The Right To Vote (NARA)

The Fifteenth Amendment gave black males over the age of 21 the right to vote. However, southern states set up poll taxes and literacy test in order to keep most blacks from voting. In order to keep the white votes they set up the grandfather clause, which allowed the seventy-five percent of the poor illiterate white people to still vote if they were the son or grandson of someone who was eligible to vote before 1867.

The Act has undergone several changes and additions since its passage, but the U.S. Supreme Court found a key provision of the Act unconstitutional in 2013. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.” (Staff 3). In the article, Voting Rights Act, author Staff states, “The Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965, aimed 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.” (Staff 2). Even though all these efforts and laws were made to give everyone a fair and equal chance to vote, there are still many restrictions and setbacks everywhere in today 's society and the major ones are Voter ID laws, Voter registration restrictions, State felon disenfranchisement policies, Purging of Voter Rolls, Transgender Disenfranchisement, Disinformation about Voting Procedures, Inequality in Election Day Resources, and Caging Lists.

In the wake of the passage of the 13th and 14th amendment, the 15th amendment gave “the right of citizens of the United States to vote and

The fifteenth amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870, and it's contents 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 on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The amendment was one of the first major steps in ensuring racial equality throughout the United States. If a male former slave was someone who was just a slave ten years prior, was now able to vote to represent himself and his best interests. The 15th amendment was actually passed by different portions of the government on different dates. For instance, on February 25, 1869, the House of Representatives voted one hundred forty four in favor against forty four who opposed it. Meanwhile, in February 26, 1869, the Senate voted thirty-nine in favor against thirteen who opposed. And it’s

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

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.

in February 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment gave black men the right to vote. Ultimately, the push to secure

The United States was not enforcing the Amendments they created, which was a negative for African American rights. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, but after the Compromise of 1877 many Southerners and Democrats who were not in support of African Americans voting made it harder for African Americans to vote by creating restriction measures. Congressman Benjamin Boyers’ speech about why African Americans should not be able to vote spoke about how he believed that African Americans did not have the same mental caliber as other citizens in the United States

It was the result of several proposals presented to the “Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction of the House of Representatives” and various other committees. Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the above committee, introduced the idea on April 30th, 1866 as “a plan for rebuilding a shattered nation”. On June 8th, 1866 it was passed by a landslide in the senate by 120-32, even though it had been vetoed by President Johnson, who had been against the 14th amendment from the very beginning of the development. It defined federal citizenship and made all citizens equal when it came to the law, as well as opening up the door for black suffrage and adding civil rights into the constitution. Although there were many favorable outcomes to this amendment, there were drawbacks as well. Many states were unwilling to ratify the amendment or used loopholes to get around the decision, and the fact that President Johnson actively opposed the amendment led to more tension between both the President and congress and congress and the southern states. A year later, on March 7th, 1867, a joint resolution that involved suffrage was introduced, and three years later it would become the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment said 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.” (15th

The Fifteenth Amendment granted black men to vote. Put emphasis on men because at this time women still couldn't vote.This amendment would not be fully followed until almost a century. What the government did was that they made a literacy test so difficult that no slave could pass because they had no education. So no blacks could vote really for a long time. So to loop their loophole that made a rule called the Grandfather Clause. This made if your grandfather could vote you did not have to take the literacy test. So every white person's grandfather could vote since they lived in england. So this rule did not apply to blacks since their grandfathers were black and could not vote. One of the main reasons that they made this rule is because

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.

“…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

The only way any men were to be exempted from this clause was if his father or grandfather were to have voted previous to 1867. Being that African Americans’ ancestors were slaves, they were not able to be exempted thus they had to pass the tests, pay the tax, and pass any other requirements thrown at them. It was not until June 21, 1915 that the court declared it unlawful, leaving way for African Americans to vote.

The United States Congress, in trying to rectify the historical inequity of not having Blacks vote, amended the United States Constitution with the 15th Amendment. Although this was a step in the right direction to empower Blacks, there were many issues that were not specifically addressed which left room for the southern states to circumvent the law and continue the suppression of the Black vote. With no national organization to fight the local laws that included many discriminatory restrictions against Blacks, and impeded by a lack of resources to be able to get legal assistance, the southern states had free reign to enact laws that suppressed the vote. The use of poll taxes, educational requirements, literacy tests, which whites were exempted

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.