is now in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -
Korematsu v. United States
This case involved a man of Japanese descent who wished to participate in the United States' armed forces. The United States had disallowed all people of Japanese descent from the military in an effort to avoid espionage, but in 1944, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstituitional.
