Supreme Court Cases APUSH

Dred Scott decision

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1857 that ruled African Americans, whether free or enslaved, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court.

Plessy v Furgeson

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1896 that upheld racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine, significantly influencing civil rights laws.

Gideon v. Wainwright

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1963 that held that the right to counsel is a fundamental right, ensuring that defendants in criminal cases have the right to legal representation even if they cannot afford it.

Marbury V Madison

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1803 that established the principle of judicial review, enabling the Court to invalidate laws and actions that were found to be unconstitutional.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to assess whether a law is in accordance with the constitution, allowing them to invalidate any laws that contradict constitutional principles.

Judiciary Act

of 1789, which established the federal judiciary in the United States, including the Supreme Court and lower federal courts.

McCulloch v Maryland

A landmark Supreme Court case from 1819 that established the supremacy of federal laws over state laws and upheld the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States.

Roe V Wade

A landmark Supreme Court decision from 1973 that recognized a woman's legal right to have an abortion under the right to privacy, effectively ruling that state laws prohibiting abortion were unconstitutional.

Worcester v Georgia

A significant Supreme Court case from 1832 that affirmed the rights of Native American nations against state laws, stating that only the federal government could regulate relations with Native American tribes.

Treaty of New Echota

An 1835 agreement that ceded Cherokee land in Georgia to the U.S. government in exchange for compensation and relocation, which led to the Trail of Tears.

Scott v Sanford

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1857 that ruled that African Americans could not be considered American citizens and that Congress had no authority to regulate slavery in the territories.

Was was the difference between Scott v Sanford and Dred scott decision

Missouri Compromise or 1820

A statute that attempted to maintain the balance between slave and free states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while prohibiting slavery in the northern part of the Louisiana Territory.

3/5ths Compromise

A constitutional provision that counted three out of every five enslaved people as part of the population for determining representation and taxation in Congress.

Compromise of 1850

A set of laws aimed at resolving territorial and slavery-related disputes following the Mexican-American War, which included admitting California as a free state and enacting stricter fugitive slave laws.

Compromise of 1877

An informal agreement that resolved the contentious 1876 presidential election by withdrawing federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction and allowing Southern Democrats to regain control.

Eugene v Debs

A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the conviction of labor leader Eugene V. Debs for violating an injunction against a strike, illustrating the tensions between labor movements and federal authority.

Gibbons v Ogden

A Supreme Court case that established federal authority over interstate commerce, ruling that states could not grant monopolies that interfere with the federal commerce power.