Give Me Liberty

The United States was founded on the belief that every man has “certain inalienable Rights.” Not until ninety years later, however, when slavery was abolished did the United States actually offer these “Rights” to all of its citizens. The 19th century was turbulent time of stress and change for America. One of the most controversial dilemmas was the issue of slavery. Slavery was conceived by many to be morally wrong, and it undermined America’s most valued beliefs. Despite this inconsistency, slavery was still widely supported and permitted out of economic necessity in the South.

The United States first began to deal with the issue of voter suppression during the Reconstruction. During Reconstruction freed slaves earned their right to vote and hold office through the fifteenth amendment in 1870. In 1877, Democrats, known as Dixiecrats, began to impose laws that were designed to suppress the African American vote or better known as Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow voting laws required the freedmen to pass literacy tests that they were unable to pass because of no formal education because of their status of slaves. Many states created poll taxes, which many poor Americans, white and black, were unable to pay. Many precincts made their voting precincts “white only” so that blacks would have nowhere to cast their votes. The Jim Crow voter suppression tactics were so successful that only three percent of African Americans in the south were registered to vote in 1940. Although African American males were given the right to vote in

The emancipation proclamation was what seemed like the beginning of freedom for African Americans. African Americans fought hard and valiantly in the American Civil war and with the Unions win freedom and peace for blacks seemed to be assured. As most people would quote," Freedom isn 't free." It almost always has a cost. Africans Americans since the origin of this country have literally laid down their lives for the cost of freedom and opportunity in the US. One of the most coveted freedom 's both past and present is the right to suffrage. My paper discusses the many factors leading to and the trials and tribulations involving black 's right to vote. In this paper, I will discuss the constitutional amendments as well as the landmark supreme court cases that affected both the lives and voting rights of African Americans during the time period of 1865 through 1900.

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.

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

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

There were some means that were legal at the time which were used to keep blacks from taking advantage of their new freedom. Laws were put in place making requirements for voting other than race, but it was clear these requirements were intended to stop blacks from voting. This was the time period during which lynchings increased. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camelia, the Red Shirts, and the White Line participated in lynchings and other forms of violence and intimidation. People outside these groups also lynched African Americans for a variety of reasons such as intimidating blacks into not using their rights or punishing them for real or alleged crimes. (Royster 8) The most likely people to be lynched were black males, although some whites and occasionally

A courageous action most often is associated with reaching a goal or task of importance, despite the dangers even risks associated with it (“Courage”). For any specific act to be considered truly courageous it must be reasonably thought about and determined that the goal is well worth the risk or danger (“Courage”). Courage so often can be put with words such as heroic, and bravery although with courage there can be a fine line between courageous acts and plain foolishness. All this can make people believe that courage only applies to physical actions. There are two kinds of courage moral and physical in many cases they are both displayed in a single courageous act; however, bravery must come before all else, because they are associated with reaching a task of importance regardless of risk.

America was founded on the principals on “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence) with the promise that “all men are created equal” (Ibid) granted irrefutable rights by God. However, the same lawmaking men that wrote these words were the same men who could have instituted changes at the founding of this country. However, with monetary incentives and political greed as motivating factors they chose to continue with the standing conditions. Post American Revolution, there was a growing Women’s Suffrage movement in the early 1800’s. The Revolution itself was a battle cry for democracy and the promise that there

One Social change during the late 1800s was the emancipation of slaves. For Example, in document 2, it is stated "Liberty came to the freemen of the United States not in mercy, but in wrath, not by, moral choice but by military necessity, not by generous action of the people among whom they were to live, and whose good-will was essential to success...., but by strangers, feigners, invaders, trespassers, aliens, and enemies. " This example demonstrates that the emancipation was forced and had moral value to the decision that made African-American people's lives difficult and cruel from racist actions and disadvantages. One example of a racial discrimination action was the Jim crow Laws.

They passed voting restrictions and 'Black Codes' and Jim Crow laws to suppress the rights and opportunities of African Americans at the state and local levels”(Document 2). This quote shows how the southern whites won’t accept the blacks as equals. The Black Codes specifically restricted their freedom and make them work with a lower wage than whites. The Jim Crow laws also led and enforced segregation between the whites and colored. The colored and the whites have separated places in public as in water fountain, Movie Theaters, bathrooms, trains, and other public places. They also passed extreme voting requirements for the blacks in order to vote to stop them from voting such as the grandfather clauses (which you must have a father or grandfather that voted before) and vote taxes and etc. These are the loopholes that the south used to restrict blacks and bypass the 14th and 15th amendment. This didn’t improve the lives of many

Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people,--a disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save by the simple ignorance of a lowly people. The first decade was merely a prolongation of the vain search for freedom, the boon that seemed ever barely to elude their grasp,--like a tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp, maddening and misleading the headless host. The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Ku-Klux Klan, the lies of carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory advice of friends and foes, left the bewildered serf with no new watchword beyond the old cry for freedom" (Chapter 1). They thought the Black people did not enjoy their deserved rights, like the 14th and 15th Amendments. 14th Amendments provided civil rights for African Americans, and15th Amendments provided voting rights for African Americans. Ku Klux Klan preventing African American from using the 15th Amendment to enable them to vote. Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist arm of the Southern Democratic Party. The immediate goal of these groups was to keep white and black Republicans away from polling places. Their violent tactics, targeted at black leaders, escalated during Reconstruction. White mobs killed three state legislators during these turbulent times.

The Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 granted African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law, and the Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 granted African Americans the right to vote. These amendments were passed in an effort to combat racism and reshape public perception of blacks, however, these laws were hard to enforce and Southern states developed their own laws like the Black Codes to control the newly freed slaves. Jim Crow-era laws in the South like the poll tax and literacy tests prevented many blacks in the South from voting. Anyone who tried to break Southern traditions was subject to violence and intimidation from the Ku Klux Klan.

Those who felt threatened by the massive amount of African-Americans who would now be participating in the government criticized this Amendment, which allowed all male citizens the right to vote regardless of race. Ex-Confederates, many of which were not allowed to vote after bitterly losing to the north, argued that African-Americans were not ready to vote because they were ignorant to the political system of the U.S. The political power of the south would be in the hands of the formerly oppressed, as opposed to their oppressors, who would be practically powerless. The debate on this topic would cause more tension in southern society, which was already undergoing a difficult period of adaptation. Another problem which arose in the south were laws which would further the oppression of the African-American population. Commonly called Black Codes, these laws also punished white persons who supported emancipation during the Civil War. These Black Codes were often unreasonable or unneeded to keep order within society. They were simply created as bitter retaliation by the ex-Confederates who were not pleased by the integration, which had just taken place. Black Codes were created and enforced on a State level which became superior to the Fourteenth Amendment. The laws would be psychologically damaging to the African-American population, who would be forced to feel

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.