1. Why did the federal government largely ignore civil rights policy before the Civil War?

1. What events led to the creation of the NAACP in 1909 and what was its primary goal?

2. How did the NAACP use the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause to challenge segregation?

3. What early Supreme Court victories did the NAACP achieve in challenging voting restrictions and residential segregation?

1. How did Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall's legal strategy challenge school segregation?

2. What was the significance of the NAACP's early victories in cases like Lloyd Gaines and the Texas and Oklahoma graduate school cases?

1. What organizations joined the NAACP in the civil rights movement and what role did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. play?

2. Why was 1963 a pivotal year for the civil rights movement and what events demonstrated both progress and violence?

1. What were the four basic steps of nonviolent campaign that Dr. King outlined in his letter?

2. How did Dr. King respond to the White clergy's call for patience and what did he argue about the nature of freedom?

3. What was Dr. King's main argument for why direct action was necessary in Birmingham?

1. Why was obtaining the franchise so important to the women's rights movement and what role did Susan B. Anthony play?

1. How did industrialization bring women into the workplace and what legal barriers did they face?

2. What progress did the women's suffrage movement make between 1908 and 1920?

1. What was the impact of the Nineteenth Amendment on women's voter turnout and political participation?

2. What workplace discrimination did women face even after gaining the right to vote?

1. What was Title IX and how did it change educational opportunities for women in federally funded programs?

2. Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail to be ratified despite passing Congress in 1972?

1. How did the Roe v. Wade decision affect women's rights and what was the pro-life movement's response?

2. How did the Dobbs decision in 2022 change the legal landscape for abortion rights?

1. What discriminatory policies did the federal government and states enforce against LGBTQ individuals before the 1970s?

2. How did LGBTQ individuals begin to seek legal protections and political voice starting in the 1970s?

1. What were anti-sodomy laws and how did Lawrence v. Texas change their legal status?

1. What was the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and why did it eventually end?

1. What was the Defense of Marriage Act and how did it restrict same-sex marriage rights?

2. How did the Obergefell v. Hodges decision change marriage law across the United States?

3. What legal and practical benefits became available to same-sex couples after Obergefell?

1. What new conflicts have emerged after the Obergefell decision regarding religious freedom and public accommodations?

1. Why did the 1964 Civil Rights Act not initially protect LGBTQ workers and what changed with Bostock v. Clayton County?

2. What is sexual harassment in the workplace and how did the #MeToo movement bring attention to this issue?

1. What is the conflict between religious freedom and equal protection in cases involving refusal of service to same-sex couples?

1. What are "bathroom bills" and how have different presidential administrations addressed transgender bathroom access in schools?

1. What three constitutional amendments did Congress ratify after the Civil War and what did each accomplish?

1. What are the key provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment and why has it become the foundation for civil rights policy?

2. How have groups beyond freed slaves used the Fourteenth Amendment to seek equal protection?

1. What methods did southern states use to prevent African Americans from voting despite the Fifteenth Amendment?

2. What were Jim Crow laws and how did they enforce racial segregation in public spaces?

1. What was the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson and why did it justify segregation?

2. How did the NAACP's strategy in Brown v. Board of Education differ from previous civil rights cases?

3. Why did Chief Justice Warren rule that segregation itself was inherently unequal regardless of tangible facilities?

4. What did Brown II establish about the timeline and implementation of school desegregation?

1. What were the key provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and how did it address discrimination?

2. How did President Johnson use his political skills to pass the Civil Rights Act despite significant opposition?

1. How did media coverage of civil rights violence influence public opinion and support for civil rights legislation?

1. Why was President Johnson more effective than President Kennedy in securing passage of the Civil Rights Act?

2. How did Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States uphold the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act?

1. What were the broader impacts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 beyond racial discrimination?

1. How did Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 extend civil rights protections to women in education?

2. What challenges have schools faced in implementing Title IX and what has been its impact on women's athletics?

1. What specific voting barriers did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 address and how did it enforce compliance?

2. What was the Twenty-fourth Amendment and what voting practice did it eliminate?

3. How did the Selma march and media coverage influence passage of the Voting Rights Act?

1. What was the impact of the Brown decision on school desegregation in the years immediately following 1954?

1. How did Plessy v. Ferguson justify segregation and what was Justice Harlan's dissenting argument?

1. Why did the Brown decision not immediately result in widespread school integration and what obstacles did students face?

2. How did Cooper v. Aaron address the use of potential violence as a reason to delay desegregation?

3. What role did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 play in accelerating school desegregation?

1. How did Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg address the use of mathematical ratios to achieve school integration?

2. What was White flight and how did it undermine desegregation efforts in urban areas?

3. Why did Milliken v. Bradley limit interdistrict busing for desegregation?

1. How did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 increase African American voter registration and political representation?

2. What are majority-minority districts and how did Thornburg v. Gingles address vote dilution?

3. How has the Court's position on race-conscious redistricting changed from Shaw v. Reno to Cooper v. Harris?

1. How did Presidents Kennedy and Johnson define affirmative action and what was their rationale for it?

1. What are the two main philosophical approaches to affirmative action and how do they differ?

2. What is the difference between "targets" and "quotas" in affirmative action policies?

1. What was the central issue in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and how did the Court rule?

2. What did Bakke establish about mandatory quotas and the use of race in admissions decisions?

1. What is reverse discrimination and how did the Bakke decision address this concept?

1. How have Supreme Court decisions since Bakke addressed affirmative action in different contexts?

2. What was the outcome of the University of Michigan cases and how did they differ from each other?

3. How did Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and v. University of North Carolina change affirmative action in higher education?