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Dred Scott v Sandford
Scott filed suit in Missouri court for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man. The Supreme Court decided free blacks in the North could never be considered citizens of the United States. Any person taken to a free territory automatically became free and could not be re-enslaved upon returning to a slave state. It also showed that the Missouri Compromise was not constitutional. This was a big setback for slaves. -
13th Amendment
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Abolishment of Slavery. -
14th Amendment
All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the State where they reside in. Everyone born in the U.S cannot be denied any rights and privileged contained in the constitution. or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. -
15th Amendment
This amendment sought to protect the voting rights of African American men after the Civil War. This was a big step to having racial equality. They could now have somewhat of a voice in who could represent them. They were now involved in the government. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy sat in a “white only” car on a train and was told to get up and leave he refused and was arrested. His side believed that it was violating his 13th and 14th amendment. The Supreme court decided that it upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The separate but equal doctrine legalize racial segregation for more than half a century. -
Poll Taxes
The poll tax exemplified “Jim Crow” laws, which aimed to disenfranchise black voters and institute segregation.Poll taxes, literacy tests, fraud and intimidation all turned African Americans away from the polls. Blacks were not the only ones affected. Poll taxes were required for everyone.
It adversely affected the poor citizens as they would not be able to use their votes to make an impact. The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, abolished the use of the poll tax. -
White Primaries
White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944. A device used by Southern states to disenfranchise African Americans. It restricted voting to those whose grandfathers had voted before 1867. This reverse the progress made by others for equal voting. -
Nineteenth Amendment
For about 50 years women's suffrage groups tried and get legislation to allow them to vote. They would do hunger strikes, protests, wrote to Congress, and practiced civil disobedience. Which finally granted women the right to vote. This was a big step toward equal opportunity for women. -
Brown v. Board of Education
African American students had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on laws allowing public education to be segregated by race. They argued that such segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In result the Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal". This brought new opportunities to African Americans and was a start to desegregating the United States. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is defined as a set of procedures designed to; eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and prevent such discrimination in the future. They seek to include particular groups based on certain characteristics such as race, gender, and nationality. This has helped bring equality to different races and it prevents discrimination. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This gave more opportunities for anyone in the United States of America for jobs and strengthen their voting right. -
24th Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax. This amendment prohibited the federal and state governments from imposing poll taxes before a citizen could participate in a federal election. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This “act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution”.African Americans in the South faced tremendous obstacles to voting, including poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions to deny them the right to vote. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. This allowed an easier way for African Americans and minorities to vote. -
Reed v. Reed
After the death of their adopted son, both Sally and Cecil Reed sought to be named the administrator of their son's estate marking the first time in history that the Court applied the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to strike down a law that discriminated against women. This brought more opportunities to women as they were allowed to own property under their name. -
Equal Rights Amendment
It was designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. It allowed women to eliminate all legal distinctions on account of sex. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
The Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. This prevented discrimination in education as colleges were able to consider race but cannot strictly use it as a way for acceptance. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Michael Hardwick was observed by a Georgia police officer while engaging in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy with another adult in the bedroom of his home. Supreme Court decided that the Fourteenth Amendment does not prevent a state from criminalizing private sexual conduct involving same-sex couples. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government programs and services. This allows anyone with disabilities to have accessibility and equal opportunity. -
Motor Voter Act
The Motor Voter Act allowed states to offer voter registration opportunities at State motor vehicle agencies, and have opportunities to mail-in applications. States offer voter registration opportunities at certain State and local offices, including public assistance and disability offices. Requires States to implement procedures to maintain accurate and current voter registration lists. This has made it easier for citizens to vote and make an impact on elections. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawerence and his partner The Supreme Court ruled that Texas state law criminalizing certain intimate sexual conduct between two consenting adults of the same sex was unconstitutional. Invalidated sodomy law across the United States, making same-sex sexual activity legal in every State and United States territory. This resulted in the overturning of Bowers v. Hardwick. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Obergefell and others sued for recognition of their same-sex marriages, which were legal in the states where they were married but illegal in other states. The plaintiffs in each case argued that the states' statutes violated the Equal Protection Clause. It was ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.