1787
The Constitution is signed
Thirty-nine delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia sign the proposed Constitution and send it to the states for ratification.
Source: National Archives
The timeline. Everything on one line.
Amendments, landmark decisions and the moments rights and powers were tested, from 1787 to now. Choose the layers, narrow to an era, or search. Every entry links to its source.
1787 – 2026
143 entries
Landmark cases
Amendments
Rights and powers
Executive ordersper year, by presidency
The entries. In order.
The list follows the layers, era and search above.
1788
New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify
With nine of thirteen states, the threshold set by Article VII is met and the Constitution is established among the ratifying states.
Source: National Archives
1789
Judiciary Act of 1789
Congress establishes the federal court system and sets the Supreme Court at six Justices.
Source: National Archives
1789
Congress proposes the Bill of Rights
The First Congress sends twelve amendments to the states; ten are ratified in 1791 as the Bill of Rights.
Source: National Archives
1791
The Bill of Rights (Amendments I–X)
The first ten amendments: freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly; the right to bear arms; protections for the accused; and powers reserved to the states and the people.
Source: National Archives
1793
Chisholm v. Georgia
Yes. Federal judicial power extended to suits brought against a state by a citizen of another state.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1795
Eleventh Amendment: Suits against states
Federal judicial power does not extend to suits against a state by citizens of another state or of a foreign country.
Source: National Archives
1798
Alien and Sedition Acts
Four laws passed during the undeclared naval war with France extend the residency period for naturalization, authorize deportation of non-citizens, and make it a crime to publish “false, scandalous and malicious writing” against the government.
Source: National Archives
1803
Marbury v. Madison
Yes. A law repugnant to the Constitution is void, and it is the duty of the courts to say what the law is. The Court held part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1804
Twelfth Amendment: Election of the President and Vice President
Electors cast separate ballots for President and Vice President.
Source: National Archives
1819
McCulloch v. Maryland
Congress had implied power to charter the bank under the Necessary and Proper Clause, and Maryland could not tax it.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1824
Gibbons v. Ogden
No. Navigation between states is commerce that Congress may regulate, and a federal coasting license overrode the state monopoly.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1830
Indian Removal Act
Congress authorizes the President to negotiate the exchange of tribal lands in the East for lands west of the Mississippi. Forced removals follow, including the Cherokee removal of 1838–39.
1832
Worcester v. Georgia
No. The Cherokee Nation was a distinct community in which Georgia law had no force; relations with it belonged to the federal government.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1850
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Part of the Compromise of 1850. Requires the return of people who escaped slavery, denies them a jury trial, and penalizes those who assist them.
Source: U.S. Senate
1857
Dred Scott v. Sandford
No. The Court held that such persons were not citizens under the Constitution and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, striking down the Missouri Compromise line.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1861
Lincoln authorizes suspension of habeas corpus
At the start of the Civil War, President Lincoln authorizes military commanders to suspend the writ along the rail line between Philadelphia and Washington. Chief Justice Taney, sitting as a circuit judge in Ex parte Merryman, rules that only Congress may suspend it. Congress authorizes suspension in March 1863.
Source: Federal Judicial Center
1863
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln declares that enslaved people in areas still in rebellion “are, and henceforward shall be free,” as a war measure under his authority as commander in chief.
Source: National Archives
1865
Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of slavery
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime of which the party has been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States.
Source: National Archives
1866
Ex parte Milligan
No. Military trial of civilians is unconstitutional where the civil courts are open and functioning, even in wartime.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1866
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Passed over President Andrew Johnson’s veto. Declares people born in the United States to be citizens and guarantees equal rights to make contracts, sue, and hold property.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives
1868
House impeaches President Andrew Johnson
The first impeachment of a President, chiefly over his removal of the Secretary of War in alleged violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate acquits by one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.
Source: U.S. Senate
1868
Fourteenth Amendment: Citizenship, due process and equal protection
Everyone born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen; no state may deny any person life, liberty or property without due process of law, or the equal protection of the laws.
