Selma Alabama Dbq Analysis

The 15th amendment gave African American men the right to vote by saying that 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." Sadly, African American men wouldn’t be able to exercise this right for almost a whole century. Using literacy tests, poll taxes, and other methods Southern states could prevent African Americans from voting. It took the passing of Voting Rights Act of 1965 before most African Americans in the South could vote. Woman went

Once African American’s were given the right to vote the infamous literacy tests became a prerequisite to vote in southern states. This was a nuisance to the African Americans because they were in place to put a barrier between African Americans and voting, these test were impossible for most African Americans. Another part of the voting process that became difficult and complicated for African Americans was the Application itself. The application differed from state to state but in order to fill it out completely the person would have to include personal information about themselves. Comparing the application to modern applications shows the intentions of the officials and how “important” the questions were.

African Americans were definitely rejected equal opportunities by adding poll tax when you register to vote. Poll Tax is the tax that you have to pay to vote. Since African Americans were receiving teensy payments, it was difficult to obtain a normal living standard life and vote at the same time.

The right to vote for African American became difficult during the time because the northern didn’t want to consider the blacks as equal to the society. As Frederick Douglass, has once stated “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot.” African American fought their way to gain their right to vote is by coming together, free blacks and emancipated slaves, to create parades, petition drives to demand, and to organize their own “freedom ballots.” As a free African American, they except the same respect as the whites and nothing

However, there was no law to restrict black American citizens from voting the American citizens saw fit to take it upon themselves to deny them the right to vote. Prior to the vigilantes, the government installed a literacy test for the purpose of determining whether one meets the requirements set by the government, “Literacy tests were used to keep people of color and, sometimes, poor whites from voting.” (The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow). Creating a situation where only the smartest could pass a test, including questions about government, office, and congress. Unfortunately, if an unwanted citizen passed, they were on many an occasion failed anyway, still, if you managed to pass you would have been forced to pay a poll tax that many African American citizens could not afford. If against all odds that you managed to pay and pass the poll tax and literacy test, you would then be confronted by many white vigilantes ‘warning’ you not to vote. The Jim Crow laws caused many a problem in numerous lives, however, through it all, people prevailed and Jim Crow laws were revoked from all states and were

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.” In the 1880’s poll taxes and literacy requirements that afterward advocated African Americans to vote. Meanwhile Klan violence frightens from police and employers, blacks were still “protesting”about voting rights. As a result, there were over two dozen blacks serving in state congress across some

America, unlike the UK, has a written constitution, which has the intention of granting equal rights to all citizens. Under this constitution, slavery was legally abolished in 1865. As compensation during the reconstruction era (1865-1877. History.com). Freed slaves were given a plot of land and a mule so that they could begin to provide for their families and to develop their own economy. Black Americans had been granted the rights to become citizens and Black men the rights to vote. However, in practice very few men of colour exercised this right. Many states, particularly in the southern states in the US altered their state laws in order to exclude non White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASP’s). Some of the tactics employed to exclude Blacks were; literacy tests, the ability to understand complex legal frameworks and a tax payable to vote ( p.31). Some states also asked Black people questions that were unanswerable, such has “how many bubbles are there in a bar of soap?”. It should also be noted that the above tactics also

In order to limit the voting rights of African Americans, there were poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses were created. The poll taxes was an annual taxes, for those who wanted to vote.

The poll tax was a regulation that charged people to vote and used to prevent blacks from voting, which was unfair since some could not afford the poll taxes. This demonstrates that African-Americans ability to vote was made more difficult for whites to prevent them from being able to participate in

They virtually had no freedoms when it came to politics even though Reconstruction yet again put up a front as if they did. To summarize the 15th amendment, in Doc D, African American men now had the right to vote, but did this really mean they were able to actively participate in the government that led them? The answer is both yes and no, while African American men certainly had the ability to vote, most chose not to vote due to the danger and threat posed by the KKK. Nonetheless, it wasn’t only violence stopping former slaves, southern states installed state constitutions that made it even more difficult to vote. The states required an annual polling tax which was impossible for freedmen to pay due to the economic severity placed on them after the civil war. That was only the most just out of all the unjust rules placed, voters would also take a literacy test given by white clerks who purposely gave more complex passages to black voters as opposed to easier passages to whites. Now saying blacks couldn’t vote didn’t mean there were no black politicians. African Americans held office but as shown in Doc J did not hold a credible reputation. Black legislators - well not just black legislators but the race as a whole - held many stereotypes and were seen as lazy, classless, and rowdy. In addition to these stereotypes, many black legislators were believed to be puppets and or corrupt. Also expressed in Doc

The Fifteenth Amendment granted black men to vote. Put emphasis on men because at this time women still couldn't vote.This amendment would not be fully followed until almost a century. What the government did was that they made a literacy test so difficult that no slave could pass because they had no education. So no blacks could vote really for a long time. So to loop their loophole that made a rule called the Grandfather Clause. This made if your grandfather could vote you did not have to take the literacy test. So every white person's grandfather could vote since they lived in england. So this rule did not apply to blacks since their grandfathers were black and could not vote. One of the main reasons that they made this rule is because

The past voting rights for African Americans have improved from 1870. The African American community had to fight and work very hard though to get these rights. They had to work though many things like jim crow laws to get their rights. They went from not being able to vote the first black president in American history. The history of the African American voting rights have changed a lot over the years but it was not easy.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association also made efforts during this time to encourage greater Negro voter registration. It was quoted “We have seen men shot down in the streets as they moved to exercise the basic right of suffrage. We have seen, only recently, more than a dozen men in Mississippi lose their lives when they attempt to register to vote …” “This alone should motivate every eligible man and woman to resolve now to vote in the coming presidential election.” These statements tie in with my survey question: Do you think African Americans take for granted the voting rights their ancestors fought so long for?, majority of survey takers, a good 55% either agreed strongly or moderately.

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 Passing of the 15th amendment in 1868 did give black men the right to vote. They were able to vote but were not permitted because they were blocked at the poles with threats of violence and death. The violence and intimidation of the Ku Klux Klan had a lot to do with the blocking of the blacks at the voting polls.