362) These government measures gifted African Americans the rights and benefits of citizenship. However, planters resented these advancements and wished to regain their previous social and political dominance. When the First Reconstruction Act was passed in 1867, political activity among African Americans surged, with “approximately 735,000 black and 635,000 white voters” enrolled in the ten unreconstructed states, and black electoral majorities in five states, as reported by Faragher. (Out of Many, p. 372) After African Americans were granted the right to vote in February 1869 with the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, “Congress required the four remaining unreconstructed states to ratify both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments before readmission,” as stated by Faragher.
Even if individuals could read the administrator in charge could create impossible questions for an individual to answer before being able to register. With the Voting Rights Act of 1965 the literacy test and any discriminatory voting, practices were outlawed as prerequisites of voting. The 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 enforced this amendment. The 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.
After the march the right for African Americans to vote in the south was becoming possible for them. Later, August 6,1965. The president signed a law, Voting Rights Act of 1965, stating the southern states must stop their practice of discrimination and not allowing African Americans to vote. James Meredith’s March Against Fear affected the present and future non-segregation between blacks and
There were many changes that occurred in the 1960’s in specifically in the goals, strategies, and support of the movement for African American civil rights. While the movement started as peaceful, as the years went along,
The 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment were soon to follow, which protected former slaves under the law and granted African Americans the right to vote. With the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the government was also able to support freed African Americans in finding new jobs, pursuing educations, and more in order to help them succeed.
The voting act was an act that supported that african americans have the right to vote like any white man. Another tactic used was the idea of Black Nationalism. African Americans united together was under Malcolm X and islam. Malcolm X gave African Americans a idea of black nationalism and that they are good and better than white people. Also SNCC, which used to have white members purged them all so that the African Americans can do things themselves without the help of any white men.
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.”
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
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed in order to move forward towards equality in voting in the United States. The Amendments passed in 1982 included providing aid and instruction for any voters that needed extra assistance, for example someone disabled or illiterate. It also required there to be bilingual ballots and other voting materials in jurisdictions where there were large amounts of minority populations. This allowed many Spanish-speaking citizens to vote. The Amendment also “allowed jurisdictions that could provide evidence of maintaining a clean voting rights record for at least 10 years, to avoid preclearance coverage” to change any voting laws in that state, (“Constitutional Amendments”).
With the protection of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans enjoyed being allowed to vote, actively participate in the political process, acquire the land of former owners, seek their own employment, and use public
In the turbulent times for during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, any law passed that prohibited discrimination was seen as a step forward. Even though affirmative action was taking place in many businesses, the Voting Rights Act had not become law until 1965. It was, however, the push led by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that help to bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement.
The establishing of voting rights for all Americans has been a painfully slow and grueling task. In the book, The Voting Rights Act: Securing the Ballot by Richard M. Valelly, the history of African American voting rights is described in great detail. First, Valelly walks through the building of African American voting rights in the 19th century and then covers the following years of black disenfranchisement. Then a turning point in American democracy occurs, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. The creation, extensions, shortcoming, and impact of this legislation are fleshed out next.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.[7][8] It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the Civil Rights Movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections.[7] Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act secured voting rights for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.[9] The Act contains numerous
Not only that, it also allowed African Americans to sue in court, own properties, make contracts and have equal benefits to laws as white people did. Two years later, Radical Republicans in Congress also ratified the 14th amendment
However, until today, African Americans still couldn’t get their real voting rights. This act doesn’t totally infer this situation, no matter how industrious blacks demand their completed fundamental rights. Except African American, within the United States, many minorities have struggled for their rights for many years. It is necessary for a government to protect all citizens’ rights, including the minorities. If the government couldn’t do that, as a citizen, we should speak out our perspectives by participating in the voting