Source: National Archives
1870
Fifteenth Amendment: Race and the right to vote
The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Source: National Archives
1871
Ku Klux Klan Act
The third of the Enforcement Acts lets the President use the military and suspend habeas corpus to suppress conspiracies that deprive citizens of equal protection, and creates a federal cause of action for deprivation of constitutional rights.
Source: U.S. Senate
1873
Slaughter-House Cases
No. The Privileges or Immunities Clause protects only rights of national citizenship, a narrow set, leaving most civil rights to the states.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1875
Minor v. Happersett
No. Citizenship did not carry the right to vote, and states could limit suffrage to men.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1882
Chinese Exclusion Act
Suspends immigration of Chinese laborers and bars Chinese immigrants from naturalization. Extended in 1892 and made permanent in 1902; repealed in 1943.
Source: National Archives
1883
Civil Rights Cases
No. The Fourteenth Amendment reaches state action, not private conduct, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875’s public accommodations provisions were unconstitutional.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1886
Yick Wo v. Hopkins
Yes. A law fair on its face but administered with an unequal hand denies equal protection, and the guarantee covers non-citizens.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1889
Chae Chan Ping v. United States
Yes. The power to exclude non-citizens is an incident of sovereignty that Congress may exercise, even contrary to earlier treaties.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1895
Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co.
Yes, as to taxes on income from property, and the tax was struck down as a whole.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1896
Plessy v. Ferguson
No. Separate accommodations that were equal did not violate equal protection. Justice Harlan dissented: “Our Constitution is color-blind.”
Source: Opinion of the Court
1898
United States v. Wong Kim Ark
Yes. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause made him a citizen by birth on United States soil.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1905
Lochner v. New York
No. The limit interfered with liberty of contract protected by the Due Process Clause.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1913
Sixteenth Amendment: Income tax
Congress may tax incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the states.
Source: National Archives
1913
Seventeenth Amendment: Direct election of senators
Senators are elected directly by the people of each state, replacing election by state legislatures.
Source: National Archives
1917
Espionage Act
Two months after the United States enters World War I, Congress makes it a crime to interfere with military operations or recruitment. The Sedition Act of 1918 extends it to “disloyal” speech about the government; that extension is repealed in 1920.
Source: National Archives
1918
Hammer v. Dagenhart
No. Manufacturing was not commerce, and the law reached into matters reserved to the states.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1919
Schenck v. United States
No. Speech that creates a “clear and present danger” of evils Congress may prevent can be punished, especially in wartime.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1919
Abrams v. United States
Yes, the convictions stood. Justice Holmes, joined by Justice Brandeis, dissented in an opinion later cited as a foundation of modern free speech law.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1919
Eighteenth Amendment: Prohibition of alcohol
Prohibited the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States.
Source: National Archives
1920
Palmer Raids
Justice Department raids under Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer arrest thousands of suspected radicals in more than thirty cities, many without warrants; hundreds of non-citizens are deported.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
1920
Nineteenth Amendment: Women’s right to vote
The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex.
Source: National Archives
1924
Immigration Act of 1924
Sets national-origin quotas based on the 1890 census and bars immigration from most of Asia.
1924
Indian Citizenship Act
Grants citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. Some states continue to bar Native Americans from voting until 1957.
Source: Library of Congress
1925
Gitlow v. New York
Yes, the conviction stood, but the Court assumed that freedom of speech and press are protected against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1927
Buck v. Bell
Yes. The Court upheld the law; it has not been formally overruled.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1927
Whitney v. California
Yes. Justice Brandeis, concurring, wrote that the remedy for feared speech is “more speech, not enforced silence.”
Source: Opinion of the Court
1931
Near v. Minnesota
No. Prior restraint of publication is unconstitutional except in exceptional cases.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1932
Powell v. Alabama
Yes. In a capital case, due process requires the state to provide effective assistance of counsel.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1933
Twentieth Amendment: Terms of office and succession
Moves the start of presidential terms to January 20 and congressional terms to January 3, and sets rules for when a President-elect dies or fails to qualify.
