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Dred Scott vs. Sandford
Dred Scott was a former slave who was fighting for his and his families freedom. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and it gave momentum to the antislavery movement. In 1850 the Scott's won their freedom, but in 1852 the Scott's went back to court and the reversed the court's decision and they became slaves again. In 1857 he went back to court and he lost his fight for freedom again. However, later that year him and his family were sold to a new family and were set free. -
13th Amendment
The 13th amendment abolished slavery. It has two sections to the clause of what it protects for African Americans. section one explains that you cant be convicted for a crime based on your color. The second sections gets power to the congress to allow them to enforce the amendment. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment granted citizenship and legal rights to African Americans and any slave who was free after the Civil War, including them under the umbrella phrase. The 14th amendment has four sections to it, but the first section is the most important to African Americans and former slaves. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment gives everyone the right to vote and can not deny a person based on color or previously being a slave. It was ratified on February 3. 1870 as the third and final of the reconstruction amendments. The 15th amendment has two sections to it. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Plessy vs. Ferguson was a Supreme Court case that up held the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public places as long as those places were equal in quality, which became the doctrine "separate but equal." This case happened due to Homer Plessy refusing to move to train car for blacks. The ruling was if public places were separate but equal then it was not considered discrimination. -
White Primary
White primaries were primary elections in the Southern United States in which only allowed white voters to vote. It was one of the many methods used by white democrats to not allow black and other minorities the right to vote. It also passed laws to raise barriers for voter registration to complete disenfranchisement from 1890 to 1908 in former Confederacy States. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment prohibits the states and federal government from not allowing certain people to vote based on their sex. This amendment is important because voting ensures women's reproductive and economic progress. It also helped millions of women move closer to equality in all aspects of life. -
Brown vs. The Board of Education
Brown vs. The Board of Education was a Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, even if those public schools are separate but equal. This court case was two years long and the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against segregation in schools, so in the end Brown won this case. -
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were essentially a tax on moveable property of most of the population in the United States to fund war and it was first used in 1275 and continued under different names until the 17th century. However, they were gotten rid of when the United Sates ratified the 24th amendment that prohibited any poll tax. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment had two sections and the first section stops both Congress and every state for charging a fee to vote in a national election. This amendment gave Congress the authority to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act is a law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on sex, religion, race, color and national origin. This law stops unequal right of voter registration requirements and segregation based on race in schools, employment and public places. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and he aimed to overcome legal barriers at local and state levels that stopped African Americans practicing their right to vote that was granted to them under the 15th amendment. It was a piece of federal legislation in the United States that stopped all racial discrimination in the voting world. -
Reed vs. Reed
Reed vs. Reed was an Equal Protection case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the administrators of estates can not be named in a way that discriminates between sexes. Sally and Cecil Reed had an adopted son that just passed away and they both wanted his estate and his estate was given to Cecil, so Sally challenged it in court. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment granted equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in things like divorce, property, employment and other matters. This amendment's goal is to end discrimination between sexes. -
Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke
Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke is a Supreme Court case that upheld affirmative action allowing race to be one of the factors in college admission policy. The case ruled that racial quotas at a universities admissions was unconstitutional, but a school's use of affirmative action to accept more minorities was constitutional in some cases. -
Bowers vs. Hardwick
Bowers vs. Hardwick is a Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between adults, but the law did not differentiate between homosexual or heterosexual sodomy and the case was a close 5-4 ruling. This case was overturned in 2003 in Lawrence vs. Texas. -
Americans with Diabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law that prohibits the discrimination based on disability. Any person with a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, which also includes people with past disabilities. A violation to this act is failure to provide access and amenities in public places. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a policy in which a person's color, sex, religion or national origin are taken to increase opportunities provided to an part of society that is underrepresented. It is also the process of a business or government agency which gives special rights of hiring or advancement to ethnic minorities. -
Lawrence vs. Texas
Lawrence vs. Texas was a Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that American laws prohibiting private same sex activity between agreeing adults are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas and invalidated sodomy law in 13 states making same sex activity legal in every state. -
Obergefell vs. Hodges
Obergefell vs. Hodges is a civil rights case by which the Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. This case had a close 5-4 ruling and helped the encouragement of same sex couples and marriages.
