The Voting Rights Act Of 1965

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.

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)

Despite what many might think, the voting rights act of 1965 is well known across hundreds of nations all over the world. The voting rights act of 1965 has been around for several centuries and has a very important meaning in the lives of many. This act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. He 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 to the Constitution of the United States. It is a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits this racial discrimination. This document is just as big and important as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It would be safe to assume that voting rights act of 1965 is going to be around for a long time and will have an enormous impact on the lives of many people in times to come. The voting acts of 1965 created positive and negative changes for America. But, why was this law created, when was it put into effect, and what effect did it have on the U.S.?

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

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.

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;

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

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.

Throughout America’s history the franchise has been withheld from different groups. This has been possible due to weakly written laws that do not provide adequate protections. In 1965 PL 89-110 was passed, this law, commonly known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, finally provided real protections for minorities living in southern states. In recent years the language of the law was modified within the Supreme Court to take away the law’s primary power. In the following mock Congressional testimony we will go back to 1848, 13 years before the American Civil War, and provide evidence of why a law like PL 89-110 is necessary and commendable.

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

In the year 1870 the 15th amendment was passed. The fithteenth amendemt reads “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” (Mcneese, Tim). But even though this was passed blacks still saw a problem voting. America started the Jim

The Fifteenth Amendment, The Right to Vote Not Denied by Race, is a very significant amendment added to our Constitution to encourage equality in our democracy. Voting in America is a big deal because we the people get to elect representatives who represent us on Capitol Hill and in our state’s legislatures. These people determine big issues in our country, and attempt to find a solution. However, not everyone was allowed the right to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment was passed in Congress on February 26, 1869.

The voting acts right was signed and passed by our former United States President, Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. The purpose of the act was to dispose of the discrimination that was being released mostly in the southern states after the civil war. The congress sought to ensure that all United States citizens were assured that the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment were actually being used. There are two sections in the act that I am going to describe briefly. They are the fifth and fourth section of the act that have the purpose of keeping all civil rights guaranteed to all citizens.

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.

One of those alterations allowed stricter admission to vote by adding restrictions in an effort to change key parts of the original law. The restrictions allowed for some states to limit the number of documents measured valid to classify a genuine voter. Other states made it so that there would be a reduction in early voting which impact people that do so. Representative John Lewis proposed the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 a bill which would permit the attorney general additional authority to have more federal eyewitnesses at the polls and check which states requires federal authorization to change voting laws through the means of latest geographic values. “It is a bill for the next generation, and helps protect the legacy of the previous generation who fought so hard five decades ago for these voting rights protections (Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt).” The problem with that though is that even though it sounds really good, one big factor in the changes that want to be made is that it would allow it to be easier to a degree for election fraud because restrictions are needed to help lower it. Not that election fraud doesn’t already happen but getting rid of these restrictions allow the chance to more easily be able to do so, as it is there really isn’t any widespread discrimination in effect in terms of how the act is now but it does impact people I’m sure because of said