In The United States Of America, American Citizens Have

Nearly 100 years after the 15th amendment was ratified, vast disparities and blatant discrimination in voting process and practice were still pervasive, particularly in certain southern states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) was enacted by congress to address this enduring inequity. Section 5 of the VRA requires that states meeting criteria set out in section 4(b) of the act, must obtain federal “preclearance” before enacting any laws that affect voting. Section 4(b) provides the conditions for the preclearance requirement as state or jurisdictions where less than 50% of minorities were registered to vote in 1964.

“…Jim Crow constitution was held before it went into force, the effects were immediate and profound for back voters as well as white ones, despite Glass’s claims,” stated by the article. Therefore, by the end of 1902 registrars and literacy test had limited 21,000, all coming with a conclusion that 147,000 that were register were eliminated, and three years later the new poll tax cut that number in half. Lastly, in 1915 the 15th Amendment struck down the grandfather clause with the help of the Supreme Court of the United States, and soon it also abolished state and local poll taxes in 1966. “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated literacy test and required Virginia and other states to seek approval from a federal court or the U.S attorney general before implementing changes to its election

American law addressed how people would become slaves: “…a slave inherited that status from the mother, served for a lifetime, was of African descent, and was chattel property able to be bought and sold independently of the land” (32, Horton and Horton). Over time, states amended or completely abolished these laws, but this was standard practice up until the Civil War. We can see a somewhat extension of this practice even after the Civil War, but it was just the opposite, the Grandfather Clause. In the wake of Reconstruction throughout the South, there was still an abundance of animosity to those of any other color than white, and the legislatures wished to keep the whites in power, and anyone else out. Poll taxes and literacy tests soon regulated voting throughout the South, but those who had grandfathers who could vote without poll taxes or literacy tests were exempts from such regulations. This curtailed most now free blacks from voting, and still allowed all white to vote. It was only until 1915 that “Grandfather Clauses” and regulated voting was found unconstitutional. What was not discussed

The education of Blacks in Mississippi was a very volatile issue for Whites. It was generally believed by Mississippi’s whites that the education of blacks was a waste of time and money because blacks would never be given jobs where they could use their minds. Those who supported education for blacks usually favored what they called “the right kind of education” which taught blacks how to become better laborers. Blacks who could read or showed any traces of an education were viewed with contempt by many White Mississippians who believed education made blacks resentful of the Jim Crow system under which they lived. As a result, black schools were extremely under funded by the

The grandfather clause was one of these racist laws. This law stated that an individual was not allowed to vote if their grandfather was unable to vote in slavery days. Luckily the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down. Sadly, however other rulings by the courts like William v. Mississippi, (1898) allowed states to add poll taxes and require literacy tests to voting requirements. These laws dramatically reduced the amount

Following the Civil War and freeing of slaves all over America a new question arose: Should black people be able to vote? Further, were they even citizens in the fullest sense? Now freed from slavery, black Americans found themselves in a political limbo where they were no longer property but not fully citizens. In an effort to extend protection from discrimination at the poll booth, an amendment to the Constitution was passed declaring it unlawful to deny voting on account of race. This amendment, however, was met with unprecedented resistance. Suppression of the black vote was just one step in preventing black Americans from being treated as citizens.

This document sets a right to give the many African Americans whom have been through countless amounts of racial discrimination and segregation the right to vote. It was produced mainly to propose the segregation and racial discrimination that was being given to the people of different race and color. Soon after passage of the VRA, federal examiners began voter registration and an immense increase in black voter registration was shown. It was produced so that the right to vote would be free, fair, and accessible to all Americans despite race or

After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the ensuing American Civil War all states where forced to ratify the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery “within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was passed making it unconstitutional to prohibit voters “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” While the thirteenth and fifteenth amendments made it constitution for African Americans to vote it did not prohibit states from implementing obstructions at voting booths such as poll taxes, literacy test, lineage tracking, and other qualifications. While Plessy v. Ferguson established the separate but equal doctrine which is described as “racially segregated but ostensibly ensuring equal opportunities to all races.” The established doctrine of Separate but Equal was never enforced, and the cries of the neglected fell upon deaf ears until 1954, 58 years after a virtual caste system was established in the Nation of “freedom and equal opportunity” segregating everything from schools to bathrooms because of the color of your skin.

Before the Civil War, there were no federal laws to protect voting rights. Only white males had the right to vote. In 1870, the 15th Amendment was established which stated “Specifically that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on the basis of race, or previous condition of servitude” (Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws). This amendment gives all Americans the right to be a voice of change for the people by electing officials who will make a difference in their communities. Unfortunately, one mistake can cause you to lose this right forever. As stated by Eric H. Holder, JD, US Attorney General, in his Feb. 11, 2014, speech;

There were many credentials in order to voting which were enforced in order to revoke voting rights to those on U.S. soil. Still today many things are required in order to vote in the United States such as: being a citizen of the United States, a legal resident of a state, at least 18 years old by Election Day, not disqualified from voting due to a court order and not under Department of Corrections supervision for a felony conviction. Throughout having the proper requirements to vote are very important and strict. Voting requirements are less harsh than previous history records show, being that they are very general and morally correct as the Supreme Court approve them with Congress created the requirements to voting.

A very controversial topic in the United States is whether or not Americans should be required to vote. Voting is a very essential piece to democracy, but many Americans today are not attending their voting location and supporting the candidate they feel is best. In recent elections, just 60% of registered voters casted their vote for a candidate. This is an issue that many people are not happy about, but whether or not there is reason to fix it is the other side to the case. Voter participation is an issue that has been going on for years, and no laws are in place currently to bring it up. Americans have been proud to live in a “free country”, and a law forcing citizens to vote may be against America’s principles. Compulsory voting should

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 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

As said in PBS, “Literacy tests were used to keep people of color -- and, sometimes, poor whites -- from voting, and they were administered at the discretion of the officials in charge of voter registration” (The Rise and Fall of jim crow). They would give people that wanted rights a test on American history or laws If a black person went to take the test they would give them a harder test. Sometimes people trying ti gain rights could not even read in english. Also a lot of the blacks did not have a great education at the time so it made it extremely difficult for them. The Literacy test were unfair to some people that wanted

Voting has not always been as easy as it is today. It is interesting to examine how far America has progressed in its process of allowing different types of people to be able to vote. Voting was once aimed at a particular group of people, which were white males that owned their own property. Today, most people over the age of eighteen can vote, except for the mentally incompetent or people who have been convicted of major felonies in some states. The decline of voter participation has always been a debate in the public arena. According to McDonald and Popkin, it is “the most important, most familiar, most analyzed, and most conjectured trend in recent American political history (2001, 963)” The question is, how important is voter