January 1: The Emancipation Proclamation On January 1st, 1863—in the middle of the Civil War—President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This order declared that... Read More
January 16: The 18th Amendment The 18th Amendment of 1919 prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. Read More
January 23: The 20th Amendment and 24th Amendment The 20th Amendment moved presidential inaugurations to January. The 24th Amendment of 1964 abolished poll taxes. Read More
February 3: The 15th Amendment and 16th Amendment The 15th Amendment aimed to grant black citizens the right to vote. The 16th Amendment established a federal income tax. Read More
February 7: The 11th Amendment The 11th Amendment of 1795 affirmed states’ sovereign immunity. Read More
February 10: The 25th Amendment The 25th Amendment of 1967 outlined suitable responses to the vacancy of a president or vice-president. Before the ratification of... Read More
February 24: Marbury v. Madison In 1803, the Supreme Court handed down its unanimous ruling in Marbury v. Madison. Read More
February 27: The 22nd Amendment The 22nd Amendment established rules about presidential elections. Read More
March 3: US Ratified the Articles of Confederation On this day in 1781, the United States ratified the Articles of Confederation, the country’s first constitution. Read More
March 5: Dred Scott v. Sandford In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. In one of the worst opinions... Read More
March 6: McCulloch v. Maryland The Supreme Court decided in 1819 that Congress could, under the Necessary and Proper Clause in Article 1 of the... Read More
March 29: The 23rd Amendment Grants Electoral College voting rights to citizens of Washington, D.C. Read More
April 8: The 17th Amendment The 17th Amendment established the direct election of U.S. Senators by each state’s voters rather than by the state legislatures. Read More
April 9: The Civil Rights Act of 1866 In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. This law affirmed the citizenship of all people born in the United... Read More
May 7: The 27th Amendment “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of... Read More
May 16: Brown v. Board In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that keeping children in “separate but... Read More
May 24: Constitutional Convention On this day at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a Virginia delegate presented James Madison’s draft of what we call the... Read More
June 12: Loving v. Virginia The Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia (1967) eliminated another form of legal discrimination based on race. Read More
June 15: The 12th Amendment Linked a party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates, joining their names on one ticket. Read More
June 21: Constitution goes into effect On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution. Under Article VII, the new government... Read More
June 26: Obergefell v. Hodges In 2015, the Supreme Court declared in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples had a fundamental right to marry. Read More
July 1: The 26th Amendment In 1971, after four months—the shortest ratification period of any Amendment—the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18. Read More
July 2: Civil Rights Act 1964 On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act. Read More
July 4: Founders adopted the Declaration of Independence On the 4th of July, 1776, the Founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which announced the United States’ separation from... Read More
July 6: 25th Amendment The 25th Amendment passed in 1965. It clarified rules of succession—what happens if the Presidency or Vice Presidency is vacated. Read More
July 9: The 14th Amendment The 14th Amendment of 1868 asserted the rights of citizenship and established due process. Read More
August 6: The Voting Rights Act Citizens could not be prohibited from voting on account of race. Read More
August 18: The 19th Amendment In 1920, the 19th Amendment declared, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied... Read More
September 3: The Treaty of Paris To end the Revolutionary War between the American colonies and Britain. Read More
October 27: The Federalist Papers In 1787, the first installment of The Federalist Papers was published. Read More
November 19: The Gettysburg Address President Abraham Lincoln famously recited in his 1863 Gettysburg Address Read More
December 5: The 21st Amendment In 1933, the 21st Amendment ended the prohibition of alcohol. Read More
December 15: The Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights was proposed in Congress in 1789 and ratified in 1791. It contains the first ten Amendments... Read More
December 18: Korematsu v. United States Shortly after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, providing for... Read More
