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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was an enslaved African American who had lived for a while in Illinois and in the Wisconsin Territory, both of which banned slavery. Scott sued for his freedom, argued that since he had lived in a free state and a free territory, he was a free man. A later federal court ruled that he was still a slave. Scott's lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court, and ruled that Dred Scott was still a slave. The court also ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional. -
13th Amendment
This was after the Civil war to help protect slaves from the government’s prejudices.This amendment to the constitution makes slavery illegal in the United States. It also protects against indentured servitude. -
14th Amendment
This amendment gives people their citizenship if they were born within the united states. This extended to any person including African Americans. It also stated that the states couldn’t deny this right to persons.It also denied the states the right to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. -
15th Amendment
This stated that the right to vote should not be denied to citizens because of race, color, or previous servitude. It also states that Congress has the power to enforce this amendment. it is one of the three Reconstruction amendments, along with the 13th and 14th. After it was ratified, African-American men were able to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Louisiana enacted the Separate Car Act, which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites.Plessy challenged the act, and was 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. In a 7-1 decision, the court decided that equal but separate accommodations for whites and blacks do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment -
19th Amendment
This gave women the right to vote. It also gave the congress the power to enforce this law.This ended the big women’s suffrage movement. -
White Primaries
The basic idea was to explicitly prohibit non-whites from joining the Democratic Party or participating in its the primary elections.Texas Legislature passed a law in 1923 explicitly preventing African Americans from participating in the Democratic Party primary. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action includes laws and policies that aim to end and correct discrimination, especially in education and employment. These programs specifically try to help racial minorities or women. Many colleges have adopted policies to increase recruitment of racial minorities, while targeted recruitment and support programs are examples of affirmative action in employment. Opponents of affirmative action view it as "reverse racism". Policies began in the 1940s and continue today. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This case dealt with the segregation of public schools on the basis of race. African American students had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on laws allowing public education to be segregated by race, and hey argued that this violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court unanimously decided that separate but equal educational facilities for racial minorities is inherently unequal -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment prohibited the poll tax in elections for federal officials. This was important because although this wasn’t a large sum of money it was enough to keep black people from voting. This amendment was a big effort in the fight against discrimination. -
Poll Taxes
It began in the 1890s as a legal way to keep African Americans from voting in southern states, poll taxes were essentially a voting fee. Eligible voters were required to pay their poll tax before they could cast a ballot. A clause excused some poor whites from payment if they had an ancestor who voted before the Civil War, but there were no exemptions for African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A landmark civil rights case that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, sex or religion. This includes discrimination within the workplace. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was federal legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that prohibited racial discrimination in voting. This outlawed literacy tests and created protections that enforced the 13th and 14th amendments. In general, it prohibits state and local governments from imposing any voting law that causes discrimination against racial or language minorities. -
Reed v. Reed
Idaho Probate Code specified that "males must be preferred to females" in appointing administrators of estates. In this case, both Sally and Cecil Reed wanted to be named administrator to their son’s estate after his death. The court unanimously ruled that Idaho’s law was unconstitutional. They cited the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment, and agreed overall that the dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This is a proposed amendment to the Constitution seeking to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex and end the legal distinctions between sexes in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other issues.Opposition to this amendment comes from people who believe that it would disadvantage housewives and cause women to be eligible for the draft. It was introduced to Congress for the first time in 1921. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
The admission process of the Medical School at the University of California at Davis, which set aside 16 of the 100 seats for minorities, was ruled unconstitutional. Bakke, a white man, had applied twice for admission, and was rejected both times. He challenged the school’s affirmative action program, contending that he was excluded from admission solely based on race. It was an 8-1 decision, where most judges agreed that any racial quota system violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Hardwick was observed in his home in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy by a Georgia police officer. He was charged with violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy, but Hardwick challenged the statute's constitutionality. It was ruled that Hardwick failed to state a claim and the court dismissed.The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that Georgia's statute was unconstitutional. In a 5-4 decision, the court decided that states could outlaw sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities. it also imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Texas police entered the apartment of Lawrence as he and another man were engaging in consensual sexual activity. They were arrested for violating a texas statute forbidding homosexual relations. In a 6-3 decision for Lawrence, the court ruled the statute as unconstitutional. They cited the Due Process Clause and their right to liberty to engage in intimate conduct without the intervention of the government. The case overturned Bowers v. Hardwick.
