Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Research Paper

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 resulted from one of the most controversial House and Senate debates in history. It was also the biggest piece of civil rights legislation ever passed. The bill actually evolved from previous civil rights bills in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The bill passed through both houses finally on July 2, 1964 and was signed into law at 6:55 P.M. EST by President Lyndon Johnson. The act was originally drawn up in 1962 under President Kennedy before his assassination. The bill originated from two others, and one of which was the Equal Opportunity Act of 1962 that never went into law. This bill made up the core of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Bureau of National Affairs 18-20).

All it took for a teacher was inspiration, a vision, and a pen on paper. President Lyndon B. Johnson was an educator that took an unexpected turn to alter history. But through the course of his legacy, people ask, why did he sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964? He signed the bill for principle reasons because of the emotions from his past career, his bravery to sacrifice, and because of his personality and background (DOC A, C and E).

“All men are equal” Thomas Jefferson wrote in the declaration of independance. The 24th amendment later fulfilled that all men are equal by prohibiting the federal and state governments from imposing poll taxes before a citizen can participate in a federal election. This meant that some states charged a tax to vote. This was thought to keep poor and black people from voting. This amendment made it illegal to charge a tax, or any other kind of charge to vote.It was proposed by the Congress on August 27, 1962. Then later it was ratified by the states on January 23, 1964.

President Lyndon B. Johnson and President John F. Kennedy made many notable advances to outlaw discrimination in America. They fought against discrimination on race, color, religion, and national origin. Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments outlawed slavery, provided for equal protection under the law, guaranteed citizenship, and protected the right to vote, individual states continued to allow unfair treatment of minorities and passed Jim Crow laws allowing segregation of public facilities. America would not be the country it is today without their effort to make this country better and of course without the help of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history's greatest political battles.

Tracing back to the time period of the Triangular Trade, African-Americans were brought to America as slaves and were treated as the inferiors. Most of them were not granted for the basic human rights that they deserved. After the Civil Wars, the African- Americans were finally freed form the identity of slaves, but still treated unequally. During the 1950s and 1960s, the era of the Civil Rights Movement has occurred, which involved numerous movements that many of the Africans-Americans participated eagerly. Equal rights, educational opportunities, prohibit discriminations, and end of the segregations were the main focus of these movements. Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of the most important acts that marked the end of the unequal application of voter registration requirement and racial segregation. The most significant events that led to the Civil Rights Act of

On January 23, 1964, the 24th amendment was established and became known as an important part of the United States Constitution. The 24th amendment presented a law that would allow citizens of the U.S. the right to vote in an election for the President and Vice President regardless of the failure to pay tax. This particular amendment allowed for any individual to vote without the consideration of the race, gender, or socioeconomic status. The 24th Amendment was important during the Great Society then and now, because it was a small step towards abolishing inequality. Basically, without the 24th Amendment not everyone would have rights to vote not less they paid in not everyone was fortunate enough to pay poll taxes in order to vote. Poll taxes are basically known as methods that are for keeping the black votes to a minimum, which were declared

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address defined the American government as an institution “of the people, by the people, [and] for the people”. Lincoln had an idealistic view of the government as an instrument for societal change. He, as well as the founding fathers, intended for the government to act in support of the people’s will or the majority rule. This democratic definition of the government has remained true throughout the course of American history. By placing all of its power on its citizens, the government itself did not decide the course of history but rather followed it. This follower mindset is seen through the government’s positive interactions with marginalized groups’ who in their attempts to overcome exclusion gained

The main accomplishment of it was eliminating poll tax. There were 5 states (Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas) at the time with poll tax before the law (history.house.gov). The Jim Crow laws were exemplified by this amendment, and therefore were more known from this amendment. Not only did majority of the people agree with this law, they wanted to go farther beyond what it has been to protect the black voting rights. John Lindsay said “If we are going to have a constitutional amendment, let’s have a meaningful one.” Lindsay wanted to have a big boom from an amendment to make it widely known how serious it is, rather than something small just to keep everyone happy and supporting the government. Judiciary Chairman Emanuel Celler of New York had to overlook all the criticism while proceeding with introducing the bill (history.house.gov). South Dakota was the last state to ratify the 24th Amendment on January 23rd (history.house.gov). This was only one of the laws passed, but still one of the more important

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered by some to be one of the most important laws in American history. (The Most Important Cases, Speeches, Laws & Documents in American History) This Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964 and it is a “comprehensive federal statute aimed at reducing discrimination in public accommodations and employment situations.” (Feuerbach Twomey, 2010) Specifically, it aimed at prohibiting “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), and religion.” (Civil Rights Act of 1964, 2010) Additionally, it also

The black community was still facing a lot of discrimination in post war years and the march on Washington

The 24 Amendment abolished poll taxes that southern states used to prevent African Americans from voting in federal elections. After this Amendment was ratified, some Southerners did many other things to prevent African Americans from voting.

The first major milestone in equal opportunity was in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy passed Executive Order 10925. This bill encouraged all federal contractors to accept any worker, regardless of race, sex, religion, or national origin. A few years later, after Lyndon B. Johnson had taken office, the Equal Rights Act of 1964 was passed that, along with other laws that benefited minorities, prohibited large companies from discrimination within their workforce. In 1968, after Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Va., the Supreme Court enforced full desegregation of schools in the southern states. After Richard Nixon was elected, he introduced Order No. 4 in 1970, which pushed companies to begin using their “underutilized” minority

Skepticism about government is, in many respects, part of the DNA of Americans. This skepticism is not without reason – the actions of American politicians in the 1960s and 70s caused much of America to wonder about the motives of elected officials. However, such skepticism is rarely brought up when discussing the government’s participation in denouncing oppression against the African-American community. Most assume the government enforced equal opportunity for minorities out of compassion and humanity. However, much like the other major actions of the government during that era, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a groundbreaking law condemning segregation, was not devoid of personal motives. The Black community

Lets describe what Voting Rights Act of 1965 is; in the “The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition”, it says that by word for word that its a law passed at the time of the civil rights movement. It eliminated various devices, such as literacy tests, that had traditionally been used to restrict voting by black people. It authorized the enrollment of voters by federal registrars in states where fewer than fifty percent of the eligible voters were registered or voted. All such states were in the South. The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/voting-rights-act-of-1965/American Psychological Association (APA):voting rights act of 1965.