Johnson And Voting Rights

My research topic is the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and I chose this topic because I always found it amusing that it took so long for African Americans to legally be allowed to vote. I also thought this topic was appropriate since we now have an African American president, and the African Americans citizens need to know that voting I important because we didn’t always have that right.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson, this was to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented Africans-Americans from voting under the fifteenth amendment. The VRA gave African-Americans the right to vote and stating that people are not allowed to do anything to the people of different color or race while they are trying to vote, or forcing them to not vote. The fifteenth amendment was to prohibit states from denying a male citizen the right to vote based on race, or color; Still people who do not agree with this were trying to prevent African-Americans from voting.

Johnson was a very confident person because he always believed that nothing can hold him back ever. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, for voting, education, employment, and other areas of American lives. After with the help of Johnson, Congress expanded the act by a short period of time, by moving towards more equality for African-Americans. He strongly believes that nothing has or will hold him back because he describes himself as “Liberated from the Southern political bonds” (Document E). By using that phrase he is trying to say that he is finally free, free like he has wanted to be. This shows that Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act because of principe because he worked for what he wanted not what the government wanted. Basically he did what he believed was the best for his people. Also he did not care what he would lose he took ever risk he had to face in order to be where he wanted to be. Lyndon Johnson tell Russell to get out of his way because Johnson will win but Russell tells him that if he does win it will cost him the South and the election (Document C). Lyndon B. Johnson did not care about that either all that was his mindset was doing what it has to take to help out the people: His

The Voting Rights act of 1965 was established on August 6, 1965. This law was set to outlaw discrimination of voting practices adopted in many Southern States after the civil war, including literary test as a prerequisite to voting. The act was signed into law by former president Lyndon Johnson after a century of deliberate and violent denial of the vote to African- Americans in the South and latinos in the Southwest as well as many years of entrenched electoral systems that shut out citizens with limited fluency in english. The voting Rights act of 1965 has traced back to the 14th and 15th Amendment where it grants citizenships to all persons born in the united states including former slaves and provided all citizens with equal protection

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.

“So in the next 40 years we must re-build the entire urban United States.” This shows that Johnson is using ethos to unite the citizens and have them realize the future of America. He wants them to know that the future of America is going to begin with a population growth and he has to unite the population to make them realize this. "Men come together in cities in order to live, but they remain together in order to live the good life." The future of America depends on people coming together and working together to build a good life which is what Johnson envisioned in his great society. He uses ethos to create unity between the citizens which is why his speech is

Johnson seems to understand the importance of establishing trustworthiness and credibility among his listeners, knowing that in order to be heard, he must prove that he is a reliable character. His allusions are both biblical and historical, to assure his audience that he does not stand alone in his cause—that many people, in his time or a century ago, also share this view. He does this biblically, when asking “what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Paragraph10), and also historically when he states that “all men are created equal” (Paragraph 12). He does this to create ethos, or an ethical appeal. When his audience, the Congress, is considered, these allusions become even more important to earning their

Most change can be caused by people or something with significant value. Occasionally people forget that change can also be caused by pieces of paper. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law passed that primarily gave African Americans the right to vote without having to take any sort of literacy tests. African Americans were widely ignored in voting rights because they were forced to take literacy tests to be eligible to vote. Having this event in our nation’s civil rights movement was a landmark that allowed the other half of our nation’s voice to be heard. “The Voting Rights Act itself has been called the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress.”(Laney 65)

In fear of having many claim equal rights were already in effect, he proceeded to acknowledge “the harsh fact … men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes” (Johnson 2), showing how equal rights were not distributed to all men. Continuing to utilize emotional examples, Johnson addressed the chilling truth about African Americans struggling with “actions and protests, his courage to risk safety, and even to risk his life” to liberate themselves (3). Another key point is how the actions of African Americans are being rejected to vote simply because “the only way to pass these barriers is to show a white skin” (2) , discovering the ugly truth of the discrimination towards colored people. His ambition for the near future is to make America’s heart yearn for the passing of the bill and change the lives of those who will benefit from it. Johnson has such a strong belief towards the positive changes in which the bill will have because he knows “there is only the struggle for human rights” being seen right under the nose of every American

