My name is Steven Miller. I am from Pembroke, North Carolina and I am a sophomore attending the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. I am writing to you today to explain why the Voting Rights Act is necessary and why it is worth protecting. The Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965. It was aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. Many people look back to the civil rights movement to see people like to see people like Martin Luther King, and Robert Williams and so many others that wanted to see change for minorities in America. They fought for their rights every day of their lives like so many others and …show more content…
Voting is such a huge thing because you want to be able to have a say in who you think should run things based on if they win or not. Especially if that person has the power to change what happens around you. The U.S. Government claimed they listen to what many African Americans and minorities had to say about what was happening in America because it was pretty clear that America had a problem. A guy named Robert Williams mentions in his 1965 speech by calling America “Racist America”. He states that so many African American are terrorized, murdered, maimed, bombed, lynched, raped, starved, sterilized by the states and imprisoned. He also stated that “The so-called U.S. Civil Rights Bill, allegedly guaranteeing rights to colored people is a farce of the first magnitude. The Constitution of our country guarantees all people
Reconstruction created a new age of segregation with Black Americans’ political rights being affirmed by the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th constitutional amendments and black codes were passed by local and state lawmaker. The 13th amendment made slavery illegal in the United States, the14th Amendment guaranteed equal representation under the law for all Americans and finally, the 15th Amendment made is legal for Black men to vote. While these were all important steps in the years following the Civil War, racial discrimination was attacked on a particular broad front by the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This legislation made it a crime for an individual to deny “the full and equal enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities,
Primary Source Analysis- During the time of reconstruction, which was after the civil war, the government passed the 13, 14, and 15th amendment to give African Americas freedom and rights. The 15th amendment gave the former African American slaves the right to vote. Between 1890 and 1906, the "new" south wanted to eliminate this right for the African Americans. Any African American who fought for their rights would be faced with violence known as lynching, murdering of three or more people.
On March 15, 1965, Lyndon Baines Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress to urge the passage of the Voting Rights Act and outlined his plans for supporting voting rights. In his speech, Johnson not only advocated policy, he borrowed the language of the civil rights movement, and he represents a key moment in the civil rights movement as well as a culturally significant speech in American letters and he tied the movement to American history. This message was addressed to the presidency and the members of the congress.
Before the American Civil War happened close to four million African-Americans were slaves. At the turn of the century the Naturalization Act of 1970 allowed only white men to vote. After the Civil War the thirteenth (1865), fourteenth (1868) and fifteenth (1870) amendments were passed, allowing African-American males to vote and have citizenship, which also led to ending slavery. Even after the ending of slavery, there were still some white men who tried to keep white supremacy alive thereby dehumanizing and alienating African-Americans from the mainstream of people. Even after African-Americans were given all their rights, there were still problems with racial segregation.
Originally, African Americans had to be segregated and weren’t even allowed to vote. In 1965 after the Montgomery March, Lyndon B Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act, and later in 1968 both the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the Fourteenth Amendment were passed. The Fourteenth Amendmendment said that “all persons born of naturalized in the United States” could legally vote. These acts got rid of literacy tests, and in 1968, when Nixon became president (Document H), there was over two times the amount of African American voters than there was in 1960 (Document G). African Americans also gained large support from a president, John F. Kennedy, which wasn’t something anyone had expected looking back at how past presidents acted.
These laws were hard to get around and go through because many African Americans did not have the money to afford the poll tax and many could not pass the literacy tests because they were not provided with adequate education. In addition, many African American’s grandparents were in enslavement, therefore unable to vote. These inabilities, segregation, and discrimination caused African Americans to be upset and start the Civil Rights Movement and made them want to fight for the rights and goals that they believed in. They would fight until they were satisfied with justice coming about and prevailing (Document 3). They would fight back with peaceful protests and marches.
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
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 Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an act created to conquer racial discrimination in voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson. As an American citizen, the right to vote is an example of a natural right, along with freedom of speech and freedom to exercise whatever religion one pleases, ratified by the U.S. Constitution. The United States Constitution is a document created to delegate and establish a set of rules and guidelines for the American government and people to refer to. The Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court made its final decision on the Shelby County, Alabama v Holder Case, deeming Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, passed by Congress in 1965 and extended many times, unconstitutional. Section 5, although not being struck down, became insignificant without Section 4 as it was the triggering formula that determined the coverage of Section 5. This Supreme Court decision took away the key part of the Voting Rights Act, which was an important method for the federal government to oversee and enforce the enfranchisement of black people in some states. While justifying their decision, the Court mentioned that Section 4 only applied to specific states and it was
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.
Although African Americans were free, they were treated as less than a white U.S Citizen. Up until 1870, black people were unable to vote. Ulysses S. Grant despised these injustices and made it his presidential goal to fight for civil rights. On February 3, the 15th Amendment was passed giving African Americans the right to vote. This empowered a new collective of people to voice their opinions.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is hailed by many as one of the most important legislations in the American history. The act was passed into law 52 years ago under a lot of pressure and resistance from white senators and African American activists. The act, which was largely known as the “Bill of the century” was aimed at bringing equality for blacks and whites and end racial prejudice. The act was targeted to revolutionize America where blacks and whites would eat together in the same hotels and enjoy similar rights in public places without any discrimination.
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.
Many people were brutally beaten and there were also some that lost their lives, because of it. Lyndon B Johnson begins his speech his by convincing his listener that he will flight for what is owed to the Negros. That is the equal right to vote regardless of your race. The speech “We Shall Overcome”, speech gets to the core of the problem within the Legislation itself. He wants to see that everyone will abide by the 15th Amendment that gives Negros the right and the privilege to vote without any recourse, without worrying