1965 Voting Rights Act

The first point of evidence in the fight for equality is the importance of Selma, AL to the rights movement. More specifically the march made by so many negroes from Selma to the state capital. “That March, protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were met with violent resistance by state and local authorities. As the world watched, the protesters (under the protection of federalized National Guard troops) finally achieved their goal, walking around the clock for three days to reach Montgomery.” (History.com, 2010). This historic march, and the participation of Martin Luther King Jr, helped to immensely raise consciousness of the difficulty faced by negro voters in the South and also urgency for a Voting Rights Act which was passed later in the year.

Now you may think that this march was just some walk blacks took to be noticed, but walking in this march, asked a lot from African

The happenings in Selma, Alabama during the year 1965, served as a catalyst to the Voting Rights Act, which eliminated any discrimination at the polls all over America, and the catalyst for these happenings in Selma was Jimmie Lee Jackson. The historical drama, Selma, tells the story of Selma, Alabama in 1965. It is not a documentary therefore, some details were changed, exaggerated or left out due to the fact that this is a historical drama. The movie, Selma, serves the purpose of showing the events in Selma and how they influenced the conclusion of the movie, the passing of the Voting Rights Act by Lyndon B. Johnson. This film is considered a drama therefore, some things are dramatized to compel the audience to feel a certain way, however,

Eventually the crowd retreated but with a prayed to God before hand. But through all this discrimination and violence under taken by blacks concluded in a positive result as the laws were amended and the black’s right to vote was granted. Kings philosophy of receiving fair treatment is to be friendly and peaceful was a true meaningful saying.

Most change can be caused by people or something with significant value. Occasionally people forget that change can also be caused by pieces of paper. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law passed that primarily gave African Americans the right to vote without having to take any sort of literacy tests. African Americans were widely ignored in voting rights because they were forced to take literacy tests to be eligible to vote. Having this event in our nation’s civil rights movement was a landmark that allowed the other half of our nation’s voice to be heard. “The Voting Rights Act itself has been called the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress.”(Laney 65)

Despite what many might think, the voting rights act of 1965 is well known across hundreds of nations all over the world. The voting rights act of 1965 has been around for several centuries and has a very important meaning in the lives of many. This act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. He 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 to the Constitution of the United States. It is a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits this racial discrimination. This document is just as big and important as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It would be safe to assume that voting rights act of 1965 is going to be around for a long time and will have an enormous impact on the lives of many people in times to come. The voting acts of 1965 created positive and negative changes for America. But, why was this law created, when was it put into effect, and what effect did it have on the U.S.?

My research topic is the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and I chose this topic because I always found it amusing that it took so long for African Americans to legally be allowed to vote. I also thought this topic was appropriate since we now have an African American president, and the African Americans citizens need to know that voting I important because we didn’t always have that right.

38. MLK selected Selma, Alabama for a protest march because it had built strong momentum for the Civil Rights Movement

Due to the large inflow of immigrants into the U.S. as a result of the 1965 Immigration Act, the U.S. has become a much more diverse country. As a result of increased exposure to foreign cultural groups, as well as a shift towards more educated and skilled immigrants, Americans have become more accepting of immigrants and hold much more favorable opinions towards immigrants than they did before 1965. This change in attitudes towards immigrants was evident in the change in campaigning techniques from the 1968 presidential campaign to the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. In 1968, the effects of the 1965 Immigration Act were not yet evident, as the new residents of the U.S. that had immigrated to the U.S. immediately after the

The Voting Rights act of 1965 was established on August 6, 1965. This law was set to outlaw discrimination of voting practices adopted in many Southern States after the civil war, including literary test as a prerequisite to voting. The act was signed into law by former president Lyndon Johnson after a century of deliberate and violent denial of the vote to African- Americans in the South and latinos in the Southwest as well as many years of entrenched electoral systems that shut out citizens with limited fluency in english. The voting Rights act of 1965 has traced back to the 14th and 15th Amendment where it grants citizenships to all persons born in the united states including former slaves and provided all citizens with equal protection

Throughout America’s history the franchise has been withheld from different groups. This has been possible due to weakly written laws that do not provide adequate protections. In 1965 PL 89-110 was passed, this law, commonly known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, finally provided real protections for minorities living in southern states. In recent years the language of the law was modified within the Supreme Court to take away the law’s primary power. In the following mock Congressional testimony we will go back to 1848, 13 years before the American Civil War, and provide evidence of why a law like PL 89-110 is necessary and commendable.

The Selma to Montgomery March influenced Lyndon B. Johnson to pass the Voting Rights Act to gain the voting equality in the South.

For Selma the event was a blessing sent by God for her specifically, she was able to consolidate her power over the city, by brute force, within three months after the event. Selma was successful in creating a mega-alliance with the

The Civil Rights Movement began in order to bring equal rights and equal voting rights to black citizens of the US. This was accomplished through persistent demonstrations, one of these being the Selma-Montgomery March. This march, lead by Martin Luther King Jr., targeted at the disenfranchisement of negroes in Alabama due to the literacy tests. Tension from the governor and state troopers of Alabama led the state, and the whole nation, to be caught in the violent chaos caused by protests and riots by marchers. However, this did not prevent the March from Selma to Montgomery to accomplish its goals abolishing the literacy tests and allowing black citizens the right to vote.

One of them is such as the residents were working on voting rights long before even Martin Luther King Jr. decided to go there. Also, the youth campaigners of the students had almost written off organizing in Selma. In February 1963, he came to Selma and began working with other local residents to help prepare black Selma residents to overcome the walls that region, officials had put in place to deny blacks the right to register. “One of the most significant features of the movie as it relates to present day America are the many barriers that were put forth to block people from exercising their right to vote such as poll taxes, ridiculous qualification tests, literacy exams, morality requirements, property ownership requirements, and voter voucher laws to name a few.” (Bright, Marcus). This is significant because it also happens in these present days of America, there has been a lot of sins related to this. And most of this happens to dark skinned