U.S. Constitutional & Supreme Court Vocabulary: Reconstruction to Early Civil Rights Era

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key constitutional amendments, Supreme Court cases, legal doctrines, and civil-rights concepts from the Reconstruction Era through the early Civil Rights Movement.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

14th Amendment (1868)

Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and guaranteed "equal protection of the laws."

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Reconstruction Era (1865–1877)

Post–Civil War period focused on reintegrating Southern states and securing rights for newly freed African Americans.

Privileges or Immunities Clause

Section of the 14th Amendment interpreted in Slaughter-House Cases as protecting only federal, not state, citizenship rights.

Slaughter-House Cases (1873)

Limited the 14th Amendment by ruling it protected only federal rights, reducing federal power to shield Black citizens from state abuses.

United States v. Cruikshank (1876)

Held that the 14th Amendment restricts only state actions, not private violence, gutting federal protection against racial attacks.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Law banning segregation in public accommodations, later struck down in the Civil Rights Cases (1883).

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, ruling private businesses were not bound by the 14th Amendment, enabling segregation.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local statutes enforcing segregation and disenfranchisement of Black Americans after federal troop withdrawal in 1877.

Disenfranchisement

Systematic prevention of a group from voting, often through poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation.

Poll Tax

Fee required to vote, used in the South to suppress Black suffrage.

Literacy Test

Reading or civics test used to deny voting rights, primarily targeting Black citizens.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Upheld state segregation laws under the doctrine of "separate but equal," legitimizing Jim Crow.

“Separate but Equal”

Legal doctrine from Plessy permitting segregation if facilities were purportedly equal in quality.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, 1909)

Civil-rights organization using legal challenges to dismantle segregation; key figures included W.E.B. Du Bois, Charles Hamilton Houston, and Thurgood Marshall.

Giles v. Harris (1903)

Supreme Court refused to intervene in Black disenfranchisement, claiming lack of enforcement authority.

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938)

Required Missouri to provide equal in-state law school facilities to Black students, first major win against higher-education segregation.

Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

Ruled a separate Black law school in Texas unequal, forcing University of Texas to admit Heman Sweatt.

McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)

Declared segregating a Black doctoral student within a previously white institution unconstitutional under Equal Protection.

Equal Protection Clause

Provision of the 14th Amendment mandating states treat individuals equally under the law.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Landmark case declaring school segregation unconstitutional because "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

Brown II (1955)

Ordered desegregation of schools to proceed "with all deliberate speed," language that enabled Southern delays.

“Massive Resistance”

Coordinated Southern opposition to Brown-mandated school desegregation, including school closures and legislative obstruction.

Cooper v. Aaron (1958)

Asserted supremacy of the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court rulings; states cannot ignore desegregation orders.

Boynton v. Virginia (1960)

Invalidated segregation in interstate bus terminals, citing the Interstate Commerce Act; legal basis for Freedom Riders.

Interstate Commerce Act

Federal law regulating interstate transportation, used in Boynton to challenge terminal segregation.

Freedom Riders (1961)

Civil-rights activists who rode interstate buses to challenge segregated facilities, bolstered by Boynton ruling.

Garner v. Louisiana (1961)

Overturned sit-in protestors’ convictions for disturbing the peace, protecting non-violent civil-rights demonstrations.

Reconstruction Amendments

Collective term for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments aimed at securing freedom, citizenship, and voting rights for former slaves.