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13th Amendment
President Abraham Lincoln made the abolition of slavery a key component to his 1864 re-election campaign. The emancipation proclamation was mean to begin the freeing of slavery, but a lot people didn’t follow that law. The 13th amendment gave slaves of all over the right to be free. -
14th Amendment
This amendment was ratified during the Reconstruction era. Its main goal was to make sure the Civil Rights Act passed would remain valid, but it held for a higher purpose. The 14th amendment was created for the protection of the people born in the United States. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment was to ensure that states or communities were not denying people the right to vote simply based on their race. Different communities would try and stop the minority from voting for passing laws, and regulating rules. So this amendment was created to but a stop to the threats being made and take any person who continued away for breaking the law. -
Jim Crow
After the freeing of slaves, different companies started to segregate African Americans from the white population. Jim Crow is defined as the practices of racial discrimination or segregation. During this time period different act and situations caused an uproar of segregation, and discrimination against the African Americans. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
When Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, legally segregating common carriers in 1892, a black civil rights organization decided to challenge the law in the courts. Plessy deliberately sat in the white section and identified himself as black. He was arrested and the case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. It was decided that "Seperate" facilities for blacks and whites were consitutional as long as they were "equal". -
19th Amendment
This amendment made it legal for women to vote. The 15th amendment had this exact same rules, but for some reason didn’t apply to women. This amendment stated that it would be illegal for any citizen regardless of gender to be denied the right to vote. -
Korematsu vs. United States
s a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. In a 6-3 decision, the Court sided with the government,ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional. -
Sweatt vs. Painter
Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School. State law restricted access to the university to whites, and Sweatt's application was automatically rejected because of his race. When Sweatt asked the state courts to order his admission, the university attempted to provide separate but equal facilities for black law students.n a unanimous decision, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Struck down Jim Crow Laws. U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This Boycott was presented by African Americans protesting the bus situation in the Montgomery area. These boycotts were able the segregation that infested the bus system. It was said that whites were allowed to sit in the front while the African Americans were forced to sit in the back. -
Ruby Bridges
This young girl was the first African American to step foot into Frantz Elementary. She was escorted by Federal Marshalls, because it was court ordered for Ruby to attend this school. May whites families weren’t happy about the change and started to protest everyday while Ruby walked to school. It got to the point where children were being pulled out of Ruby’s class and she ended up being the only student left. Ruby’s determination to get an education inspired many people around the world and ma -
Affirmative Action
the policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group who are perceived to suffer from discrimination within a culture. Required government employers to take "affirmative action" to "hire without regard to race, religion and national origin". In 1967, sex was added to the anti-discrimination list. -
Poll Taxes
These were set in place to prevent freed slaves from having any political say in anything with the government. Because slaves weren’t hired as often, they didn’t make a lot of money and with the poll taxes being raised every so often, it almost made it impossible for African Americans to have a political voice. -
Literacy Test
These were set in place to also prevent African Americans to have a political voice in the world. Slaves didn’t have a teaching of education, so when one of them would try to vote for something white officers would make them take a literacy test to see if they could read or write. More often the minority failed the test so they weren’t able to have a political voice. -
24th Amendment
During the Civil Rights Movement, poll taxes were a huge issues for the minorities, but it prevented them from casting votes and having any sort of political power. The 24th amendment was important because it ended the mandatory poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and intimidation against the minorities, and gave them the ability to have political power. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Law authorized the national government to end segregation in public education, and public accommodations. (in those engaged in interstate commerce). Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Corporation. No discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Authorized the Justice Department to suspend restrictive electoral tests in southern states that had a history of low black turnout. Could send federal officers to register voters directly. States had to obtain clearance from the Justice Department before changing their electoral laws. -
Loving vs. Virginia
Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, had been sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia for marrying each other. The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 prohibited marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored". The Supreme Court's unanimous decision held this prohibition was unconstitutional, -
Robert Kennedy Speech
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black”. This is my favorite part of his speech because it shines a light on how powerful this man was, and how dedicated he was to ending segregation. -
Reed vs. Reed
Ms. Reed, the mother of a deceased child, alleges a statute that prefers males over females in the administration of an estate to which they both have equal claims, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Ruling:Classifications based on gender must be substantially related to an important government interest in order to be upheld per the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This amendment was set to help people understand that any race, religion, or sex should not be discriminated against in any way possible. It helped women to be treated fairly for when it comes to sports and job opportunities. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Bakke, a white applicant to the University of California, Davis Medical School, sued the University, alleging his denial of admission on racial grounds was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Although race may be a factor in determining admission to public educational institutions, it may not be a sole determining factor. -
Bowers vs. Hardwick
Hardwick and his partner were arrested on charges of violating the Georgia Sodomy Statute, which stated that "a person commits the offense of sodomy when he performs or submits to any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another". The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not protect the right of gay adults to engage in private, consensual sodomy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act made it possible for people who might not be born a healthy baby or people end up in a terrible accident have the same rights and abilities as others. It made it so that business and restaurants had to have proper settings for people with disabilities so they are able to move around like any other person. -
Lawerence vs. Texas
Houston police were dispatched to Lawrence’s apartment in response to a reported weapons disturbance. The officers found Lawrence and Garner engaged in a sexual act. Lawrence and Garner were charged and convicted under Texas law of “deviate sexual intercourse, namely anal sex, with a member of the same sex”. In the 6–3 ruling, the Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas. -
Fisher vs. Texas
Plaintiffs Abigail Noel Fisher and Rachel Multer Michalewicz applied to the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and were denied admission. The two women, both white, filed suit, alleging that the University had discriminated against them on the basis of their race. It was decided that universities may use race as part of a holistic admissions program where it cannot otherwise achieve diversity. -
Gay Marraige in Indiana
The 7th Circuit on September 4th, 2014, upheld a federal judge's decision that found Indiana's same-sex marriage ban violated the constitution.
