4.04 civil rights
- 1. 4.04 Civil Rights by Tyler Johnson
- 2. Roe v. Wade This court case, decided in 1973, challenged the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which prevented attempting abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger. A single pregnant woman, Roe, brought a class action to challenge this law. The court ruled that these laws infringed on women’s Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. This case was important to the expansion of civil rights because for the first time it gave women a choice in their pregnancy and the freedom to decide to not have that burden.
- 3. Brown v. Board of Education This case overturned the ruling of the Plessy v. ferguson decision, which had deemed “separate but equal” public facilities constitutional. This decision specifically looked at segregation in the school system. The evidence that ultimately lead to this decision was a psychological study that showed that even though white and colored students had the same caliber of education, the act of separating them caused colored students to feel inferior, leading to problems later down the line. This event was a landmark in the Civil Rights Movement because it made headway in getting equal treatment for African Americans.
- 4. 15th Amendment • Several Amendments to the Constitution attempted to ensure the right to vote to African Americans. The 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the right of a citizen of the U.S. cannot be denied on the account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. People still found ways to hinder the voting rights of African Americans by enacting poll taxes, literacy tests, and other means. Although this Amendment did not grant full voting rights to people of color, it was a stepping stone to the eventual end to legal discrimination based on race in the United States.
- 5. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • This monumental act ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It was first proposed by President John F. Kennedy but was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. It was expanded to help bring more equality to African Americans. This milestone was important for civil rights not only for people of color, but also for women because it allowed them to have the same access to jobs as men. In the future, this act would also be used to protect the rights of the LGBT community, further diminishing discrimination in the U.S.