Essay On African American Voting Rights

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

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

After the civil war, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were created. Which abolished slavery and granted african americans citizenship, and the right to vote. But it didn't come that easy to them. African

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

African Americans were denied their constitutional right to political justice. The 15th amendment guaranteed that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any states on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Document #8). Previously African Americans were enslaved and did not have the right to

This amendment was created to remove all doubt about the Civil Rights Acts in 1866, and it also included African Americans. The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870 to give African American males the right to vote, which no one could bribe or make someone not vote because of their race. These amendments had brought attention to African Americans, and their rights as citizens of the United States. These rights sparked a feeling of importance within their community as if things were starting to change for the better, even though they had face more obstacles due to white supremacy groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, horrified at the thought of being equal to African Americans.8 However, as more and more freed slaves start to register to vote, more black individuals became involved in politics. Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels were African Americans that served in the U.S Senate and Frederick Douglas was a major figure in the abolitionist movement.9 The first black institutions were also built in the South creating a solid foundation for the future for African-Americans in

African Americans were almost completely subjugated throughout the states and many had been brutally beaten. Even after adding the 15th Amendment to the constitution, which gave all men, regardless of race or color, the right to vote, many states continued to use numerous different methods to prevent African Americans from voting.

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.

Before the Civil War began, African Americans were not allowed to do anything at all but work. They weren’t allowed to do political things like vote or be elected for anything. After the Civil War, those things changed. The African American population helped usher the Republican Party. Many states elected African American officials. Millions of African American men were allowed to vote. Congress passed the Enforcement Acts.

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.

When Africans first came here in 1619 and disembarked from a ship in Jamestown, Virginia, they were enslaved which automatically denied them to right to vote. However free black men could vote in some of the original states including North Carolina, all of the New England states (except Connecticut). In New York only blacks who owned $250 worth of land were able to vote, which of course was improbable at this time. Naturally, however, this did not apply to whites. Then came the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which allowed blacks to be elected as delegates. New amendments to the constitution and allowed

Furthermore, when an African American possessed the money, literacy, or property that was requested to vote the rules would often be changed to require more money, land, or a combination of both so

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended the rights of all eligible citizens to vote. But America has a long history of disenfranchisement. Woman were not allowed to vote until 1920, when the Constitution was amended to state "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 sex” (“The 19th Amendment”). In 1870, African American men were granted the right to vote in The 15th Amendment which stated, the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state

The twentieth century saw many changes in the treatment of African Americans and Women. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed. African Americans were now free, but this freedom came at a cost. Blacks were still treated awfully, their rights were limited, and they were segregated from the whites. Women were also very limited in their rights during this time. They could not vote and were often expected to work at home and raise a family. Jim Crow Laws, laws they enforced racial segregation, were put in place from the late nineteenth century through the 1950s (Shi and Brown 599). Although they had the right to vote, unlike women, many actions were also taken to keep blacks from voting. Poll fees were charged and

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.