These movements put into perspective how MANY Americans were unable to vote and ignored (Document J). Through the years, African American and
He led African Americans to freedom of voting and their opinion being recognized. According to the book, Constitutional Amendments, “The Act focused on 7 southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) and outlawed restrictive voting requirements that denied the right of a U. S. citizen to vote because of race, color, or membership” (Pendergast et al. 313). Therefore the African Americans now had the freedom to vote and have a say in government decisions. Many organizations have tried to help form more freedom for African Americans by creating protests. According to article “Voting Rights Struggle,” “The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, various black individuals, and other civil rights organizations continued to work through the political and judicial systems to overturn the legal obstacles, and some progress was made including the outlawing of grandfather clauses (1915) and the white primary (1944)”
The main reason why was because of the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws affected African Americans a lot especially in voting because when anyone votes, there are some rules like the Grandfather Clause, the Poll Tax, the Literacy Test, etc. The Grandfather Clause is if your grandfather could vote you could vote. The Poll Tax is when you have to pay a tax to vote. Literacy Test is when you have to take a test that will test you on your knowledge of something relating to America, but you have to pass the test.
The common people were denied the right to vote in national elections. African Americans could not cast their own votes, but counted as three-fifths of a vote for whoever voted for its owner. In addition, white women could not even vote for a
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
A proceeding from the Convention of the Colored People of Virginia stated that for all men to have a say in their rights, they should tear down the restriction on the color of their skin for voting (Document H). Their purpose in saying this was to voice the thoughts that many blacks had in order to encourage them to fight for it. Their efforts were not done in vain as the 15th Amendment was passed, which destroyed the suffrage restraint against race. Although this act did not apply to black women, it was a movement in the right direction nonetheless. African Americans were also able to further advance their positions in society by obtaining government positions and participating in state constitutional conventions.
After they were approved the right to vote, many states denied them this right or had civil service tests that they had to take in order to vote. During wars, they would recruit African Americans to fight by promising them freedom and equality when the war ended. King with his letter to Birmingham Jail wasn't the only type of civil disobedience going on. Rosa Parks cause the bus boycott when she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. Parks fought to desegregate buses.
More rights were wanted by the African Americans, which is a
“The Jim Crow laws also led to the disenfranchisement of African American voters. States passed laws requiring literacy or history tests, background checks, proof of land ownership, or other complex processes just to register to vote,”(Source 1). Consequently most African American people did not get to vote because they did not get the right education to pass the tests. These were not the only oppressions african americans had to face. There was the Plessy vs. Ferguson Case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court even though all the courts sided against Plessy.
People of African American descent were viewed as property in the eyes of American citizens for a great deal of time. However, between the years of 1860-1877, there was an unprecedented increase in freedom for African Americans. For example, the image in Document G, titled “The First Vote” shows black men casting their votes. This is a vast change from being unable to be considered anything but property to having a say in government and politics. Additionally, document G suggests the addition of the 15th amendment, stating the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
In the Jim Crow context, the presidential election of 1912 was steeply slanted against the interests of black Americans. A majority of African Americans are still settling in the South, where they are currently facing stringent restrictions so they could not vote at all. While
Voting is only one of the problems they share. Document 1 can display some of the voting problems these individuals faced for a long time. The voting restrictions it shows just proves how much discrimination African Americans and women faced before and during the 20th century. For many years, states such as Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama and other southern states conducted such discriminatory policies as Literacy Test, Property Test, and Grandfather Test just to make sure African Americans could not vote due to them having little or no education what so ever. According to Document 5, President Lyndon B Johnson to grant the Voting Rights Bill.
The reality for many African Americans was that they were being prevented from exercising their right to vote and faced violence in order to prevent them from doing so. Some of the most common tactics used against them were lynching and getting shot. The 15th Amendment gave former slaves the right to vote, but only for the men. Although this amendment was difficult to enforce at the time. As W.E.B. DuBois has stated, “The slave went free; stood for a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.”
Although technically people of color had the right, white people were making it very difficult to register. When African Americans went to register they would be tested continuously, something white people never had to deal with. Only two percent of African Americans in the south could vote. Before the march from Selma to Montgomery there were many protests to try to gain fair voting rights. One man, Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed at a peaceful protest by a state trooper.
People always want to demand their essential rights from government’s restriction by passing new laws. There was a period when people demanded their rights in the 1900s. Within the United States, most African Americans’ rights were denied by state governments. Hence, in the 1960s, they took a stand on requiring their rights through the Civil Rights movement around the country. During this movement, the Voting Rights Act was significant and for the reason is that this act gave African Americans a chance to participate in US politics by their votes.