In “We Shall Overcome,” Johnson also employs pathos when he asserts “…we are met here tonight as Americans – not as Democrats or Republicans. We are met here as Americans to solve that problem.” By using restatement of the phrase “we are met here as Americans,” Johnson develops the literary device of pathos by eliciting feelings of patriotism within his audience. The feelings of patriotism in turn call for compassion based on equality from Johnson’s audience. In addition, by saying the term “American,” Johnson’s audience would be able to realize the nature of the treatment of fellow Americans (African Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr.) and possibly lead to change. Overall, the application of pathos by Douglass and Johnson sparks emotions that can lead to societal transformations.

After the northern voters rejected Johnson’s policies in the congressional elections, Republicans in Congress took firm hold of Reconstruction in the South. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act later, it temporarily divided the South in five districts and outlined how governments based on universal (male) suffrage were to be organized. This law also required the states in the South to ratify the 14th amendment. The definition of citizenship was expanded by granting all of the slaves “equal protection” of the Constitution before the slaves could join the Union. By 1870, all of the slave states had been welcomed to the Union. In this period the african-americans won the election against the southern governments and even the U.S. Congress.

Felons are people who have been convicted of a felony. Felony is a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor, and usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death. In Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote, even while they are incarcerated. Vermont’s 1793 Constitution stipulates that residents can lose their right to vote only if convicted of voter fraud. In Florida, Lowa and Virginia, felons and ex-felons permanently lose their right to vote. Eleven states restrict voting even after a person has completed their prison sentence and finished probation or parole. Twenty states require completion of parole and probation before voting is allowed, and fourteen states allow felons to vote after they leave prison. Florida and Texas each disenfranchise more than 600,000 people. In 1789, Kentucky became the first U.S. state to ban convicted criminals from voting. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that felon disenfranchisement is a violation of the Voting Rights Act in her May 4, 2006 dissenting opinion in Hayden v. Pataki. Ex-felons should be able to vote because they served their time and now they are out. Hayden v. Pataki is a legal challenge to New York State 's law disenfranchising individuals convicted of felonies while in prison and on parole. The initial pro se complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, by Joseph Hayden on September 12,

Before it even began the Reconstruction was a political battle and President Johnson didn’t add well to the mix of the battle. “A lonely, stubborn man, he was intolerant of criticism and unable to compromise” (Foner, p. 579). Many people believed he was unfit for the political world and he wasn’t ready to be our president. He was a very racist man and he believed that African Americans played absolutely no part in the Reconstruction and believed they had no rights what so ever. The beginning of the Presidential Reconstruction (1865 – 1867) “Johnson offered a pardon (which restored political and property rights, except for slaves) to nearly all white southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the Union” (Foner, p. 580). Many people thought

Furthermore, Lewis identifies the problem that the voting section of the bill affects thousands of African Americans who are eligible to vote. He focuses mainly on the South Side, where many African Americans are not able to vote. He mentions the “African cry,” which establishes the need of rights the African Americans deserve. For this reason, Lewis begins by showing his feelings towards the topic of voting rights for African Americans when he writes, “One man, one vote is the African cry.” (Paragraph 3) In other words, African Americans right to vote was requested in a direct and indirect form. He begins with saying “thousands of black people” to briefly saying the people in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Moreover the author includes

1a. The students will learn information regarding Lyndon B. Johnson through watching a YouTube video, and reading an article as a whole group. While reading the article, each student will use their own paper to underline the important facts and details in the passage. The formative assessment of completing the graphic organizer from the article and the knowledge gained from viewing the YouTube video will provide evidence that the students can understand and discuss the life of Lyndon B. Johnson.