Gov timeline

Dredd v. Stanford

1857

The decision on this case was “Persons of African decent cannot and were never intended to be citizens under the us constitution.”

13th Amendment

1865

In 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which led to the 13th Amendment. This Amendment says “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

1868

This amendment says “granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States-including former enslave people-and guaranteed all citizens equal protection of the law.”

15th Amendment

1869

This amendment says “granted African American men the right to vote.”

Poll Taxes

1880

A poll tax is levied on every adult, without references to income or resources. Many citizens in the U.S. did not like this tax because they had no say on the taxes.

Plessy V. Ferguson

1896

The court ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality. In most areas though the facilities were not equal.

White Primaries

1900

White Primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate.

19th Amendment

1920

This amendment granted the women right to vote. But African American women still struggled to vote even with this amendment. More women vote than men in recent elections.

Brown V. Board of Education

1952

This court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional.

24th Amendment

1964

“right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President”

Civil Rights Act

1964

This is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaw’s discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

Affirmative Rights

1965

This law requires all government contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to expand job opportunities for minorities.

Voting Rights Act

1965

This act outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many Southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.

Reed V. Reed

1971

This court case that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes.

Equal Rights Amendment

1972

This amendment guarantees equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. This amendment would end legal distinctions between men and women.

Regents of Uni. of California V. Bakke

1978

This case discussed if preferential treatment for minorities can reduce educational opportunities for whites without violating the constitution.

Bowers V. Hardwick

1986

Hardwick was caught engaging in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy with another adult. He was charged with sodomy. He tried to challenge them in court. The holding says that there was no constitutional protection for acts of sodomy.

Americans With Disabilities Act

1990

This act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to states and local government programs.

Motor Voter Act

1993

Also known as the National Voter registration act, sets forth certain voter registration requirements with respect to elections for federal office.

Lawrence V. Texas

2003

Police went into Lawrence’s house because a neighbor said there was a disturbance. They found him engaging in the act of consensual homosexual sodomy with another adult. They both were arrested for deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. The holding was that they both violated the due process clause.

Obergefell V. Hodges

2015

Groups of same-sex couples sued their relevant state agencies in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee to challenge the constitutionality of those states' bans on same-sex marriage or refusal to recognize legal same-sex marriages that occurred in jurisdictions that provided for such marriages. The holding was that same-sex couples did have the right to marry under the 14th amendment.