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Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri, he moved to Illinois because it was a free state, however, Sanford brought him back to Missouri, Scott filed a suit that said that he was a free man because he claimed residence in Illinois. The court ruled that slaves could not be American Citizens and that he had no right to sue -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment stated that African American children born in the US, and formerly enslaved people were granted citizenship in the U.S. This took action on July 9, 1868, and also provided equal protection with laws for all African Americans living in the states. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote. Many states in the South made it very difficult or impossible for African Americans to vote. African American women were not given the right to vote. -
Jim Crow Era
The Jim Crow Era was a period of segregation in the South which lasted from 1877 until 1964. The name stems from a show that meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy filed to Supreme Court that different railroad cars for Black and White people were unconstitutional, Plessy was arrested for refusing to leave the white- only railroad car. the court rules the separate but equal clause. This led to an increase in segregated environments around the South. -
Nineteenth Amendment
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. This ensured that no American can be denied of their right to vote due to gender. This Amendment was monumental as it reflected decades of hard work and persistence shown by the women who protested for this. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The court ruled in favor of integrating mixed-race schools because no one should be denied access to substantial and equal education. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement and helped establish the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act banned segregation in the United States. The law authorized the national government to end segregation in public education and public accommodations. The law also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which banned discrimination in employment due to gender, sexuality, religion, national origin, race, or color. -
Affirmative Action
In light of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Affirmative Action Act was made to help increase opportunities for employment for African Americans. This spread, however, to give everyone equal rights for job employment without discrimination due to gender, sexuality, religion, national origin, race, or color. This law was signed by President Lyndon B Johnson on July 2nd, 1964. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. -
Reed v. Reed
Reed v. Reed was an equal protection case in the United States. In Reed v. Reed the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited differential treatment based on sex. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
In this case Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man, had twice applied for admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. He was rejected both times. The school reserved sixteen places in each entering class of one hundred for qualified minorities, as part of the university's affirmative action program, in an effort to redress longstanding, unfair minority exclusions from the medical profession. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
U.S. Supreme Court upheld Georgia state law banning sodomy. The ruling was overturned by the court 17 years later in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down a Texas state law that had criminalized homosexual sex between consenting adults. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. -
Motor Voter Act
The Motor Voter Act, is a legislation that required state governments to allow registration when a qualifying voter applied for or renewed their drivers license or applied for social services. This legislation forced state governments to make the voter registration process easier by providing uniform registration services through drivers' license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries, and mail-in registration. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and other matters -
Lawrence v. Texas
The Supreme Court of the United States, in 6-3 decision, invalidated sodomy law across the United States. Making same-sex sexual activity legal in every State and United States territory. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
State bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.