Source: National Archives
1933
Twenty-first Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition
Repeals the Eighteenth Amendment; states keep the power to regulate the import of alcohol.
Source: National Archives
1935
A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
No. The delegation was unconstitutional, and the poultry business was beyond the commerce power.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1937
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish
Yes. Liberty of contract is subject to reasonable regulation in the public interest, and an earlier contrary decision was overruled.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1940
Minersville School District v. Gobitis
Yes. National unity was a sufficient interest to require the salute.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1940
Alien Registration Act (Smith Act)
Makes it a crime to advocate the violent overthrow of the government or to belong to a group that does, and requires non-citizen adults to register.
Source: Federal Judicial Center
1941
United States v. Darby
Yes. The Fair Labor Standards Act was a valid use of the commerce power.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1942
Wickard v. Filburn
Yes. Activity that, taken in the aggregate, substantially affects interstate commerce may be regulated.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1942
Executive Order 9066
President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizes military commanders to exclude people from designated areas. About 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens, are removed from the West Coast and incarcerated.
Source: National Archives
1943
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
No. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official … can prescribe what shall be orthodox.”
Source: Opinion of the Court
1943
Hirabayashi v. United States
Yes. The Court upheld the curfew as within the war power. His conviction was vacated by a federal appeals court in 1987.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1944
Korematsu v. United States
Yes. The Court upheld the exclusion order. In Trump v. Hawaii (2018) the Court wrote that Korematsu “was gravely wrong the day it was decided.”
Source: Opinion of the Court
1944
Ex parte Endo
No. The War Relocation Authority had no authority to detain a concededly loyal citizen.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1947
Federal employee loyalty program
Executive Order 9835 orders loyalty investigations of federal employees and authorizes the Attorney General’s list of “subversive” organizations.
Source: Truman Library
1948
Executive Order 9981
President Truman orders “equality of treatment and opportunity” in the armed services without regard to race, beginning the desegregation of the military.
Source: National Archives
1950
Internal Security Act
Passed over President Truman’s veto. Requires Communist organizations to register and authorizes detention of suspected subversives in a national emergency. The detention title is repealed in 1971.
Source: U.S. Senate
1951
Dennis v. United States
No. Conspiring to advocate overthrow of the government could be punished given the gravity of the danger.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1951
Twenty-second Amendment: Presidential term limits
No person may be elected President more than twice.
Source: National Archives
1952
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
No. The President had no power to seize the mills under the Constitution or any statute. Justice Jackson’s concurrence set out the framework for presidential power still used today.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1954
Brown v. Board of Education
Yes. “In the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.”
Source: Opinion of the Court
1954
Senate censures Joseph McCarthy
After the televised Army–McCarthy hearings, the Senate votes 67–22 to condemn Senator McCarthy for conduct “contrary to senatorial traditions.”
Source: U.S. Senate
1957
Federal troops enforce desegregation in Little Rock
President Eisenhower federalizes the Arkansas National Guard and sends the 101st Airborne to escort nine Black students into Central High School after the governor used the Guard to block them.
Source: National Archives
1958
Cooper v. Aaron
No. States are bound by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution, and its decisions cannot be nullified by state officials.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1961
1961
Twenty-third Amendment: Electors for the District of Columbia
Gives the District of Columbia electors in presidential elections, no more than the least populous state.
Source: National Archives
1962
Baker v. Carr
Yes. Apportionment claims under the Equal Protection Clause can be decided by the courts.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1962
Engel v. Vitale
No. A state-composed school prayer violates the Establishment Clause, even if participation is voluntary.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1963
Gideon v. Wainwright
Yes. The right to counsel is fundamental and applies to the states.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
No. A public official must prove “actual malice”: knowledge that the statement was false, or reckless disregard for whether it was.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
Reynolds v. Sims
Yes. Equal protection requires districts of substantially equal population: one person, one vote.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
Yes. The public accommodations title of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a valid exercise of the commerce power.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1964
Twenty-fourth Amendment: Poll taxes
The right to vote in federal elections may not be denied for failure to pay a poll tax or other tax.
