APGovCH.5 Flashcards
Harriet Tubman
Born a slave in Maryland in the early 1820s. She escaped to freedom and became a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She led more than 70 people to freedom in the North, served in the Union during the Civil War, and championed women’s suffrage
Abilitionist
A supporter, especially in the early 19th century, of ending the institution of slavery
civil rights
The government-protected rights of individuals against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by governments or individuals
Equal protection clause
Section of the Fourteenth Amendment that guarantees that all citizens receive “equal protection of the laws”
Frederick Douglass
A former slave born in the early 1800s who became a leading abolitionist, writer, and suffragist
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Leading nineteenth-century feminist, suffragist, and abolitionist who, along with Lucretia Mott, organized the Seneca Falls Convention. She later founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) with Susan B. Anthony
Lucretia Mott
Leading nineteenth-century feminist, suffragist, and abolitionist who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organized the Seneca Falls Convention
Seneca Falls Convention
The first major feminist meeting, held in the New York State in 1848, which produced the historic “Declaration of Sentiments” calling for equal rights for women.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
A Supreme Court decision that ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and denied citizenship rights to enslaved African Americans. Dred Scott heightened tensions between the pro-slavery South and the abolitionist North in the run up to the Civil War
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued this proclamation on January 1, 1863, in the third year of the Civil War. It freed all slaves in the states that were in active rebellion against the United States
Thirteenth Amendment
One of three major amendments ratified after the Civil War; specifically bans slavery in the United States
Fourteenth Amendment
One of three major amendments ratified after the Civil War; guarantees equal protection and due process of the law to all U.S. Citizens
Fifteenth Amendment
One of three major amendments ratified after the Civil War; specifically enfranchised newly freed male slaves
Susan B. Anthony
Nineteenth-century feminist, suffragist, and founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She later formed the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), which along with the National Woman’s Party (NWP) helped to ensure ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Passed by Congress to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection to African Americans. Granted equal access to public accommodations among other provisions
Jim Crow Laws
Laws enacted by southern states that required segregation in public schools, theaters, hotels, and other public accommodations
poll taxes
Taxes levied in many southern states and localities that had to be paid before an eligible voter could cast a ballot
Grandfather Clause
Voter qualification provision in many southern states that allowed only those citizens whose grandfathers had voted before Reconstruction to vote unless they passed a wealth or literacy test
Progressive Era (1890-1920
A period of widespread activism to reform political, economic, and social ills in the United States
Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court case that challenged Louisiana statute requiring that railroads provide separate accommodations for blacks and whites; the Court found that separate-but-equal accommodations did not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
Separate-but-equal doctrine
The central tenet of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision that claimed that separate accommodations for blacks and whites did not violate the Constitution. This doctrine was used by the southern states to pass widespread discriminatory legislation at the end of the nineteenth century
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
An important rights organization founded in 1909 to oppose segregation, racism, and voting rights violations targeted against African Americans
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
Organization created by joining the National and American Woman Suffrage Associations
Suffrage Movement
The drive for voting rights for women that took place in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries until ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920
National Women’s Party (NWP)
A militant Suffrage organization founded in the early twentieth century. Members of this organization were arrested, jailed and even force-fed by authorities when they went on hunger strikes to secure voting rights for women
Nineteenth Amendment
Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1920 that guaranteed women the right to vote
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF)
The legal arm of the NAACP that successfully litigated the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education and a host of other key civil rights cases
Thurgood Marshall
A leading civil rights lawyer and the first head of the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He was the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court and served on the Court from 1967 until 1991
Harry S. Truman
The 33rd president, a Democrat, who served from 1945 until 1953. He became the president when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office; he led the United States through the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The 34th president, a Republican, who served from 1953 to 1961. He commanded Allied Forces during World War II.
Rosa Parks
A leading civil rights activist of the 20th century. She was most notably involved with the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Martin Luther King Jr.
A baptist minister, proponent of non violence, and most prominent leader of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
John F. Kennedy
The 35th president, a Democrat, who served from 1961 to 1963 and marked a generational shift in U.S. politics at the height of the Cold War. He was assassinated November 22, 1963.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Wide-ranging legislation passed by Congress to outlaw segregation on public facilities and discrimination in employment, education, and voting; created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
National Organization for Women (NOW)
The leading activist group of the women;s right movement, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.
Elanor Roosevelt
First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She championed human rights throughout her life and served as the U.S. first delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and later chaired the UN’s Commission on Human Rights
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Legislation that requires employers to pay men and women equal pay for equal work
Title IX
Provision of the Education Amendments of 1972 that bars educational institutions that receive federal funds from discriminating against female students
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Proposed amendment to the Constitution that states “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex”
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
An activist group founded in 1929 to combat discrimination against, and promote assimilation among, Americans of Hispanic origin
Cesar Chavez
Labor organizer who, with Dolores Huerta, founded the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) in the 1960s
Dolores Huerta
Labor organizer who, with Cesar Chavez, founded the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) in the 1960s
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
An organization modeled on the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund that works to protect the civil rights of Americans of Mexican and other Hispanic heritage
Chinese Exclusion Act
A law passed by Congress in 1882 that prohibited all new immigration into U.S from China
Korematsu v. U.S.
A Supreme Court ruling that upheld the authority of the U.S. Government to require mass interment of people of Japanese ancestry in the United States during World War II
LGBT community
A minority group based on sexual orientation and gender identity that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people
Lawrence v. Texas
A 2003 Supreme Court ruling that anti sodomy laws violated the constitutional right to privacy
United States v. Windsor
A Supreme Court ruling striking down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal recognition of same sex marriages
Obergefell v. Hodges
Supreme Court ruling that held that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry under the Constitution
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
A law enacted by congress in 1990 designed to guarantee accommodations and access for people with a wide range of disabilities
Standards of Review
The levels of deference the Court gives governments to craft policies that make distinctions on the basis of personal characteristics. Theses standards stem from the Court’s need to ensure that laws do not undermine the 14th amendment’s equal protections clau
Suspect Classification
Category or class, such as race or a fundamental freedom, that triggers the highest standard of scrutiny from the Supreme Court
Strict Scrutiny
A heightened standard of review used by the Supreme Court to determine the constitutional validity of a challenged practice. Legislation affecting the fundamental freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, and the press we well as suspect classifications are accorded to this level of review
Affirmative Action
Policies designed to give special attention or compensatory treatment to members of a previously disadvantaged group
intermediate Standard of Review
A standard of Review in which the Court determines whether classifications serve an important governmental objective and are sustainably related to serving that objective. Gender related legislation automatically accorded this level of Review
Rational basis standard of Review
A standard of Review in which the Court determines whether any rational foundations for the discrimination exists. Legislation affecting individuals based on age, wealth, mental capacity are generally given this level of review
Brown v. Board of Education
U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that school segregation is inherently unconstitutional because it violates the fourteenth amendment guarantee of equal protection of the law
