US Civil rights Flashcards
What are civil rights?
Protections introduced by the government to ensure that groups of citizens are not discriminated against
What was the Civil Rights movement?
A historical campaign for equal rights for African Americans - originated in the late 19th century but picked up in the 1950s and 1960s during which time a series of new federal laws were passed to ban discrimination
What are civil liberties?
The freedoms enjoyed by individual Americans e.g. the right to freedom of speech
What statement was made in 1776 when 13 American colonies declared their independence from Britain?
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness’
How is it easy for a modern reader to criticise this declaration?
Women, native Americans and enslaved people were excluded - ‘unalienable’ rights did not apply to them
In the 18th century they viewed it as revolutionary- not so much now !
Where are civil liberties found?
The Bill of Rights 1791
What body has been fundamental to enhancing the rights of many different social groups?
The Supreme Court
What amendment and specific clause do many civil rights derive from?
14th amendment
Equal protection clause - gave former enslaved people equal protection of the law, but has also been used to protect the rights of other groups
What did Trump’s administration announce in 2018 against illegal immigrants?
A ‘zero tolerance’ policy
More than 50k a day were taken into custody and 3000 children were separated from their parents
Images appeared of children sleeping in cages in detention centres !
When do US civil rights and liberties date back to?
1776 Declaration of Independence
What did it take for slavery to be abolished?
A bloody civil war (1861-65)
What are inalienable rights?
Rights that cannot be taken away (there is debate over this!)
Framers believed humans have inalienable rights (funny how they thought this but did nothing to outline the rights of women and EMs!)
What are entrenched rights?
Rights explicitly mentioned within the Constitution that are protected by the amendment process - can’t be easily removed or altered
What did the framers want to avoid in relation to Britain, and so what did they do to prevent this?
An overly powerful government so set up a codified system of checks and balances and a judiciary in Article 3 where people could go to if they felt their rights were being infringed
Name all of the 10 amendments in the BofR:
- Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition the government for a redress of grievances
- Bear arms
- Right to not have military groups quartered in private homes
- Right to not have unreasonable searches and seizures
- Rights of people accused of a crime
- Right to a fair trial
- Right to a jury trial in civil cases where the claim exceeds a certain $ value
- Right to not face excessive bail or fines, nor cruel or unusual punishment
- Rights that are not enumerated by the Constitution are still held by the people and are protected
- Rights of the states to retain powers that are not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution
What did the 13th amendment do?
Abolish slavery
14th?
gave former enslaved people citizenship
Equal protection clause
15th?
Gave all free men the right to vote (1870) including slaves (3/5)
19th?
gave women the vote (1920)
24th?
gave all Americans the right to vote without needing to pay a tax - prevented African Americans from being disenfranchised
What is the equal rights amendment?
An unratified amendment which would have made it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sex
National Organisation of Women PG led the campaign
It was passed in 1972 but only ratified by 35 states in the timeframe (needed 38) - deadline for ratification expired in 1982
Had support from 3/4 of people in 2020 and in Jan 2020 Virginia became the 38th state to ratify (but Congress would need to extend the deadline to enact the Amendment)
Opponents argue the amendment would protect abortion and trans rights, and remove economic support from husbands
Give as many landmark rulings you can think of!
Brown (1954)
Roe (1973)
Obergefell (2015)
Heller (2008)
Miranda v Arizona (1966)
Citizens United v FEC (2010)
Shelley v Kramer (1948) - restrictive covenants that banned the sale of homes to African Americans ruled unconstitutional
Griswold v Connecticut (1965) right to use contraceptives within marriage
Loving v Virginia (1967) interracial marriage
Regents of University of California v Bakke (1978) - affirmative action could be constitutional in certain cases
Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018) - right of a business owner to refuse service on the basis of religious beliefs (refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage)
3 examples of pressure groups that have promoted civil rights in the USA:
ACLU
NAACP
Anti-lockdown movement
ACLU: What did they do? (give some general facts too! e.g. membership etc)
1.5 million members + a staff of 300 lawyers
Is involved in more SC cases than any other non-government organisation
ACLU defends the civil liberties of ALL members of society, even white surpemacist Nazis and the KKK! (in 1978 the ACLU defended the rights of a neo-Nazi group to march through an area in Chicago where many Holocaust survivors lived - 😳)
Contributed to Brown v Board and Roe v Wade
In the 21st century they won court rulings that protected the rights of gay people and against the teaching of intelligent design in science lessons
Despite attempting to bring legal challenges to the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists and torture methods such as water boarding, they were unsuccessful as the Bush Obama and Trump administration continued, and also expanded the use of drones and targeted killings overseas (ie Osama bin Laden)
ACLU had filed more than 230 lawsuits against Trump (including his muslim ban)
ACLU defended the rights of trans people when a woman was fired for being transgender
NAACP: What did they do?
Founded in 1909 - the oldest civil rights pressure group
Half a million members
Largely led by lawyer Thurgood Marshall
Successes included the Civil Rights Act 1964 (outlaws discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, sex and national origin) - sex was only included 2 days before the bill was passed !
Another success = Voting Rights Act 1965
Conventional campaign methods were used, different to MLK use of direct action
21st century: focus on ensuring AAs receive equal economic, education, health, criminal justice and voting rights - 2020 social media movement #WeAreDoneDying to campaign against institutional racism (due to disproportionate amount of AA deaths from Covid 19 and George Floyd) - also ran a national voter mobilisation programme
The role of a social movement: The anti-lockdown movement key facts:
Was a campaign for civil liberties rather than civil rights
Protestors argues that state governors’ stay-at-home orders violated their constitutional civil liberties
By May 2020 it was estimated 2 million were associated with the movement with demonstrations in more than half of states
Protestors entered the Capitol in Michigan and Oct 2020 the FBI arrested members of a militia who were planning to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer
Far-right and white supremacist protesters
Race: When was slavery legal in Southern states until?
1865 (the North won and slavery was abolished)
