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Scott vs. Sanford
The life of a man who was a slave in a slave state then his owner died an became a slave with his wife in Illinois a free state. The question was Are African Americans, American citizens, and do they have the right to sue in a court of law? The court ruled that African Americans were not American citizens and could not use it in a federal court they also declared that slave owners’ rights were protected in the 5th amendment. -
13th Amendment
Abolished slavery and outlawed slavery as a punishment -
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Reconstruction efforts
Reconstruction help creates integrated societies between black and whites. The amendment created to help were the 13th, 14th and 15th, amendments. -
14th Amendment
Granted citizenship as well as equal civil and legal rights to all "free-born citizens" including African Americans -
15th Amendment
Gave African American men the right to vote -
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Jim crow era
Laws against African Americans from living in white neighborhoods. Segregation was enforced for public pools, phone booths, hospitals, asylums, jails and residential homes for the elderly and handicapped. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
A man named Homer Plessy boarded a white-only section of a train in 1892 and was arrested after he refused to move to a colored-only section. He then intended to test the constitutionality of the Louisiana segregation laws. In 1896 the case reached the supreme court where it was ruled that it didn’t violate the 14th amendment. -
19th Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United States or by any State on account of sex. -
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Scottsboro boys Trial
The case of 9 Black boys on a train during the great depression looking for work when two girls Virginia price and ruby bates accused them of rape. At first, the boys were given no witnesse and no cooperating attorney and were sentenced to death. However, the supreme court ruled the trial was unconstitutional. The Boys after several decades were eventually pardoned. This case was a landmark in dealing with racism and the rights of a fair trial . -
George Stinney Jr. Case
case of a 14-year-old boy from South Carolina who many think was unconstitutionally sentenced to death. George was accused of murdering two young white girls. He had many rights of the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th amendments violated. -
Brown vs Board
Case in which African American kids in Topeka Kansas were denied entry to certain public schools because of their race. Then the question arose does the segregation of public education based solely on race violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? The court ruled that separate but equal educational facilities for racial minorities is inherently unequal, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
James Meredith enrolls at Ole miss
An African American student who was the first African American to enrolled at Ole Miss. This was considered a pivotal movement in civil rights. -
Civil rights act of 1964
Outlawed discrimination of race color, religion, and nationality. Prohibits unequal application of voter rights and racial segregation in schools. -
Voter Rights Act of 1965
Outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, Ex: literacy tests, the grandfather clause, -
Civil rights act of 1968
prohibited the following forms of housing discrimination: Refusal to sell or rent to any person because of his/her race, color, religion or national origin. -
California vs Bakke
case of a man who was denied entry into the University of California medical school because all the minority slot in the new class were filled. the constitutional question was Did the University of California violate the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court ruled in favor of Bakke 8-1. -
Gratz vs Bollinger
In 1995, Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher both applied for admission to the University of Michigan’ as residents of the state of Michigan. Both are of Caucasian descent. Both were denied admission and told that, although they were qualified. The question became Did the University of Michigan’s use of racial preferences in undergraduate admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment the Civil Rights Act of 1964? -
Meredith v. Jefferson Co Board
JCPS implemented an enrollment plan to maintain substantial racial integration. Student enrollment was decided on the basis of several factors. However, no school was allowed to have an enrollment of black students less than 15% or greater than 50% of its student population. The question is can a student enrollment plan that requires each school's student population to be between 15% and 50% African-American meet the Fourteenth Amendment's requirement of racial classifications. -
Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
This case involved Shelby County, Alabama, filed suit in district court and sought both a declaratory judgment that Section 5 and Section 4(b) are unconstitutional. The question was does section 5 of the voting rights act under section 4b exceed Congress authority under the 14th and 15th amendments and The tenth amendment section 4? The court ruled it unconstitutional.