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Dred Scott v. Sandford
This court case concluded that the constitution did not extend citizenship to African Americans, free or slave; so they could not receive any rights given by it nor could they file suits or start court cases as citizenship was required to do so. This decision fueled a lot of disdain from non-slave states that contributed to the civil war. -
13th Amendment
"Section 1. 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." The thirteenth amendment made any form of slavery or involuntary servitude illegal. However, this did not make blacks and whites equal, nor did it totally end all slavery in the U.S. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment was created after the civil war to further support the black community and make it so anyone born in America was considered a U.S. citizen. However, this amendment has been used in many other court cases not necessarily regarding citizenship or blacks. -
15th Amendment
“The 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 was intended to make blacks more equal to their white counter parts, by allowing them to vote and criminalize anyone that tried to stop them from voting. However, it did not stop many in the south from preventing most from voting still. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This court case is a landmark case from the Supreme Court which stated the separate but equal was legal, which means that according to law facilities that are segregated by race but of equal quality are allowed. This legislation led to segregation between blacks and whites, and disenfranchised blacks for many years. -
White Primaries
White primaries were primary elections in which only whites were allowed to vote. This was a maneuver by southern democrats to disenfranchise blacks and other minorities by not allowing them to vote for those that might give them more power or liberty. -
Nineteenth Amendment
The 19th amendment was created to allow women to vote, and intended to prevent states or local governments from denying the right to vote based on sex. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This supreme court case decision legalized the separate but equal doctrine adopted almost a century before in Plessy V. Ferguson, and had the U.S 101st Arborn escort 9 black students to a previously all white Little Rock High school. However with the ambiguous language of the Brown II decision schools were able to defy this legislation. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action started in 1961 with executive order No. 10925, signed by John F. Kennedy which included a statement that employers "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated [fairly] during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin". This was then later updated to mean that those believed to be at an inherent disadvantage based on their race or origin should get an advantage in job or educational opportunities. -
24th Amendment
This Amendment is intended to prevent the state or federal government from creating a tax or disallowing someone from voting based on a tax. Which was created in response to toll taxes created in the south to try and prevent most African Americans from voting. However, these laws were only attributed to federal voting until Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, where the supreme court ruled that all elections must not be regulated by a tax. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act was created to outlaw discrimination by: race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, in schools, business and government. Which meant an end to segregation in schools and the work place, which did not go vary smoothly in the southern states. -
Poll Taxes
The Poll tax was a maneuver by democrats from the 1600 to mid 1900s in the south, which was intended to prevent minorities, especially blacks, from voting. Which is most prevalent in the grandfather clauses most states added which allowed people to vote without paying the poll tax as long as their grandfather or father had voted. These were outlawed in the voting rights act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This Act is federal legislation that was intended to prevent voting discrimination by race. It outlaws any law that discriminates against racial or language minorities such as a poll tax or language test. -
Reed v. Reed
This supreme court case decided that administers of estates can't be named in a way which is based on or discriminates on the bases of sex. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This court case is the bases for affirmative action, it allowed universities and businesses to account for race, in a way intended to assist minorities, when accepting students or workers, as long as a quota was not created. Opponents believed that this violated the equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment. With many believing that it is more harmful than helpful now. -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the U.S constitution that was intended to make women equal to men in the constitution. The intention with this amendment was to give equal rights to women and to fix any inequalities that women faces such as wage gaps. It has gained renewed popularity with Virginia and other states ratifying it, however 5 states have recanted theirs since 1979. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This supreme court case upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law that outlawed oral and anal intercourse, which criminalized homosexuality; however it did not differentiate between heterosexual or homosexual intercourse. This case, and the laws it allowed, were overturned a few years later on the bases of privacy. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This Act was intended to prevent and outlaw discrimination based on disability, and require public building to have equal access to the disabled, such as with ramps. It also outlawed employment discrimination based on ability as well as require other accommodations for the disabled in public or private businesses / buildings such as allowing service animals. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence v. Texas was a supreme court case that concluded that, under the 14th amendment, laws that prohibited the private conduct of consenting adults was unconstitutional. Which, mostly, legalized and focused homosexuality under the constitution. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
This supreme court case decided that, under the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment of the constitution, any law restricting the marriage of anybody, especially homosexuals, is constitutional.
