Voting Rights Dbq

The Act has undergone several changes and additions since its passage, but the U.S. Supreme Court found a key provision of the Act unconstitutional in 2013. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.” (Staff 3). In the article, Voting Rights Act, author Staff states, “The Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965, 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.” (Staff 2). Even though all these efforts and laws were made to give everyone a fair and equal chance to vote, there are still many restrictions and setbacks everywhere in today 's society and the major ones are Voter ID laws, Voter registration restrictions, State felon disenfranchisement policies, Purging of Voter Rolls, Transgender Disenfranchisement, Disinformation about Voting Procedures, Inequality in Election Day Resources, and Caging Lists.

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.

“I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Alabama for the right to vote. I’m not going to stand by and let the Supreme Court take the right to vote away from us [African Americans]” –John Lewis. Within 100 years, African Americans overcame many obstacles such as paying poll taxes, passing multiple tests, and violence to be able to vote. They had to pay taxes, such as poll taxes. They also had to pass multiple tests, such as the Property and Literacy tests. Violence was also an obstacle African Americans had to face in order to vote.

Voting is a right that is given to all citizens by the 15th Amendment of the Constitution. Although the 15th amendment was ratified in 1870. It was not until The Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed that African Americans got to exercise their right to vote under the 15th amendment at the state and local level; which overcame the legal barriers that existed at those levels that was in place to prevent African Americans from voting.

In the year 1870 the 15th amendment was passed. The fithteenth amendemt reads “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” (Mcneese, Tim). But even though this was passed blacks still saw a problem voting. America started the Jim

The civil war abolished slavery in America and granted African-Americans citizenship, however, after that African-Americans’ rights to vote was greatly limited for a century. In order to change this situation,

Woman didn’t have the right to vote but they had many opportunities to get that right to vote! One action women used to get their right to vote is picketing at the White House. They stood in front of the White House wearing graduation dresses and chanted for women’s rights to vote. They stood their everyday all day 24/7 just to convince the president. They had many different women stand out there and some of them got arrested for picketing because riots started with the woman. They attacked them because they didn’t like the woman and they had treated the women like property.Another way women got their rights to vote was hunger strike. Woman like Alice Paul would not eat because she didn’t want all the woman in the world to not have rights

Trump has often claimed that only a "rigged system" could deny him victory.” The black voting rights act had a long time coming many people worked hard to make this happen many didn't and still don't understand how hard it took to get this passed. In 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson passed the voting act on the 6th of August and it 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, The right to vote is very precious. This kind of comment should concern people. Why fear the votes of African Americans or anybody people vote based off of who fits best for their lifestyle or who makes the best changes for our country. Martin Luther King Jr. said it

hen women wanted the right to vote, they used many tacticts to gain their right.

Throughout the Reconstruction period in the United States after the Civil War, African American’s were given many new rights, such as citizenship and the right to vote. One of these new rights was enacted in 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave African American men the right to vote. Many southern states, however, did not approve of this new amendment and sought ways to prevent African Americans from voting. Post-confederate, Democratic states found ways to disenfranchise the African American community. Preventive actions ranged in severity from murder and lynching, to fraudulent actions at the ballots, and even enforcing new state laws to prevent African American votes. The newly created Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment were supposed

African-Americans may sometimes wonder at the contradictory facts about their history presented in many standard history texts. These texts state that blacks were given the right to vote in 1870, yet the same texts will acknowledge that this right did not really exist for African-Americans until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

The Voting Rights Act 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973 et seq., decision is important regarding the laws governing voting rights and their relationship to minority voters. Its implication and effects however does not end within the legal realms and dimensions but continues through to society, culture, and human rights. The Voting Rights Act initially established in 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration protected “racial minorities” from biased voting practices. It was a huge stride in the civil rights movement and a victory over harmful, archaic, and biased voting practices and traditions.

Having the power to vote is very important because you get to have a voice and you get to speak your opinion. It’s a freedom to being able to vote because you are able to choose who you want. Being able to vote should be a good thing because during the 1920’s women just began to start voting. Women did not rule the country and which it was ruled by the men. When this event happened, the country was not one sided anymore and the women's voices could finally be heard. African Americans could also not vote until the 24th Amendment was passed which led to African Americans being able to vote. This event occurred on the date of August 6, 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson overcame the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. We

Young adults in current times have grown up with many rights that have not always been considered a right but instead a privilege. Voting is one of these rights that was once only considered a privilege, eligible for a particular gender and ethnicity. For many years this meant that the only group of people allowed to vote were white males. Today, things are different and everyone has the choice to vote after they reach the age of eighteen. The right to vote is a powerful right that we must take advantage of because not every country is lucky enough to have a say in their government. Today, in America we have the opportunity to decide if we would like to vote or not. Many Americans take pride in this right as it is considered a civic duty that has not always been eligible to everyone.

The key arguments for returning voting rights to felons and passing the Democracy Restoration Act (DRA) include advancing democracy, protecting public safety, and eliminating the remnants of Jim Crow. The DRA would return the right to vote to felons, who are out of jail and living in communities throughout the United States. This would give 4.3 million more Americans the right to vote. Supporters of the DRA argue that it advances democracy adding additional voters and maintains the American principle of inclusion. They also argue that most European countries either allow voting rights to prisoners or restore them once the prisoners are reincorporated into society. Proponents of the DRA also contend that it further protects public safety by giving felons an incentive to avoid committing future crimes. Bringing felons into the political fold rather than excluding them as political outsiders helps to deter them from committing crimes. They also argue that the DRA is a key part of the re-incorporation process into society for felons and allows for some hope that continuing to live a crime free life will be rewarded. The DRA also helps to eliminate some disenfranchisement suffered by the African American community since the days of slavery and Jim Crow. The fact that African Americans are seven times more likely to be in prison than Whites and in three states (FL, KY, and VA) 20% of the African Americans have become disenfranchised is a major problem.