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Dred Scott vs Sandford
Scott was a slave in Missouri. From 1833 to 1843 he resided in Illinois and Louisiana Territory, where slavery was forbidden. After returning to Missouri, Scott filed suit all the way to the Supreme Court that his residence made him a free man. Scott's master (Sandford) said that no black or descendant of slaves could be a citizen due to Article III of the Constitution. in a 7-2 ruling in favor of Sandford, Taney's court ruled that descendants of slaves are not citizens and can't file suit. -
13th Amendment
"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. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." (Sections 1 and 2 of 13th amendment stated in US Constitution). Abraham Lincoln's proposed amendment to the US Constitution , which 75% of states ratified on December 6 1865 prohibits slavery in the USA. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment ratified in 1868 granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” This amendment was big in establishing civil rights to blacks / former slaves and it would become the basis for many landmark Supreme Court decisions for the next 150 years and counting. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted black MEN the right to vote by declaring that 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." Although ratified on February 3, 1870 the amendment wouldn't go into effect for almost 100 years.Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern states were able to disenfranchise black men. -
White Primaries
Following the end of the Reconstruction era, many white southerners employed various tactics to minimize the economic, political, and social opportunities of former slaves and their descendants. The white primary, which limited blacks’ political influence, was one. This act eliminated the Republican party from the south and allowed for a one way ticket for the Democratic party candidates to hold political positions. These primaries only allowed whites to vote, meaning huge votes for Democrats. -
Poll Taxes
Began in the 1890's as a legal way to keep blacks from voting in southern states. Poll taxes were essentially a voting fee. Eligible voters were required to pay their poll tax before they could cast a ballot. A “grandfather clause” excused some poor whites from payment if they had an ancestor who voted before the Civil War, but there were no exemptions for blacks. These taxes were just another form of political control in the south post reconstruction and a way to sway political elections. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case started in 1892 when a black train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for blacks. Rejecting Plessy’s argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the Supreme Court ruled that a law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks was not unconstitutional. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution granted women the right to vote and was ratified on August 18, 1920, ending almost 100 years of protest. In 1848, the movement for women’s rights launched on a national level with the Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Stanton and Mott, along with Susan B. Anthony and other activists, raised public awareness and lobbied the government to grant voting rights to women. After a long battle, these groups succeeded. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a 1954 Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the memorable moments of the civil rights movement, and helped establish the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. This allowed for integrated schools and public places in the south (same bathrooms and seating in buses). -
24th Amendment
On January 23, 1964 the United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials. Many poor whites and blacks in the south did not have enough money to pay the poll tax in order to vote for federal candidates for almost a century. President Lyndon B. Johnson helped pass the poll tax which means no one had to pay money to vote and anyone , no matter what social class and economic standing, could cast a vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, and sex. First proposed by President John F. Kennedy, it survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress and was then signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. In years following, Congress expanded the act and passed additional civil rights legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Actions is where the government or other institutions begin to include groups of people who were not included from particular social gathering or events in the past based on race , religion , sex, or another discriminatory practice. This was first used by JFK in 1961 when he instructed federal contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are treated equally without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." It was later signed into law by Johnson. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War like literacy tests and grandfather clauses. This act enforced the 15th amendment by eliminating all the roadblocks southern states threw on blacks in order for blacks to unsuccessfully vote (registration). Almost 250,000 new votes in the south came from blacks in the next election. -
Reed v. Reed
The Idaho Probate Code specified that "males must be preferred to females" in appointing administrators of estates. After the death of their adopted son both Cecil and Sally Reed wanted named the administrator of their son's estate. According to the Probate Code, Cecil was appointed administrator and Sally went to court. In an unanimous decision the court ruled in favor with Sally Reed as the Court held that the law's dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a controversial case challenging the legal grounding of affirmative action programs in college admissions. The Court decided that affirmative action in college admissions was constitutional, but that racial quotas used by the University of California at the time were not. This all came when Bakke (White man) was rejected twice in to UC Medical School at Davis because the final 16 spots went to minorities (Bakke had better GPA and Test Scores). -
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of gender. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and other matters (pay). The first version of an ERA was written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman and introduced in Congress in December 1923. Since then it has grown and continues to grow and gain large support. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
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 (breaks Georgia state law).Georgia's Attorney General, Michael J. Bowers, appealed to the Supreme Court and the case was argued. In 5-4 decision for Bowers, the Court found that there was no constitutional protection for acts of sodomy, and that states could outlaw those practices. The Court held that sodomy did not have a place in the law. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs. As it relates to employment the ADA protects the rights of both employees and job seekers. In addition the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), also requires closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements. -
Lawrence v. Texas
Lawrence and Garner were arrested and convicted of sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in sexual conduct. In affirming, the State Court of Appeals held that the statute was not unconstitutional. In a 6-3 opinion the Court held that the Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause. This overturns Bowers v. Hardwick -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Same-sex couples sued their relevant state agencies to challenge the constitutionality of those states' bans on same-sex marriage that occurred in jurisdictions. The plaintiffs in each case argued that the states' statutes violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court held in a 5-4 majority that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects.
