The constitution laid the groundwork for America's citizens giving essential rights to everyone. That would have been the ideal America; Humans are flawed and there of course has to be some form of disagreement. Throughout America's existence there have been arguments, public unrest, deadly altercations and disagreements when it comes to people's rights. An instance of this can be shown through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign. He dreamed of abolishing the mentality of the south not allowing blacks to vote. Dr. King also wanted to unite people not matter their skin color. Dr. King was another activist who contributed to the Civil Rights Act being passed. Due to Dr. King's acts the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was established to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States.
Thus preventing more tragedies like the one that happened between the black people of Selma, Alabama, Alabama Police and State Troopers. Dr. King's group attempted to march on the capitol but were stopped by Law Enforcement. State Troopers and Local Law Enforcement used clubs and tear gas in order to get the large group to disperse. The State Troopers and Local Law Enforcement beat the people in the march from Selma to Montgomery severely to deter them from trying again. This was an unconstitutional, and inhumane act condoned by the Governor of Alabama at
There were, of course, opponents to the constitution. For those who disagreed with the document, ten amendments were added for freedom and liberty by the property each citizen owned. If the citizen owned property, then they were considered “worthy”, meant that they had wealth, could vote and be part of society and then gained liberty. If they did not have enough money to own property, then they had no liberty and were worthless in society. The Founding Fathers decided that democracy would destroy liberty through the redistribution of property. Therefore, they just gave a new meaning to democracy. The citizen may vote, if they owned land.
But reason behind why the campaign was held there was because King believed that if he could stop segregation in Birmingham he had the ability to stop it anywhere. But also it was at this one demonstration that was the turning point in the fight for black civil rights thanks to new technology at this time being the television people both white and black could see for themselves the innocent brutal treatment received by the blacks from whites, therefore it convinced many people to join the bid for civil rights. In 1964 saw civil rights movement for black Americans progress further through another organised march from Selma Alabama to Montgomery to draw attention about their right to vote. But their protest did not run like clock works as white officers tried to oppose the black demonstrators by using several methods to bring down moral including hosing and beating them down and gassing the determined crowd.
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)
The Constitution of the United States was made through compromises that not everyone agreed on but they came to an agreement on what they thought it should be. Before all of the fifty states were founded there was not a Bill of Rights, it was not until the new government was up and running before the Bill of Rights was added. The reason for this was that the framers of the constitution did not realize that the Bill of Rights was necessary to have at the time. A certainly important choice that was made was how our government was to be
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
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.
"Throughout the years the constitution and the laws have made a tremendous impact in society. White men were privileged with all their rights since they were born. Women and men of color however were not, and they had to fight for their rights throughout the years. The Articles of confederation showed how the states had more power than the government did. In document two it states, “ urging to reject conservative attempts to repeal a law that set in motion an end to slavery.†(E,126) This shows how African American’s had to wait many years for laws to pass and give them freedom. They had the same rights as the White men after the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments were passed. Women had to wait longer and finally got their right to vote when
In 1965, at a time of racial discrimination in America and the emergence of a strong Civil Rights Movement, congress enacted the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits discrimination in voting. Congress could not end racial discrimination in voting by suing one jurisdiction, state, etc. at a time. Rather, Congress passed Section 5 of the VRA, which required states and local governments with a history of racially discriminating voting practices to get the approval of the U.S. Attorney General or a three-judge panel for the U.S. District Court for D.C. (“preclearace”) in order to make any changes to their voting practices. Section 4(b) said that the preclearance requirement applied to states and political subdivisions that used a “test or
“We the People...” Words that all Americans should recognize being in the United States Constitution; As supreme as it may portray out to be yet it comes with many imperfections that unsettles the states and greatly affected African Americans, leading future decisions to more disagreements throughout the course of history. The United States were beginning to form itself up since the Constitution was created, it granted the people the power to rule themselves without the federal government getting too involved in State affairs; The Constitution was indeed foundational for the United States so it could continue on forth, especially with the formation of political parties forming up their views. There are the main issues that unfold involving the all these matters, it shows itself with how human rights lacked for African Americans during this time, the complications between the Federalists and Anti-federalists, separation of powers and the States lacking power compared to the Federal government. Whether or not the situations were impossible; things could have been better for everyone, after all the people should have the power.
Before the Bill of Rights, in 1787 the delegates of the thirteen states all got together in Philadelphia to write up the U.S Constitution. But this was only the first attempt at the constitution because there were flaws in it that needed to be fixed. This first constitution only relayed what the government could do and not what it couldn’t do. This was a problem because people in the government could do anything because there was no say in what they were not allowed to do. Another flaw was that this constitution only really governed on what white men could do. It had no rights for men of different races. This went on to show that we needed a section that could relate to the people of the states, so that their freedom was protected in this new Constitution. (American Civil Liberties Union)
Civil rights has been an important issue in American history, dating even before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it was one of the primary causes of the American Revolution, as seen with the famous phrase “no taxation without representation.” The Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment further sparked a heated debate during the Reconstruction Era over the civil protections of free blacks. These disputes led to additional legislation, such as the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment, to protect these citizens of the United States.
I cannot agree with you more Inez. “It is hard to believe that in 2017 we are still having the discussion as to whether or not every American has equal access to be able to vote.” How is this still an issue?
The brutality from this event can be summarized by one marcher who was reported saying, “My God, we’re being killed.” This malevolent act sent the entire nation in an uproar, sparking riots in major US cites and even in Toronto. The protests and riots gained so much popular support as to gain the attention of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who declared that he “deplored the brutality.” King was also determined to march from Selma to Montgomery in order to present the governor with the proposal for voting rights and to continue fighting the oppression (“Central Point” 24).
Thomas R. Dye and Susan A. Macmanus states, “ courts are political institutions because they attempt to resolve conflicts in society. Courts make public policy in the process of resolving conflicts. Some of the nations most pivotal policy decisions that we follow today have been made by courts rather than legislative or executive bodies at both the federal and state levels.
The Voting Rights Act 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973 et seq., decision is important regarding the laws governing voting rights and their relationship to minority voters. Its implication and effects however does not end within the legal realms and dimensions but continues through to society, culture, and human rights. The Voting Rights Act initially established in 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration protected “racial minorities” from biased voting practices. It was a huge stride in the civil rights movement and a victory over harmful, archaic, and biased voting practices and traditions.