Civil Rights Timeline

  • Slaughterhouse Cases

    Narrowed the 14th Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities Clause.
  • United States v. Cruikshank

    Limited federal ability to prosecute individuals for violating civil rights.
  • Civil Rights Cases

    Struck down parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, allowing private segregation.
  • Plessy v. Ferguson

    Upheld “separate but equal” racial segregation.
  • Guinn v. United States

    Struck down “grandfather clauses” that stopped Black people from voting.
  • Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada

    Required states to provide equal higher education opportunities for Black students.
  • Smith v. Allwright

    Outlawed whites-only primary elections.
  • Shelley v. Kraemer

    Courts cannot enforce racially restrictive housing covenants.
  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Ended legalized school segregation, overturning Plessy.
  • Loving v. Virginia

    Struck down laws banning interracial marriage.