Turning Points In The Civil Rights Movement

Throughout history Americans have experienced many turning points that have influenced political and social change. Two turning points that influenced political and social change were the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. The Women’s Suffrage Movement’s main goal was to finally give women the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage Movement can be compared to Prohibition, another movement that influenced change, because both began do to the status of women in the United States, and resulted in a social change in the societal view of woman. The Civil Rights Movement’s effects can be compared to the Civil War, a war fought between the North and the South over the issue of slavery, because both resulted in a change in the social and political status of African Americans. Because Women's Suffrage

Historically speaking, except for a short time during reconstruction, African Americans in the South were denied basic political and economic rights. As a result of Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign in Selma, Alabama, the Voting Rights act of 1965 was passed. This act meant that literacy test, test used for voting discrimination against African Americans, were removed from voting requirements, as well as the poll tax, another tool used to keep African Americans from voting. Because of this, the percentage of black adults who registered to vote nearly doubled between 1964 and 1966. The ultimate goal of the movement was to achieve equality, and once African Americans were granted basic political rights, and could vote and participate in politics, their economic and social conditions would also slowly become better. In conclusion, the Civil Rights Movement, a major turning point in history, not unlike the women's suffrage movement, affected political rights, which had an impact on the social and economic status of African