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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford has the Supreme Court rule that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States. Which deprived them of any protection from the federal government of any courts. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment is connected to both Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. This amendment abolished slavery in the United States but did not end racial discrimination. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment allowed citizenship to anyone who was born or "adopted" into the United States. This granted former slaves and other minorities protection of the law. -
15th Amendment
After the Civil War, many questions about who can vote arose. The 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote. -
Jim Crow Era
Even though African Americans were supposably freed by the 13th Amendment, the Jim Crow Era continued racial discrimination and prejudice. Everything such as school, water fountains, and restaurants were categorized as colored or white. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This court case ruled that racial segregation is constitutional as long as both groups were separate but equal. This allowed the segregation of school systems, transportation and more. -
Nineteenth Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment is commonly known as giving women the right to vote because it makes the denial of voting based on sex unconstitutional. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was the mark of the end of the "separate but equal" mindset. This court case made segregation of school systems of colored and white unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 covered many bases of discrimination. This Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, national origin, race, color, and religion. This made it so you could not hire, promote or fire anyone based on these characteristics. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This Act follows the 15th Amendment by prohibiting any act that did not allow African American men from voting. Many states in the South had literacy tests and prerequisites set in place which blocked many African American men from voting. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action was put into place to allow those who are more sustainable to discrimination to have the same opportunities as those who are not. This is most commonly known with college admissions. -
Reed v. Reed
This court case acknowledged that discrimination based on gender was unconstitutional because it went against the Equal Protection of the 14th Amendment. This case clearly showed that discrimination based on sex was unlawful. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was created to combat discrimination against women. This Amendment created legal gender equality between men and women. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
The case made racial quotas for the sole purpose of allowing minorities into colleges unconstitutional but it states that the use of "affirmative action" is allowed. It was found unconstitutional by the 14th Amendment under the Equal Protection Clause. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
Bowers v. Hardwick came to the conclusion that the act of homosexuality is not constitutionally protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. This case made it so states were allowed to criminalize private homosexual relationships. -
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) made discrimination against those who have disabilities unconstitutional. In areas including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government' programs and services it is now unconstitutional to discriminate. -
Motor Voter Act
The Motor Voter Act made those who could not easily access their voting needs easier to get to. This included the disabled and poor. By making this act it made voting registration by mail when one applies for a driver's license. -
Lawrence v. Texas
This case overruled Bowers v. Hardwick making it unconstitutional to criminalize those involved in homosexual relationships. This was made due to the acknowledgment of privacy. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Obergefell v. Hodge ruled the right to marry into a homosexual relationship. This was ruled by acknowledging the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.
