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Dred Scott vs. Sanford
Dred Scott sued the wife of his former slave owner when she would not allow him to buy his family's freedom. The Supreme Court ruled heavily in favor of Sanford. The Court ruled that African Americans, free or enslaved, were not US citizens and could not sue in court. They also ruled that it was unconstitutional for Congress to ban slavery in any state, overturning the Missouri Compromise. -
13th Amendment
This amendment was passed following the Civil War. This officially banned slavery throughout the entire country. This forced all southern slave owners to free their slaves immediately. -
14th Amendment
This amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. It also gave all citizens "equal protection of the laws". This amendment was aimed specifically at the newly freed African Americans that were not technically citizens yet. -
15th Amendment
This amendment was the final of three giving recently freed African Americans rights after the Civil War. This amendment that the right to vote could not be denied regardless of the person's race or color. This was a big step for equal civil rights, but it would still be many years before this amendment was truly enforced all throughout the country. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
A one-eighth black man, Homer Plessy, was arrested for sitting in the white-only car of a train and sued, pleading that the "white-only" cars were a form of discrimination. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the constitutionality of segregation laws saying that it was alright as long as it was equal. This established "separate but equal". -
19th Amendment
This amendment was ratified in response to the Women's Rights Movement. This amendment would protect a woman's right to vote, officially giving every citizen in America the right to vote. -
White Primaries
White Primaries were a method Jim Crowe states used to try and take away African American's power to vote. These states would hold primaries that were "white-only" so that once election time came the person that African Americans wanted to represented by was not even on the ballot. -
Poll Taxes
This was another method Jim Crowe states used to restrict African Americans' right to vote. These states would charge high poll taxes that many impoverished African American families could not afford to pay. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
This case would begin to repeal all of the discriminatory laws passed under the "separate but equal" clause. The court famously ruled that discrimination in public schools was unconstitutional. While this was a step forward it would still take many years to fully integrate schools. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action was started by President John F. Kennedy. This was meant to be a mandate to quickly eliminate all unlawful forms of discrimination. This forced many Southern states to desegregate schools and provide equal public accommodations to African Americans. -
24th Amendment
This amendment passed in the same year as the Civil Rights Act. It officially abolished all poll taxes making it much easier for African Americans to vote in Jim Crowe states where these laws were legal. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act was the end goal Martin Luther King was looking to accomplish through the Civil Rights Movement. This law prohibits any form of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This included discrimination in the right to vote and public accommodations. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This law passed just a year after the Civil Rights Act. This law was specifically aimed at striking down Jim Crowe laws, discriminatory voting laws passed to take the suffrage of African Americans. -
Reed vs. Reed
The state of Idaho had an unfair way of deciding who inherits the estate after a death that favored the male. This law was struck down as unconstitutional and established equal protection for women in court. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This amendment was proposed to guarantee equal protection for everyone regardless of sex. Despite facing adversity, it received enough ratification votes to pass and was a huge step for the women's rights movement. -
Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke
Aspiring student Bakke had a better resume than all the minorities admitted, but did not get in because of a minority quota set by affirmative action. The court ruled in favor of Bakke, but also said that race was a permissible as an admission criterion. -
Bowers vs. Hardwick
Bowers was caught participating in consensual homosexual intercourse and was arrested in Georgia. When he took it to court, the justices ruled that the constitution did not protect sodomy and that states could make laws against it. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act was passed as a sort of extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. President George W. Bush signed this law preventing discrimination based on disability. -
Lawrence vs. Texas
This case challenged the ruling of Bowers vs .Hardwick. much like Bowers, Johnson was caught in a consensual homosexual act and was arrested. The court ruled that Johnson was protected under "due process of law" and that if it was legal for different-sex couples, it is legal for same-sex couples. -
Obergefell vs. Hodges
A group fo homosexual couples sued their respective state governments for not recognizing same-sex marriage and the court ruled in favor of the homosexual couples, legalizing gay marriage everywhere in the United States.
