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Literacy Tests
Another way African Americans and other minorities could become eligible to vote is if they passed a literacy test. A literacy was the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level, and potential voters at the state level. -
13th Amendment
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery and was passed by Congreess on January 31, 1865 and ratified on Dacember 6, 1865 -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment was an amendment that was ratified on July 9, 1868. Its significance is it allowed slaves recently freed. In addition, it forbids states from denying any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” -
15th Amendment
"right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." The 15th Amendment allowed African American men the right to vote. -
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Poll Taxes
Poll taxes this was another obstacle that blacks and other minorities had to overcome to vote. -
"Jim Crow" and his laws
"Jim Crow" laws (so called after a black character in minstrel shows). Many states (and cities, too) could impose legal punishments on people for consorting with members of another race. The most common types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep their black and white clientele separated. -
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Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy (P) attempted to sit in an all-white railroad car. After refusing to sit in the black railway carriage car, Plessy was arrested for violating an 1890 Louisiana statute that provided for segregated “separate but equal” railroad accommodations. Those using facilities not designated for their race were criminally liable under the statute. At trial with Justice John H. Ferguson (D) presiding, The Supreme Court found for Ferguson and granted cert. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest. -
Affirmative Action
One of the most effective tools for redressing the injustices caused by our nation's historic discrimination against people of color and women, and for leveling what has long been an uneven playing field. -
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Korematsu v. United States
During World War II, Presidential Executive Order 9066 and congressional statutes gave the military authority to exclude citizens of Japanese ancestry from areas deemed critical to national defense and potentially vulnerable to espionage. The Court found for the States in a 6:3 vote -
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Sweatt v. Painter
Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School. State law restricted access to the university to whites, and Sweatt's application was automatically rejected because of his race. When Sweatt asked the state courts to order his admission, the university attempted to provide separate but equal facilities for black law students.The Court argued that the separate school would be inferior in a number of areas and found in Sweatt's favor. -
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Brown v. Board of Education
Black children were denied admission to public schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to the races. The white and black schools approached equality in terms of buildings, curricula, qualifications, and teacher salaries. The Court gave a unanimous vote for Brown. -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts
Montgomery bus boycott started on December 1, 1955 and ended thirteen months later. This demonstration ended segregation on public transportation. -
24th Amendment
24th amendment ratified On January 23, 1964 got rid of poll taxes allowing poor people to vote for free and have a say about who will run our country -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil rights act of 1964 it ended decimation of sex and race while hiring, promoting and firing. It helped women and blacks get jobs for a reasonable amount of pay -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 enforced the 15th amendment right to the Constitution. This was set due to African Americans facing restrictions to vote in the South. -
Robert Kennedy speech in Indianapolis upon death of MLK
The gathering was actually a planned campaign rally for Robert Kennedy in his bid to get the 1968 Democratic nomination for president. Just after he arrived by plane at Indianapolis, Kennedy was told of King's death. Police advised against making the campaign stop which was in a part of the city considered to be a dangerous ghetto. But Kennedy insisted on going. He arrived to find the people anticipating the excitement of a Kennedy appearance. He climbed onto the platform and spoke. -
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Reed v. Reed
In 1971, Idaho maintained a law that stated that the administrators of estates should be male by preference. Petitioner was a female and sued, seeking an equal right to the administrator-ship. Under the law, the father of a deceased child automatically becomes the administrator with no consideration of who the child lived or was primarily raised by. At trial the law was upheld. The Court found for the woman. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA was a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guaranteed equal rights under the law for Americans regardless of their sex. The ERA was passed by the House. However, the Senate attempted to add provisions exempting women from the draft, which effectively killed the chances of the ERA passing that session. -
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Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
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. The Court found for Bakke -
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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. After being charged with violating a Georgia statute that criminalized sodomy, Hardwick challenged the statute's constitutionality in Federal District Court. The Court decided a 5:4 for Bowers. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities. The ADA also establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services. -
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Lawrence v. Texas
Responding to a reported weapons disturbance in a private residence, Houston police entered John Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man, Tyron Garner, engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. The Court decided in a 6:3 for Lawrence. -
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Indiana Gay Rights
Every year since 2004, the Indiana state legislature has proposed or voted on a constitutional amendment to exclude same-sex couples and their families from marriage. In 2011, the House and Senate approved the proposed amendment. -
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Fisher v. Texas
The petitioner, Abigail Fisher, a white student, challenged the university's consideration of race in the undergraduate admissions process. Fisher, who was denied admission to UT Austin in Fall 2008, argued that UT's use of race in admissions decisions violated her right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled on June 24, 2013, by a vote of 7 to 1 for Fisher.
