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Dred Scott v. Sandford
After he spent ten years living in free territory, Scott argued that he was now a free man. The man that owned him argued that Scott couldn’t possibly be a citizen. The Supreme Court sided against Scott. They argued that Scott was property, not a citizen, under the 5th amendment and therefore he was not able to sue. This case claimed that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress could not free slaves within federal territories. -
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment ended slavery and involuntary servitude. Although it wasn't really effective immediately, it was integral to ending the Civil War. It didn't fully end slavery though, as many southern states began to implement "black codes" or systems where freed slaves were forced back into servitude for very little money because they had no other option. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment granted citizenship to everyone born in the US. This provided all citizens with equal protection under the law. This was eventually used to pass decisions ensuring voting rights, marriage Equality, and more. -
15th Amendment
The 15th amendment guaranteed black men voting rights. Many southern states attempted to get around this by creating different requirements to vote, such as literacy tests that were designed to fail, grandfather laws, poll taxes, and more. Once these laws were struck down, however, many more black people were elected into elected positions. -
Jim Crow Era
This era was known for Jim Crow laws, which were used by states to enforce segregation. From the 1870's to the 1960's, it was common to see laws that outlawed interracial marriage and required business owners to have separate areas for black and white people. Segregation was also common in schools, buses, neighborhoods, railroads, etc. The designated black areas often had less amenities or were of a worse quality than the white ones, or were inconvenient or difficult for black people to access. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy, a man who was 7/8th white, agreed to sit in a whites only railroad car even though he was considered black in Louisiana law in an attempt to get segregated cars to be deemed unconstitutional. He was arrested and at trial his lawyers argued that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th amendments. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation itself did not violate the Equal Protections Clause, so long as the separate facilities were of equal quality, or "separate but equal." -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment ensured the right to vote regardless of sex. This allowed women more opportunities into office and to elect officials that would work for them. This came as a long fought for victory for women's rights activists. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Black children were regularly barred from attending schools due to their race, even if those schools were better in location or quality. When this issue was brought to the supreme court, they ruled that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal and therefore violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The court decided that having these facilities be separated by race created a sense of inferiority in black children. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act prohibited discrimination based on sex, race, national origin, color, or religion. It also outlawed segregation in businesses and public places, for example: theaters, pools, public schools, hotels, etc. It also created the EEOC to enforce the anti-discrimination laws in employment and businesses. This was the most comprehensive civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act served to enforce the 15th amendment and prevent on the state/local level barriers designed to prevent black men from voting. This outlawed loophole practices, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation, etc. It also required certain places to obtain preclearance before passing new voting laws. It immediately helped black men start voting, and the number of black men that registered to vote boomed immediately after. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is laws and actions that seek to rectify past discrimination against minorities by giving them opportunities that have been taken away from them in the past. -
Reed v. Reed
An Idaho law required favoritism towards men when assigning administrators of estate. Sally Reed challenged the law in court when her deceased son's estate automatically went to her ex-husband. The court unanimously ruled in favor of Sally. This case therefore ruled that the Idaho law was unconstitutional and wasn't providing Sally equal protections under the law, setting a precedent for future cases of a similar nature. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Bakke was rejected twice from the University of California Medical School at Davis. He believed that this was due to the college's 16 reserved spaces for minorities as part of their affirmative action initiative, as his grades were higher than those of the minorities admitted. The Court, while somewhat split, sided with Bakke and declared that using race as a sole factor for admissions was unconstitutional. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
After Hardwick was seen by a police officer while engaging in consensual sodomy with another adult man, he challenged the Georgia statute that outlawed it. The court decided that they could not guarantee the right to sodomy because the act did not hold the basis that other cases had and therefore could not justifiably be protected. This case served to show homosexuals that their rights were not as important as heterosexuals in the eyes of the Supreme court and not worth being upheld. -
Americans with disabilities act
The ADA is a civil rights law designed to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in public spaces, such as jobs, transportation, schools, etc. This act served to attempt to make the world a more equal and accommodative place for those with disabilities in order to make their lives easier. There have been mixed receptions to the act, with some believing it was a failure and others believing it was an overwhelming success in terms of employment. -
Motor Voter Act
Required that states offer voter registration opportunities at state motor vehicle agencies, by mail in application, at certain state and local offices, etc., as well as required that states maintain up to date and accurate voter registration lists. This gave more opportunities to people to register to vote who may not have had those opportunities otherwise and therefore would not have been able to vote. -
Lawrence v. Texas
A Texas law criminalized intimate sexual acts between two consenting partners of the same sex, but did not do the same for those of the opposite sex. After being barged in on by police and arrested for engaging in one of these acts, Lawrence challenged the law. The Supreme Court ruled that these acts were protected under the Due Process clause under the 14th Amendment, therefore overturning several states' anti-sodomy laws. This was a huge win for homosexuals. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Groups of same-sex couples from multiple states challenged their respective bans on same-sex marriage, citing them as unconstitutional under the 14th amendment and the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court ruled that marriage is a fundamental liberty and is protected across states by the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment, and that those protections extended to both same and opposite sex couples. This ruling struck down multiple states' bans on homosexual marriage.