Chapter 5
Civil Rights
Civil Rights
? all rights rooted in the Fourteenth
Amendments’ guarantee of equal protection
under the law
? what the government must do to ensure
equal protection
? what the government must do to ensure
freedom from discrimination
African-Americans and the
Consequences of Slavery
? In apportioning congressional representation based
on population,the constitution refers to free
persons and,other persons” (or slaves)
? For purposes of representation,a slave was equal
to 3/5 of a free person
? Supreme Court confirms constitutionality of
slavery in Dred Scott v,Sanford (1847)
The Civil War Amendments
? Thirteenth Amendment (1865) – neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States’
? Fourteenth Amendment (1868) – all persons born or
naturalized in the United State are citizens
– states cannot abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
– all persons (whether or not they are citizens) are entitled to due
process
– all persons are entitled to equal protection
? Fifteenth Amendment (1870) – the right to vote shall not
be denied because of race,color or previous condition of
servitude
Key Points of the Civil Rights
Acts of 1865 to 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
? extended citizenship to anyone born in the United
States
? gave African Americans full equality before the law
? authorized the president to enforce the act through use
of force
The Enforcement Act of 1870
? set out specific penalties for interfering with the right to
vote
Key Points of the Civil Rights
Acts of 1865 to 1875 (cont.)
The Anti-Ku Klux Klan Act (1872)
? made it a federal crime to deprive an individual
of his or her rights
The Second Civil Rights Act (1875)
? everyone is entitled to equal enjoyment of
public accommodation and places of public
amusement
? imposed penalties for violators
The Civil Rights Act were
nullified through,
? The Civil Rights Cases (1883)
– the Supreme Court rules that the 14th amendment only
prevents official discriminatory acts by states,not by
private individuals
? Plessy v,Ferguson (1896)
– stated that segregation did not violate the 14th
amendment
– established the separate-but-equal doctrine
– paved the way constitutionally for a system of racial
segregation developed,especially in the South
Barriers to voting by African
Americans,
? the white primary – a state primary election in
which only whites may vote
– allowed because Southern politicians claimed political
parties were private entities
– was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944 (Smith v,
Allwright)
? grandfather clause – restricting voting to
individuals who could prove that their
grandfathers had voter prior to 1867
– was used to exempt whites from poll taxes
– was used to exempt whites from literacy tests
The End of the,Separate But
Equal” Doctrine
? Brown v,Board of Education of Topeka (1954) –
Supreme Court rules public school segregation
violates the 14th amendment
– overturns Plessy v,Ferguson
? Brown v,Board of Education (1955) – orders
desegregation,with all deliberate speed”
? Court –ordered busing – transporting African
American children to white schools and white
children to African American schools
Barriers to voting by African
Americans (cont.),
? poll taxes – required the payment of a fee to vote
– intended to disenfranchise poor African Americans
– was outlawed in national elections by the 24th
amendment
– was outlawed in all elections by the Supreme Court in
1966
? literacy tests -- required potential voters to read,
recite or interpret complicated texts
– intended to disenfranchise African Americans
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
? Civil Rights Act of 1964
– forbade discrimination on the basis of race,color,
religion,gender and national origin in
? voter registration
? public accommodations
? public schools
– expanded the power of the Civil Rights Commission
– withheld funds from programs administered in a
discriminatory way
– established the right to equality of opportunity in
employment (created the EEOC)
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
(cont.)
? Civil Rights Act of 1968
– forbade discrimination in housing
? Voting Rights Act of 1965
– outlawed discriminatory voter registration tests
– authorized federal registration and
administration of voting where discrimination
took place
? resulted in massive voter registration drives of
African Americans in the South
Women’s Struggle for Equal
Rights
? Women’s Suffrage Movement
– was connected to the abolition movement
– suffragists organized the first women’s right
convention at Seneca Falls,NY in 1848
– established women’s suffrage associations
– finally won passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment in 1920
Women’s Struggle for Equal
Rights (cont.)
? The Modern Women’s Movement
– spurred in by the publication of Betty Friedan’s The
Feminine Mystique ( 1963)
– connected to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s
– argued for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment
? failed to win the necessary states for ratification
– has targeted gender discrimination by challenging
policies and laws in federal courts
? has advocated and encouraged an increasingly
prominent role for women in government and
politics
Affirmative Action
? a policy in educational admissions or job
hiring
? gives special consideration or compensatory
treatment to traditionally disadvantaged
groups
? is an effort to overcome present effects of
past discrimination
Gender Based Discrimination in the Work Place
? gender discrimination – any practice,policy or procedure
that denies equality of treatment to an individual or group
because of gender
– prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
– applies even to,protective policies”
? sexual harassment – unwanted physical or verbal conduct
or abuse of a sexual nature that
– interferes with a recipient’s job performance OR creates a hostile
environment OR carries and implicit or explicit threat of adverse
employment consequences
? wage discrimination – women earn 76 cents for every
$1.00 earned by men
Hot Links to Selected Internet Resources,
? Book’s Companion Site,
http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com/ schmidtbrief2004
? Wadsworth’s Political Science Site,
? http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com
? American Civil Liberties Union,http://www.aclu.org
? The Martin Luther King,Jr,Papers Project,
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King
? NAAPC,http://www.naapc.org
? Feminist Majority Foundation,http://www.feminist.org
? ADA Hotlinks and Documents Center,
http://janweb.icdi.wvu.edu/kinder
Civil Rights
Civil Rights
? all rights rooted in the Fourteenth
Amendments’ guarantee of equal protection
under the law
? what the government must do to ensure
equal protection
? what the government must do to ensure
freedom from discrimination
African-Americans and the
Consequences of Slavery
? In apportioning congressional representation based
on population,the constitution refers to free
persons and,other persons” (or slaves)
? For purposes of representation,a slave was equal
to 3/5 of a free person
? Supreme Court confirms constitutionality of
slavery in Dred Scott v,Sanford (1847)
The Civil War Amendments
? Thirteenth Amendment (1865) – neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States’
? Fourteenth Amendment (1868) – all persons born or
naturalized in the United State are citizens
– states cannot abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
– all persons (whether or not they are citizens) are entitled to due
process
– all persons are entitled to equal protection
? Fifteenth Amendment (1870) – the right to vote shall not
be denied because of race,color or previous condition of
servitude
Key Points of the Civil Rights
Acts of 1865 to 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
? extended citizenship to anyone born in the United
States
? gave African Americans full equality before the law
? authorized the president to enforce the act through use
of force
The Enforcement Act of 1870
? set out specific penalties for interfering with the right to
vote
Key Points of the Civil Rights
Acts of 1865 to 1875 (cont.)
