Chapter 5: Civil Rights and Public Policy vocab

Civil Rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.

Fourteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted

after the Civil War that states, “No State

shall make or enforce any law which

shall abridge the privileges or immunities

of citizens of the United States;

nor shall any state deprive any person

of life, liberty, or property, without due

process of law; nor deny to any person

within its jurisdiction the equal protection

of the laws.” It is the first and only

part of the Constitution to invoke the

idea of equality.

Equal Protection of the Laws

Part of the Fourteenth Amendment

emphasizing that the laws must providePart of the Fourteenth Amendment

emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent “protection” to all people.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

The 1857 Supreme Court decision ruling

that a slave who had escaped to a

free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen

and that Congress had no authority to

ban slavery in the territories.

Thirteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment ratified

after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1896 Supreme Court decision that

provided a constitutional justification

for segregation by ruling that a Louisiana

law requiring “equal but separate

accommodations for the white and

colored races” was constitutional.

Brown v. Education

The 1954 Supreme Court decision

holding that school segregation is inherently

unconstitutional because it violates

the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee

of equal protection. This case marked

the end of legal segregation in the United States.