Mr. McCormackBig Idea Worksheet
American GovernmentStudy Guide
Chapter Twenty-One – Civil Rights: Equal Justice Under the Law
Section One: Diversity and Discrimination in American Society (p 594-599)
Something that is ______is composed of a mix of ingredients. This term applies to the US population, which is becoming ______each year. Though the population is predominantly ______, it is less so than before. (594)
The ______composition of the population has changed largely due to ______who have arrived in near-record numbers every year since the ______. The nation’s ______, ______, and ______populations have grown at rates several times that of the ______. (594)
A look at the ______balance reveals that ______are more numerous than ______. (594)
______have, until recently, constituted the largest ______in the United States. They number more than ______people today. They have also been the victims of consistent and deliberate ______for a longer time than perhaps any other group of Americans. (595)
The ______Amendment finally abolished slavery in 1865. However, that amendment did not end the widespread ______in the United States. (596)
Today, more than ______Native Americans live in this country. More than ______of them live on or near ______, which are public lands set aside for their use. ______, ______, and ______plague many of these places. The ______of Native Americans on them is about ______less than the national average, and the Native American ______mortality rate is ______that for white Americans. (596)
______Americans are those in this country who have a ______-speaking background; many prefer to be called ______. This group is among the most ______grouping and now constitutes the largest ______group of Americans. They can generally be divided into four main groups: ______-Americans, ______, ______-Americans, and ______Americans. (597)
______is the process by which people of one culture merge into and become part of another culture. (597)
______laborers were the first Asians to come to the United States in large numbers. Congress brought that immigration to a halt with the ______of 1882. Thereafter, very few Asians were permitted to enter the United States for more than ______. (597-598)
Early in ______, the federal government ordered the ______of all persons of ______descent from the ______. Some ______people, ______of them native-born American citizens, were forcibly removed to ______. Years later, the government apologized and paid reparations to the survivors. (598)
Congress made dramatic changes in American ______policies in ______. Since then, some ______Asian immigrants have come to this country. Today, the Asian American population exceeds ______and is the nation’s ______minority group. They are a ______of the population in ______, and ______boasts the largest Chinese community outside of China. (598)
Historically, women have been treated as les than equal in matters including ______, ______, and ______. Efforts to improve this situation date from ______, when a convention on women’s rights met in ______, New York. Those who fought for ______believed that, with the vote, women would soon achieve other ______. (598)
The ______Act of 1963 requires employers to pay men and women equally, and the ______Act of 1964 also prohibits job discrimination based on sex. Many studies suggest women still earn less than men for several reasons, including the fact that until now the male work force has been better educated and more experienced overall. Some also blame the ______, in which women put their careers on hold to have ______. (599)
Although women are still under-represented in many professions and political offices (and over-represented in others), that is changing. Women today constitute a majority of university students and many professional programs.
Mr. McCormackBig Idea Worksheet
American GovernmentStudy Guide
CentralDauphinHigh School
Chapter Twenty-One – Civil Rights: Equal Justice Under the Law
Section Two: Equality Before the Law (p 601-606)
Nothing, not even a ______command, can make people ______in a literal sense. Individuals differ in too many ways. Still, the ______ideal demands that government must treat all persons alike. (601)
The 14th Amendment’s ______Clause was originally meant to benefit newly ______, but now means that the ______and their ______cannot draw ______distinctions between any classes of persons. The Supreme Court has held that the 5th Amendment puts the same restriction on the ______. (601)
Government must have the power to ______, and it does. It may not do so ______, however. Most often, the Supreme Court will decide equal protection cases by applying a standard known as the ______Basis Test. This test asks: ______(601-602)
The Court imposes a higher standard in some cases, however. This is especially true when a case deals with: (602)
1)______or
2)______
In these instances, the Court has said the law must meet the “______Test.” The government must be able to show that some “______government interest” justifies the distinction between people. (602)
In the late 1800s, nearly ______of the states passed ______laws. These “______Laws” separated people on the basis of ______. While most targeted ______Americans, some were also drawn to affect other groups. (602)
In 1896, the Supreme Court provided a constitutional basis for these laws by creating the ______doctrine in its decision in ______v. ______. This doctrine stood for nearly ______years, even though most of the separate accommodations were not really equal. (602-603)
This doctrine was finally overturned it ______, in the decision of ______v. ______. In that case, the Court struck down laws requiring segregation by race in ______. In 1955, the Court directed the states to end segregation with “ all deliberate ______.” This direction met with massive resistance, and challenging those reactions in court was both ______and ______. The pace finally quickened with passage of the ______Act of 1964. The Court finally ruled in ______that the era had officially ended. (603-604)
By 1970, school systems characterized by ______segregation had been abolished, but ______segregation continues. It persists even though no law requires it, usually as a result of ______patterns. Some favor redrawing district ______or ______students out of their neighborhoods as a response. (604)
Please explain the effect of these later integration cases. (605)Baltimore v. Dawson / 1955
Gayle v. Browder / 1956
Loving v. Virginia / 1967
Lee v. Washington / 1968
Palmore v. Sidoti / 1984
Most often, laws that treated men and women differently were intended to protect the “______.” The Court upheld that view for many years, and only struck down its first sex-based classification in ______. (605)
A survey of the Court’s decisions reveals this: classification by sex is not in and of itself ______. Those classifications will only be upheld if they are intended to serve an ______governmental objective and they are ______related to achieving that goal. (606)
Mr. McCormackBig Idea Worksheet
American GovernmentStudy Guide
CentralDauphinHigh School
Chapter Twenty-One – Civil Rights: Equal Justice Under the Law
Section Three: Federal Civil Rights Laws (p 608-612)
From the late ______to the late ______, Congress did not pass a single piece of meaningful ______legislation. That historic logjam was broken in ______, largely as a result of the pressure brought to bear by the movement led by ______. (608)
Of the many pieces of legislation that followed, the most far-reaching is the ______. Beyond its ______rights provisions, the law outlaws discrimination in a number of areas. With later amendments, the laws has three major sections: (608-609)
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is often called the ______Act. With minor exceptions, it forbids anyone to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person on grounds of ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, or because they have ______. (609)
In an effort to make up for past discrimination, the federal government has often resorted to a policy of ______. The resulting rules typically required assigning certain numbers of jobs or promotions to members of certain groups. Ironically, these programs require ______-based or ______-based classifications. Critics argue that amounts to ______and should be unconstitutional. (609-610)
The Supreme Court has wrestled with the inherent contradiction of using race-based classifications to amend for previous acts of racial discrimination since 1978 (see, generally, pages 610-612).