The Anti-Ku Klux Klan Act (1872)
? made it a federal crime to deprive an individual
of his or her rights
The Second Civil Rights Act (1875)
? everyone is entitled to equal enjoyment of
public accommodation and places of public
amusement
? imposed penalties for violators
The Civil Rights Act were
nullified through,
? The Civil Rights Cases (1883)
– the Supreme Court rules that the 14th amendment only
prevents official discriminatory acts by states,not by
private individuals
? Plessy v,Ferguson (1896)
– stated that segregation did not violate the 14th
amendment
– established the separate-but-equal doctrine
– paved the way constitutionally for a system of racial
segregation developed,especially in the South
Barriers to voting by African
Americans,
? the white primary – a state primary election in
which only whites may vote
– allowed because Southern politicians claimed political
parties were private entities
– was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944 (Smith v,
Allwright)
? grandfather clause – restricting voting to
individuals who could prove that their
grandfathers had voter prior to 1867
– was used to exempt whites from poll taxes
– was used to exempt whites from literacy tests
The End of the,Separate But
Equal” Doctrine
? Brown v,Board of Education of Topeka (1954) –
Supreme Court rules public school segregation
violates the 14th amendment
– overturns Plessy v,Ferguson
? Brown v,Board of Education (1955) – orders
desegregation,with all deliberate speed”
? Court –ordered busing – transporting African
American children to white schools and white
children to African American schools
Barriers to voting by African
Americans (cont.),
? poll taxes – required the payment of a fee to vote
– intended to disenfranchise poor African Americans
– was outlawed in national elections by the 24th
amendment
– was outlawed in all elections by the Supreme Court in
1966
? literacy tests -- required potential voters to read,
recite or interpret complicated texts
– intended to disenfranchise African Americans
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
? Civil Rights Act of 1964
– forbade discrimination on the basis of race,color,
religion,gender and national origin in
? voter registration
? public accommodations
? public schools
– expanded the power of the Civil Rights Commission
– withheld funds from programs administered in a
discriminatory way
– established the right to equality of opportunity in
employment (created the EEOC)
Modern Civil Rights Legislation
(cont.)
? Civil Rights Act of 1968
– forbade discrimination in housing
? Voting Rights Act of 1965
– outlawed discriminatory voter registration tests
– authorized federal registration and
administration of voting where discrimination
took place
? resulted in massive voter registration drives of
African Americans in the South
Women’s Struggle for Equal
Rights
? Women’s Suffrage Movement
– was connected to the abolition movement
– suffragists organized the first women’s right
convention at Seneca Falls,NY in 1848
– established women’s suffrage associations
– finally won passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment in 1920
Women’s Struggle for Equal
Rights (cont.)
? The Modern Women’s Movement
– spurred in by the publication of Betty Friedan’s The
Feminine Mystique ( 1963)
– connected to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s
– argued for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment
? failed to win the necessary states for ratification
– has targeted gender discrimination by challenging
policies and laws in federal courts
? has advocated and encouraged an increasingly
prominent role for women in government and
politics
Affirmative Action
? a policy in educational admissions or job
hiring
? gives special consideration or compensatory
treatment to traditionally disadvantaged
groups
? is an effort to overcome present effects of
past discrimination
Gender Based Discrimination in the Work Place
? gender discrimination – any practice,policy or procedure
that denies equality of treatment to an individual or group
because of gender
– prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
– applies even to,protective policies”
? sexual harassment – unwanted physical or verbal conduct
or abuse of a sexual nature that
– interferes with a recipient’s job performance OR creates a hostile
environment OR carries and implicit or explicit threat of adverse
employment consequences
? wage discrimination – women earn 76 cents for every
$1.00 earned by men
Hot Links to Selected Internet Resources,
? Book’s Companion Site,
http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com/ schmidtbrief2004
? Wadsworth’s Political Science Site,
? http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com
? American Civil Liberties Union,http://www.aclu.org
? The Martin Luther King,Jr,Papers Project,
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King
? NAAPC,http://www.naapc.org
? Feminist Majority Foundation,http://www.feminist.org
? ADA Hotlinks and Documents Center,
http://janweb.icdi.wvu.edu/kinder