Source: National Archives
1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in public accommodations, employment and federally funded programs.
Source: National Archives
1964
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Congress authorizes the President to use armed force in Southeast Asia without a declaration of war. It is repealed in 1971.
Source: National Archives
1965
Griswold v. Connecticut
No. The ban violated a right of marital privacy implied by several guarantees of the Bill of Rights.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Bans literacy tests and other devices used to deny the vote on account of race, and requires covered jurisdictions to obtain federal approval before changing voting rules.
Source: National Archives
1965
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
Ends the national-origin quota system and replaces it with preferences based on family ties and skills.
Source: Public Law 89-236, 79 Stat. 911
1966
Miranda v. Arizona
Yes. Statements from custodial interrogation are admissible only if the suspect was warned of the right to remain silent and to have counsel.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1967
Loving v. Virginia
No. Such bans violate both equal protection and due process; marriage is a fundamental freedom.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1967
Katz v. United States
Yes. The Fourth Amendment protects people, not places, where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1967
Twenty-fifth Amendment: Presidential disability and succession
Sets out how the Vice President becomes President or Acting President, how a vacancy in the vice presidency is filled, and how a President’s inability to serve is declared.
Source: National Archives
1968
Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act)
Signed a week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing.
1969
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
No. Students do not shed their constitutional rights “at the schoolhouse gate”; the protest caused no substantial disruption.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1969
Brandenburg v. Ohio
No. Advocacy of force may be punished only when directed to inciting imminent lawless action and likely to produce it.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1970
Oregon v. Mitchell
No, though it could for federal elections. The split result led directly to the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1971
New York Times Co. v. United States
No. The government did not meet the heavy burden required to justify prior restraint.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1971
FBI counterintelligence program disclosed
Files taken from an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, and sent to newspapers reveal COINTELPRO, a program of surveillance and disruption aimed at domestic political groups.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
1971
Twenty-sixth Amendment: Voting age of eighteen
The right of citizens eighteen years of age or older to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of age.
Source: National Archives
1972
Furman v. Georgia
Yes, as applied under statutes that left juries unguided discretion; every Justice in the majority wrote separately.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1973
Roe v. Wade
Yes. The right of privacy under the Due Process Clause covers the decision, subject to state interests that grow over the pregnancy.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1973
War Powers Resolution
Passed over President Nixon’s veto. Requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing forces and to withdraw them within 60 days without authorization.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives
1974
United States v. Nixon
No. Executive privilege is real but not absolute, and a generalized claim yields to the need for evidence in a criminal trial.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1974
President Nixon resigns
Two weeks after United States v. Nixon required release of the White House tapes, and after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment, President Nixon resigns.
Source: National Archives
1975
Church Committee established
The Senate creates a select committee to investigate intelligence agencies. Its reports document domestic surveillance of political activity and lead to permanent intelligence oversight committees.
Source: U.S. Senate
1976
Gregg v. Georgia
No. Capital punishment is permitted under statutes that guide the sentencer’s discretion.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1976
National Emergencies Act
Ends the national emergencies then in effect after two years and sets procedures for declaring, renewing and ending future ones, including annual renewal and review by Congress.
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
1978
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Fixed racial quotas were unlawful, but race could be considered as one factor in admissions.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1978
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Requires a warrant from a special court for electronic surveillance of foreign powers and their agents inside the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
1986
1988
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
Congress formally apologizes for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and provides $20,000 in redress to each surviving person who was detained.