The latest precedent on the issue was issued on June 24, 2013 in Fisher v. University of Texas. The Court insisted that a race-based admissions policy at a public university had to survive “strict scrutiny.” Not only must the state demonstrate that it is using the race-based classification to satisfy a compelling government interest, it must also prove that its classification was narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. “The reviewing court must ultimately be satisfied that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity.”
The Court is currently reviewing a state constitutional amendment, adopted by Michigan in 2006, forbidding the state from “taking account of race and gender in public education, employment and contracting…” That case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, should be decided by next summer.
Chapter Twenty-One – Civil Rights: Equal Justice Under the Law
Section Four: American Citizenship (p 613-618)
As it was originally written, the Constitution mentioned both “citizens of the ______” and “citizens of the ______.” Neither was defined, and for many years it was agreed that ______citizenship followed that of the ______. This changed with the adoption of the ______Amendment in 1868. It declares that a person can become an American citizen either by ______or ______. (613)
Citizenship by birth is determined in one of two ways: (613-614)
Jus soli:______
This covers anyone born in the ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, and ______. It also includes American ______and ______anywhere in the world.
Jus sanguinis:______
______, the legal process by which a citizen of one country becomes a citizen of another, is most often an ______process. More than ______aliens go through this process each year. Children under 16 who live in the United States automatically become citizens if their ______do. Children adopted by American parents from overseas also automatically become citizens.(614-615)
At various times entire groups have been granted citizenship en masse. The most recent instance occurred in ______, when Congress granted citizenship to more than 16,000 residents of the ______. Congress had earlier granted citizenship to ______born on reservations in 1924. (614, 613)
Though it rarely happens, American citizens may ______(voluntarily ______) his or her citizenship. This process is called ______. The government cannot impose this process as a penalty, however. If someone became a citizen by ______or ______, though, they may be stripped of their citizenship through the process of ______. (614-615)
______has the exclusive power to regulate immigration. It alone has the power to decide who may be ______and under what conditions. (615)
It made no serious attempt to regulate immigration for more than a ______after ______because land was ______and expanding industry demanded more ______. By 1890, however, conditions had changed. The first major restrictions came in 1882, when Congress barred the entry of ______, ______, ______, ______, and others likely to become ______. Over the following years more “______” were added to the law. (615-616)
As immigration continued to mount, Congress added ______limits to the ______restrictions already in place. The quotas were purposefully drawn to favor ______and ______, but did not apply to the ______. Congress ultimately eliminated this system in the Immigration Act of ______. (616)
The Immigration Act of 1990 governs current policy. It allows ______immigrants each year, at least one third of whom must be the ______of American ______or resident ______. Those who have ______in short supply in the US also receive special ______. (616)
What are some characteristics that can result in exclusion? (616) ______
______
Some ______non-immigrants also come here each year for various reasons - ______, ______, and ______. (617)
Most of the civil rights in the Constitution are guaranteed to ______, which includes ______as well as ______. Aliens, however, can be subjected to ______. Common reasons for this today include illegal ______as well as conviction of any serious crime. Because this is a ______, not a ______, matter, several constitutional safeguards do not apply. For example, an immigrant facing deportation can be ______and held without ______even without a court hearing. (617)
No one knows how many ______reside in the United States today. Most of them enter the country by slipping across the ______or ______borders, though some enter the country legally and then overstay their visas. Well over half of the undocumented aliens come from ______. (617)
This population often accepts work for ______wages and in bad conditions. They place added stress on the ______and ______services of several states, notably ______, ______, ______, and ______. (618)
Although recent laws have tried to crack down on this population in many ways, the situation shows no signs of resolution. What are some ways in which the government discourages illegal immigration? (618) ______
______
______