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African Americans And The Voting Rights Act Of 1965

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (qtd. in “Voting Rights for”). This amendment passed in 1870 allowed for every U.S. citizen to have the right to vote, however, inequality among groups of people has been a pressing issue in the United States for numerous centuries. From the influx of native Africans during the slave trade to the Americas in the 1700s, African Americans have endured extreme amounts of discrimination and oppression. Over the past few centuries, African Americans have …show more content…

In Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it says, “The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote, including the right to register to vote and cast meaningful votes, is preserved and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution.” The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an event important enough to remain in the new textbook because socially it increased the number of African American voters, politically because it allowed more African Americans the right to vote in elections, and it prohibited the cultural restrictions on voting. Prior to 1965, the number of African American voters in the United States, particularly in the Deep South, had been incredibly low as a result

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“The second section of the amendment said that if a state denies the right to vote to citizens of the United States, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 21 years of age in such states”. This meant that if the South refused to let the Negro vote, it would be punished by a cut in the number of representatives each state had in the House”. (Latham 1969). Though there wasn’t technically a law that African Americans couldn’t vote, there were laws targeted towards

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This was due to literacy tests and poll taxes. In 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified. This amendment gave all Americans the right to vote regardless of race (Document C). However, after the amendment was passed, Southern states passed a series of laws designed to restrict African Americans voting rights. First, they added the grandfather clause.

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The right of citizens of the body United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment was proposed on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870. African Americans who had been slaves became citizens under the terms of the 14th Amendment. The 15th Amendment does not specifically say that they must be allowed to vote. The states are free to set qualifications for voters.

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was created, by Lyndon B. Johnson, to further enforce the 15th Amendment of the United States. The purpose of the act was to ensure democracy within the United States by giving everyone an equal ability to practice their rights. Throughout the history of the United States, African Americans have been denied of their basic freedoms as citizens. The Voting Rights Act made it harder for states to further deny African-Americans, and other

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During this time African Americans were given the right to vote, if you were male, and citizenship. However, the federal government and state governments limited these right in every they legally could. States cheated black voters in a variety of ways, from poll taxes, to holding white-only primary elections, to unreasonably difficult

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No State shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” The passing of this amendment was an essential step in the establishment of equal rights for former slaves. However, the Fifteenth Amendment, passed in February of 1870, greatly impacted the lives of African American men. It granted all male citizens, regardless of “race, color, or previous conditions of servitude,” the right to vote. Despite the passing of these three amendments, former slaves, nevertheless, were confronted with numerous political challenges.

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The Fifteenth Amendment, which was ratified February 3, 1870, states that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” By dodging around the Amendment, people still found ways to disclude African Americans from voting. According to Document L, “Denying black men the right to vote through legal maneuvering and violence was a first step in taking away their civil rights. Beginning in 1890s, southern states enacted literacy tests... The laws proved very effective.

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To accomplish social equality and justice has been a long controversial issue in U.S. history. Voting Rights Act of 1965 should be understood as a tremendous accomplishment today because it not only represent a symbol of the triumph of fighting social injustice, but also open the first gate for African American and minority to strive for more political power in order to create a “great society.”

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African Americans have been victims of voter suppression ever since they were given the right to vote by the fifteenth amendment in 1870. There were multiple efforts to suppress the African American vote such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and violence. These efforts continued until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. Before the law was signed for sure, the Senate and the House of Representatives had to vote to pass or deny the bill. On May 26, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 77-19.

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The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the

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When the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, all citizens were defined the ability to vote despite their race, color, or if they had previously been a slave. This monumental step forward was taken away with the introduction of Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws are local laws that southern cities created to fortify segregation. The Grandfather clause, which was one of the worst Jim Crow laws introduced, said that if your grandparents couldn’t vote, then neither could you. Because

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466 Words | 2 Pages

This was the act that helped enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution. Before the Voter Rights Act African Americans, especially those living in the deep south, faced plenty of difficulties to voting which can include "poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions to deny them the right to vote. " They were also faced with other non- legal issues such as harassment and violence when they attempted to vote. Because of everything that was going on at this time, there were few to none African American voters as well as any national or local political power. One event that specifically highlighted the attention of voting matters was the mass murder of voting rights activist in Mississippi, and the attack of non-violent marchers in Alabama.

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As the United States was being built as a country many years ago, specifically during the Reconstruction era, African Americans in the South were given the right to vote while they were constantly strayed away from voting. For many years the right to vote was not given to all American citizens. In 1870 the 15th Amendment was ratified so that the right to vote for any American citizen should not be denied or abridged. Although this amendment was put in place many times African Americans strayed away from voting due to poll taxes, literacy tests and other things that easily discouraged them. Not until 1965 was the “Voting Rights of 1965” established, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which prohibited the racial discrimination of voting.

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Finally, with the ratification the fifteenth amendment in 1870s, it secured the vote for the African Americans, and it forbid states from denying any citizens from the right to vote based on race, color, or “previous condition of servitude.” These three amendments were significant changes during the Reconstruction period because all people, not just white, can fully enjoy being an American citizen without worrying over their race or

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Even though the government adopted the Voting Rights Act in 1965, African Americans’ suffrages were still restricted because of southern states’ obstructions. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was important for blacks to participate in political elections, but before this act was passed, there were several events led to its proposal. The government gave African Americans’ the right to vote by passing the 15th Amendment, but in the Southern States, blacks’ suffrages were limited by grandfather clauses, “poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions” (ourdocuments.gov). As times went on, most African Americans couldn’t register their votes.

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