Suppose you were to create a timeline of your life so far. What events would be on the timeline? What would their significance be? Using the excerpt below as a model, describe the three most important events that helped shape who you are today.

1868
14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment is ratified by enough states to become part of the U.S. Constitution.

Significance: The 14th Amendment overruled the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs. Sanford and guaranteed that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside. The Amendment also guaranteed that all citizens would receive equal protection under the law.

1873
Slaughterhouse Cases

These U.S. Supreme Court cases narrowly defined federal power in a way that made the 14th Amendment difficult to enforce. The Court's opinion asserted that most of the rights of citizens remain under state control.

Significance: Pro-segregation states used the precedent set by the Slaughterhouse Cases to justify their policies, insisting that segregation of schools and other public spaces was an issue that should be decided by individual states.