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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott lived in the Illinois and Wisconsin territory with his slave master Dr. John Emerson. Since the area was technically a free state under the Missouri Compromise, Scott pleaded to the court that he should be a freeman. The case went to the Supreme Court where they ruled that living in a free state did not mean that you were no longer enslaved or property of a slave owner that bought you. -
13th Amendment
Part of the emancipation proclamation, it freed all enslaved people. This was also the first of the reconstruction amendments. -
14th Amendment
This amendment was created to grant citizenship to all individuals born or naturalized in the US. This included enslaved individuals. It also grants all individuals equal protection of the laws. This was the second of three major amendments in the reconstruction era. -
15th Amendment
African American citizens are now given the right to vote. This was the last of the three major reconstruction amendments. It was also another large step toward African American equality as the two previous amendments led up to the continuation of reconstruction. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This was a landmark Supreme Court Case that upheld the constitutionality of racial discrimination under the "Separate but Equal" doctrine. -
19th Amendment
This amendment granted women the right to vote. Multiple generations of women's suffrage groups practiced civil disobedience and strikes until the change was made in the constitution. -
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Equal Rights Amendment
Originally proposed in 1923 the amendment asked to give women equal rights under the constitution following their right to vote in 1919. The amendment took years of legal battles to get passed in the Senate but was ultimately done after the surge of feminism in the 1960s. The amendment was sent out to states for ratification but failed to get 38 states to ratify it in order to implement it into the constitution. -
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Voting ID Laws
A set of laws beginning with South Carolina in 1950 that required you to have an ID to vote in elections. Currently it is still a question of debate whether or not these laws limit the ability for a person to vote or rightfully establish the individual as the correct person voting in the election. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court rules in this landmark case that segregation in schools is unconstitutional. This was a unanimous vote of 9-0. It denounced the original decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment forced individuals to pay a fee or tax in order to get the right to vote. This was mainly done to disenfranchise African Americans as part of racial discrimination. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act ended segregation and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act was proposed by John F. Kennedy and put into effect by his vice president Lyndon Johnson after Kennedy died. This was strongly opposed by southern citizens. -
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Affirmative Action
This is the process of improving opportunities for women and minorities in the United States. In 2016 the last affirmative action case was held as it is now believed to be replaced with equality and diversity actions. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Exercised by Lyndon Johnson which defeated the racial and legal barriers presented in African American's rights to vote. This is done to guarantee the use of the 15th amendment which originally gave African American males the right to vote. -
Title IX
Enacted as a clause in the educational amendments of 1972, Title IX ensures that no person on the basis of sex shall be excluded from government financial ad, or any educational program. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This was a landmark Supreme Court case that established that race could be a factor in determining college admissions. Racial quotas however could not be used. The case argued that giving minorities more of a significant opportunity, in turn decreased opportunities for whites. -
Bowers v. Hardwick
This was a landmark Supreme Court case which upheld Georgia law which criminalized sodomy. The case did not differentiate between heterosexual or homosexual relations, just that the act of doing it was of criminal activity. -
Americans With Disabilities Act
This act prohibits discrimination against individuals with physical and mental disabilities. It gives them equal protection in employment, transportation, public accommodations, and communications with the state and federal government. -
Shelby County v. Holder
This case was a landmark Supreme Court case which regarded the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act. The court ruled that section four of the act was unconstitutional and that imposes problems that are no longer relevant in today's society. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
The case argued that restricting same-sex marriages is unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. This case went in favor of the fact that same-sex marriages cannot be banned by state legislature and if it was it would be a violation of the 14th.