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13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude. This amendment formally abolished slavery after Lincoln freed the slaves in the issuing of his Emancipation Proclamation. It was the first of the three Civil War amendments that, combined, all contributed to the expansion of American civil rights. -
14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was another amendment that expanded civil rights of American citizens. As a result of the issues during the Reconstruction Era, it discussed citizenship, rights and freedoms, and equal protection under the law. -
15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment was the final of the three Reconstruction Amendments that granted African American citizens the right to vote. It stated that the right of U.S. citizens to vote cannot be limited by race, color, or previous status as a citizen. However, the right to vote for citizens of all races was not fully realized until years later after restrictions such as poll taxes and literacy tests were finally removed. -
Poll Taxes
Put into use starting in 1889, poll taxes were used in Southern states as a prerequisite for voting. This prerequisite was one of the limits that served to restrict the ability of African Americans (and poor white men) to vote. Most African Americans could not afford the price of the tax and, as a result, were not able to vote in elections. -
Literacy Tests
Starting in the 1890s, literacy tests served as another prerequisite for the ability to vote. This served as another barrier preventing African Americans from being able to vote in elections since most were not able to pass the literacy tests. -
Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that mandated racial segregation in public facilities. It established a “separate but equal” status for African Americans. These laws and the general segregation set African Americans back in status and held them at a great disadvantage. The name “Jim Crow” is said to have originated from an African American character “Jump Jim Crow” who was used in political satire. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that supported the constitutionality of “separate but equal.” It confirmed the legal status of state and local laws that mandated racial segregation in public facilities that started during the Jim Crow period. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was a part of the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S. It prohibited any U.S. citizen from being denied the right to vote depending on sex; it basically provided women the right to vote. For decades prior to this amendment, women did not have the right to vote as the Fourteenth Amendment was ruled to not give women this right. -
Korematsu v. United States
This U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that the mandated placement of Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II was constitutional. It ruled that such a decision was justified in situations of “emergency and peril.” -
Sweatt v. Painter
Sweatt v. Painter was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that repealed the constitutionality of the “separate but equal” doctrine. It successfully challenged this idea of mandated racial segregation that was determined constitutional in Plessy v. Ferguson. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Influenced by the Sweatt v. Painter decision, this U.S. Supreme Court decision determined that laws segregating public schools for different races were unconstitutional. This was a big step in the Civil Rights Movement that further challenged the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A major event in the Civil Rights Movement, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest campaign that fought the use of racial segregation in public transportation. The campaign ended with the famous Rosa Parks arrest. This arrest led to the Supreme Court decision that declared mandated segregation of buses to be unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
First introduced by President Kennedy in 1961, affirmative action was used as a step towards racial integration and equality. This controversial idea required equal opportunities among all races (and later sexes) and mandated that employers and organizations take active steps to treat citizens of different color, color, nationality, etc. equally. -
24th Amendment
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the use of poll tax for voters in federal elections. Previously, poll taxes were used to limit the ability of African American citizens to vote since few could afford to pay the tax. This amendment prohibited this practice in 1964, but the effects were not universal: five states kept a poll tax in use until a later U.S. Supreme Court decision Harper v. Virginia determined that poll taxes for elections at any level were unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was a pivotal point in the Civil Rights Movement that ended the legal discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or nationality. This included racial segregation in public facilities and unequal application of voter registration prerequisites. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a piece of U.S. legislation that was signed into law during the Civil Rights Movement. It prohibited the use of racial discrimination in U.S. voting that were originally guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. -
Robert Kennedy Speech in Indianapolis
Upon hearing about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 on his way to a campaign rally in Indianapolis, Robert F. Kennedy abandoned his expected campaign speech and instead gave heartfelt comments about the news in what is supposed to be one of the greatest speeches ever made. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that confirmed the constitutionality of a state law in Georgia. It stated that the Georgia sodomy law criminalizing sexual acts in private between consenting homosexuals was constitutional. The consensus was that the Constitution did not secure “a fundamental right to engage in homosexual sodomy.” -
Reed v. Reed
This U.S. Supreme Court decision changed the constitutionality of sex discrimination. The Court decided that unequal treatment of men and women based on sex violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that supported the constitutionality of affirmative action. It upheld its use by allowing race to be a part of college admission policy. However, it also limited the use of affirmative action in this scenario by not permitting the use of quotas for acceptance. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that planned to secure equal rights for women. It was the result of a big push from the women’s suffrage movement that ultimately did not pass into law after failing to be ratified by enough states. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Effective since July 26, 1990, this law encompasses a wide range of civil rights for citizens with disabilities. Specifically, it made discrimination based on disability illegal. It is the counterpart of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for those with disabilities. Along with the protection against discrimination, the act also added accessibility requirements for public facilities. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas is a U.S. Supreme Court decision that repealed the decisions made in Bowers v. Hardwick. It nullified the sodomy laws in Texas and 13 other states by determining that intimate consensual sexual conduct was protected by the due process under the U.S. Constitution and should be free from government interference. -
Fisher v. Texas
This U.S. Supreme Court decision involved affirmative action and its role in college admissions. An undergraduate tried to declare the University of Texas’ admissions as illegal by arguing that the use of admissions did not adhere to the appropriate and limited role that the Court defined in previous cases. The Supreme Court, however, sided with the University and supported the legality of the admission policy. This case ended up not changing the constitutionality of affirmative action. -
Baskin v. Bogan
This Indiana state court decision challenged the state’s marriage rights policy between same-sex couples. The U.S. District Court ruled that Indiana’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples was unconstitutional. This ruling was later supported by the Court of Appeals, and same-sex marriage is now legal in Indiana.
