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How Did Peterson Get The Right To Vote

Decent Essays

The coming age of African Americans rights to vote was a remarkable time in history. This life-changing experience set new boundaries for the welfare of minorities in the United States. African Americans would be able to cast their votes on governmental issues, without becoming afraid of the harmful acts they may have to face. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring 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.” Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century. …show more content…

Thomas Mundy Peterson was known as the first black voter in the United States. On March 31, 1870, Peterson bravely casted his ballot to revise his town’s charter. The side he voted for won in fair landslide and Peterson was elected to the committee. Because Thomas Peterson was a registered voter, he also became the first black man to serve on a jury. The town raised seventy-dollars to honor Peterson with a medal, naming him the “First Black Negro Voter,” during a Memorial Day celebration. An interview with Peterson showed who encouraged him to vote, “I was working for Mr. T. L. Kearny on the morning of the day of election, and did not think of voting until he came out to the stable where I was attending to the horses and advised me to go to the polls and exercise a citizen’s privilege.” Peterson also revealed his vote in this election, “As I advanced to the polls one man offered me a ticket bearing the words “revised charter” and another one marked, “no charter.” I thought I would not vote to give up our charter after holding it so long: so I chose a revised charter ballot.” (KENTAKE PAGE BOOK, …show more content…

The act focuses on the views of millions Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. This book describes the tale of African Americans still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power, with lawmakers devising new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth and with the Supreme Court declaring a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Berman brings the struggle over voting rights to life through meticulous archival research, radical interviews with major figures in the debate, and incisive on-the-ground reporting. In exclusive details, he takes the reader from the demonstrations of the civil rights era to the halls of Congress, to the chambers of the Supreme Court. At this important moment in history, Give Us the Ballot provides new insight into one of the most vital political and civil rights issues of our time. (Macmillan Publishers,

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