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13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was the third amendment to be ratified after the Bill of Rights. The third amendment was passed by Congress on Janurary 31st, 1865 but not ratified until December 6th that same year. The 13th amendment effectively abolished slavery in the United States and claimed "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." -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was the fourth amendment ratified after the Bill of Rights. This amendment was ratified on July 9th, 1868 and effectively freed slaves and gave anyone born in the United States citizenship by claiming it "Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment was the fifth amendment ratified after the Bill of Rights. It was originally passed by Congress on February 26th, 1869 but later ratified on February 3rd, 1870. This amendment effectively gave African American Males the right to vote. Although it claimed to give them the right to vote, there were laws that restricted and prevented them from voting. This amendment marked the start for a long fight for equality amongst the African Americans. -
Jim Crow Laws Began
Although there is not an official date, Jim Crow laws were enacted between the years 1876 through 1965 in the United States at botha state and loacal level. Jim Crow laws are thought to be named after a person. But it is not known whether or not a man names Jim Crow was actually a person. Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel routine performance beginning as far back as 1828.These laws were racial segregation laws against African Americans. J -
Poll Taxes
Along with the introduction of Jim Crow laws, poll taxes came into play. Because of the 15th Amendment, African Americans and freed slves were finally allowed to vote. However, poll taxes were introduced to indirectly prevent them from voting. Poll taxes were abloished thanks to the 24th Amendment of the Constitution, allowing all U.S. citizens to freely cast their vote. -
Literacy Test
Literacy tests were tests given to African Americans who wanted to express their right to vote. The government did a good job at preventing them from voting by making them take a literacy test. Illiterate white people were exempted from the literacy test if they met the requirements of the Grandfather Clause. The Grandfather Clause allowed illiterate people the right to vote as long as someone of common descent was eligible to vote prior to 1876, when only white men had the right to vote. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson is considered a landmark United States Supreme Court case desicion based upon the constituionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in pulic facilities under the Seperate but Equal doctrine. This case was agrued on April 13th, 1896 but not decided on until May 18th that year. Seperate but Equal remained standard doctrine in the U.S. law until 1954 with the case Brown v. Board of Education. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment was the ninth amendment to be ratified after the Bill of Rights. This amendment effectively granted the right to vote to women. This Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4th, 1919, but not ratified until August 18th, 1920. This marked a huge victory in the fight for women's suffrage. -
Korematsu v. United States
Korematsu v. United States was a U.S. Supreme Court decision reguarding the contitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into interment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. The exclusion order leading to Japanese Internment Camps was considered constitutional. It was said that the need to protect against esponage outweighed Fred Korematsu's individual rights, and the rights of Americans of Japanese decent. The case was decided December 18th, 1944. -
Sweatt v Painter
This U.S. Supreme Court case challenged the Seperate but Equal doctrine previously established in 1896 by the Plessy v. Ferguson case. This case greatly influenced the case Brown v. Board of Education four years later. The case involved an African American man named Heman Marion Sweatt who was refused access into the School of Law of the University of Texas. Theophilus Painter was the president of this school and at the time, no law school in the state of Texas admitted any African Americans. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a U.S. Supreme Court case which established seperate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. This decision overturned the previous Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, almost 100 years prior to this! The case was argued on December 9th, 1952, and again on December 8th, 1953. The case was decided and ended on May 17th 1954. This was a huge step in integration and a victory amongst African Americans fighting in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The first of December, 1955 marked the date to the start of a campaign designed to fight for Civil Rights particularly for African Americans. This date was when Rosa Parks, and African American woman, was arrested due to refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. December 20th, 1956 was the day that Rosa Park's and other Civil Rights acitivists fighting somewhat paid off. The United States Supreme Court declared Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses unconstitutional. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is the policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group due to discrimination to encourage and create more diversity within a given area. In the United States, specific quotas setting aside a set amount of openings for minorities may not exist, but they may be given preference in a selection process. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment was the fourteenth amendment after the Bill of Rights. This amendment effectively prevented any poll tax put on people to keep them from voting. Imagine finally becoming the age to vote, but not having the money to do it. The 24th Amendment was ratified on January 23rd, 1964. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a milestone in the fight for Civil Rights, particularly for, but not limitied to, African Americns. This act outlawed discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended uneqal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and in facilities that served the general public. This was a huge step in the right direction for civil rights and equality. This act was signed into law by LBJ -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that prohibits discrimination in voting based upon race. This particuar act is to be considered as the most effective piece of civil rightd legislation ever enacted in the country. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Congress later amended the act five times to expand its protections. -
Robert Kennedy Speech upon death of MLK
Robert Kennedy, a United States senator from New York, was campaigning to earn the 1968 Democratic presidential nonination when he learnd that Martin Luther King jr had been assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Earlier that day, Kennedy spoke to Notre Dame University, and Ball Sate University. This particular speech took place in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to this speech, many people had not heard of the death of MLK and this particular speech earned peoples respect for Robert Kennedy. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed was a U.S. Supreme Court case bewteen Sally and Cecil Reed. They were a married couple who were in conflict over which of them was to be designated as administrator of the estate of their deceased son. This case rules that administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes, allowing Equal Protection. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. It was introduced to congress for the first time in 1923. In 1972, it passed both houses of Congress and went to state legilatures for ratification. In 1977, the amendment received 35 of the 38 necessary ratifications, even though the ratification deadline was extended from March 22, 1979 to June 30th, 1982. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of the several factors in college admission policy. However, quotas reserving spots for minority students was not allowed. This case involved a white man who was not accepted into the University of California Davis School of Medicine because he was considered too old, and there was room reserved for minorities. This case was decided on June 28th, 1978. -
Bowers v Hardwick
Bowers v Hardwick is a U.S. Supreme Court decision, overturned in 2003, that upheld a 5 to 4 vote, the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criinalizing in oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults applied to homosexuals. It was originally decided that homosexuality was illegal because there was no constitutionally protected right to engance in homosexual sex. This case was decided June 30th, 1986, roughly 3 months after the case was argued. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This act was a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. President George H. W. Bush later amended this act which changed it a bit and went into effect January 1st, 2009. This act provided similar protections to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but was made to provide reasonable accomodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations. Being disasbled includes both mental and physical medical conditions. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that made same-sex sexual activity legal in every state and territory. The court ruled that it violated the privacy and liberty of adults to engage in private intimate conduct under the 14th amendment. The case was agrued on March 26th, 2003 and decided on June 26th, 2003. -
Fisher v. Texas
Fisher v. Texas was a U.S. Supreme Court decison reguarding the affirmative action policies. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals failed to apply "Strict scrutiny" in its decision affirming the admissions policy. The decision was vacated, and the case ramanded for further consideration. This case was finally decided on June 24, 2013.