Source: National Archives
1989
Texas v. Johnson
No. Flag burning is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1990
Americans with Disabilities Act
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public services, public accommodations and telecommunications.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
1992
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
No. The Court kept Roe’s central holding but replaced its framework with an “undue burden” standard.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1992
Twenty-seventh Amendment: Congressional pay
A law changing the pay of members of Congress takes effect only after the next election of Representatives.
Source: National Archives
1995
United States v. Lopez
No. Possessing a gun in a school zone is not economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1998
House impeaches President Clinton
The House approves two articles, perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate acquits on both.
Source: U.S. Senate
2000
Bush v. Gore
No. The recount’s varying standards violated equal protection, and there was no time to conduct one that complied.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2001
Authorization for Use of Military Force
A week after the September 11 attacks, Congress authorizes force against those who planned, committed or aided them. It remains in effect and has been cited for operations in many countries.
Source: Congress.gov
2001
USA PATRIOT Act
Expands federal surveillance and investigative powers, including Section 215, which allowed orders for “any tangible things” relevant to a terrorism investigation.
Source: Congress.gov
2002
First detainees held at Guantánamo Bay
The military begins holding people captured in the conflict with al-Qaeda at the naval base in Cuba, outside the ordinary jurisdiction of federal courts.
2003
Lawrence v. Texas
No. The law violated liberty protected by the Due Process Clause.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2006
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
No. The commissions were not authorized by Congress and violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2008
Boumediene v. Bush
Yes. The Suspension Clause applies there, and the substitute review Congress provided was inadequate.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2008
District of Columbia v. Heller
Yes. The amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm for lawful purposes such as self-defense in the home.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2010
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
No. Such spending is protected political speech; disclosure requirements were upheld.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2012
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
Yes, as a tax, though not under the commerce power; the Medicaid expansion could not be forced on states by withholding existing funds.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2013
Shelby County v. Holder
No. The coverage formula in Section 4(b), based on decades-old data, was unconstitutional.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2013
Bulk telephone records program disclosed
Published leaks of classified documents reveal that the National Security Agency was collecting Americans’ telephone call records in bulk under Section 215.
2015
Obergefell v. Hodges
Yes. The right to marry is fundamental under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2015
USA FREEDOM Act
Ends the government’s bulk collection of telephone records; records stay with phone companies and are obtained case by case under court orders.
Source: Congress.gov
2018
Trump v. Hawaii
Yes. The proclamation was within the President’s statutory authority and survived constitutional review. The opinion also stated that Korematsu was wrongly decided.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2019
House impeaches President Trump
The House approves two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, relating to dealings with Ukraine. The Senate acquits on both.
Source: U.S. Senate
2020
COVID-19 national emergency declared
A presidential proclamation declares a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act. Congress ends it by joint resolution in April 2023.
Source: Federal Register
2021
House impeaches President Trump a second time
One week after the Capitol was breached during Congress’s count of electoral votes, the House approves one article, incitement of insurrection. The Senate votes 57–43 to convict, short of the two-thirds required.
Source: U.S. Senate
2022
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen
No. Gun regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2022
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
No. Roe and Casey were overruled, returning the regulation of abortion to the people and their elected representatives.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2022
Electoral Count Reform Act
Amends the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to state that the Vice President’s role in the count is ministerial and to raise the threshold for objections to a state’s electors.
Source: Congress.gov
2023
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard
Yes. Both programs were unlawful; applicants may discuss how race affected their lives, but must be treated as individuals.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2024
Trump v. Anderson
No. States may not enforce Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates; that responsibility rests with Congress.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2024
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo
No. Courts must exercise independent judgment on what a statute means; the Chevron doctrine was overruled.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2024
Trump v. United States
A former President has absolute immunity for acts within his conclusive constitutional authority, presumptive immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts.
Source: Opinion of the Court
2025
Alien Enemies Act invoked
The President invokes the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, for the first time since World War II, against members of a Venezuelan gang designated a foreign terrorist organization. Its use is challenged in federal courts.
Source: Federal Register
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