Item | Expansion of Civil & Political |
13th Amendment 1865 | Abolished Slavery |
14th Amendment 1868 | Defined Citizenship as Belonging to Anyone Born in the US and Cannot be Taken Away Without Due Process |
15th Amendment 1870 | Granted Voting Rights to Adult Males |
Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896 | Supreme Court Case that allowed for "seperate but equal" facilities; reversed by Brown vs. Board of Education |
17th Amendment 1913 | Allowed for the direct election of senators, increasing public's influence over the governement |
Progressive Era Reforms
Initiative early 1900's | Citizens can introduce new legislation and can propose a new law by petition |
Progressive Era Reforms
Referendum early 1900's | Submitting a proposed public measure or statue to direct popular vote |
Progressive Era Reforms
Recall early 1900's | Public official can be removed from office by popular vote |
19th Amendment
1920 | Granted right to vote (suffrage) to women |
American Indian Citizenship Act
1924 | Granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States |
Mendez v. Westminster
1946 | Federal case in California which challenged racial segregation in schools- segregating Mexican American students is unconstitutional |
Desegregation of the Armed Forces
1948 | By Executive Order, President Truman ended segregation in the Armed Forces |
Delgado v. Bastrop ISD
1948 | US Federal District Court ruled segregation of Mexican American students was illegal |
Sweatt v. Painter
1950 | Supreme Court case stating that the attempt to create a segregated UT Law School was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause |
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 | Supreme Court case which ended "separate but equal" ruling from Plessy v. Ferguson; led to desegregation of schools |
Henandez v. Texas
1954 | Supreme Court case, Mexican Americans & other racial groups have equal protection under the 14th Amendment |
Civil Rights Act
1957 | Protected voting rights |
Civil Rights Act
1964 | Abolished racial,religious & sex discrimination by employers |
24th Amendment
1964 | Ended poll tax |
Voting Rights Act
1965 | Outlawed poll tax or literacy test in order to eligible to vote |
Tinker v Des Moines
1969 | Supreme Court case extending 1st amendment rights to students' freedom of speech includes free expression |
26th Amendment
1971 | Decreased voting age from 21 to 18 in response to draft in Vietnam War |
Wisconsin v Yoder
1972 | Supreme Court case, Amish children are exempt from compulsory education beyond 8th grade because it violates the parents' right to freedom of religion |
White v Regester
1973 | Supreme Court ruled Texas redistricting in 1970 was discriminatory against groups in various districts |
Edgewood ISD v. Kirby
1993 | Texas case ending discrimination against poor school districts; redistributes property taxes equally across the state from richer districts to poorer districts |