Preview

Voting Rights Act Research Paper

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
182 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Voting Rights Act Research Paper
To explain why congress passed the Voting Rights act, we must look into the “darker time” that Lyndon B Johnson talked about. The “darker times” are every year post the Voting Rights Acts, and consist of oppression and racism at every turn. Let us start at the very broad view of what was going on in america, segregation was at every city, park, alley, and school. Narrowing this down some, there were even Jim Crow laws in the south, that made it legal to treat African americans differently. Even at the poles, we had an abundance of racism, with grandfather clauses, Literacy tests, and poll taxes. Before the Voting Rights Act African americans were treated as secondary citizens. Congress wanted to change how we thought, so we didn’t keep thinking

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    On July 2, 1964, just 5 months before the presidential elections, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in many areas of AMerican life and essentially ended segregation. Having opposed many similar bills in the past, Johnson was bombarded by scrutiny claiming that he signed the act only to appeal to voters. However, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act not because of politics, but instead because he agreed with the civil rights movement, he related to those treated unfairly by segregation, and because he found the subject of segregation to be more important than politics.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although this was one of the most historic bills passed by congress, it seems that people are still having controversy over the right to vote. Many Americans are denied the right to vote because of their color. The wrong is that these citizens of ours can't go with their hearts and justify because of the way they look. This issue is still being debated today, and many people disagree with one another over this subject. This law came into existence in 1965 so that people can pick who they want to be in charge, and get what they think they…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The government gave blacks the right to vote because they saw it could produce an immediate political gain. Nothing could be gained from allowing women to vote, so the government refrained from amending the constitution for women. (Flexner) Once blacks gained their right to vote, women began to cry for equality.…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is The Electoral College A Fair And Equitable Way To Elect The President Of The United States?…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    voting writes. When it came time to pass the voting rights act, in 1965, there were…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the year of 1870, it was the re invention of slavery. America could not be built without economic. The south was still a negative place and they failed to accept blacks. After decades of discrimination, the voting rights act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that denied blacks to vote under the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment in 1870 gave African Americans the right to vote. The constitutional amendment passed after the civil war that it guaranteed blacks the right to vote. It affected not…

    • 1950 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A. Attention-Did you know that in a presidential election, one single vote in Kansas has more power than a single vote casted in Missouri because of the Electoral College?…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted by Congress to address the high amount of racial discrimination in voting. It was an evil which had been perpetuated in many different parts of the United States through unremitting defiance of the Constitution. In Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, it contains the coverage formula that helps determine which states and local governments are subject to the pre-clearance under Section 5 of the Act. Section 5 of the Act contains the pre-clearance requirement that requires certain states and local governments to obtain a determination by the United States Attorney General, that changes made to their voting laws don’t deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Voting Right Act 1965

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Voting Right Act in 1965 can easily be seen as a massive victory and step in the right direction for equality. I had always thought the Voting Right Act was the end of it. Until recently I had no idea some states had lacked the ability to make or change laws that concerned voting. I was under the assumption that everyone was equal and had the same rights. I was in complete disbelief when I learned that most of the southern states did not have the ability to change laws for fear they might enforce a law that may discriminate. While it saddens me to see that most of the south had to function under watchful eyes, I can clearly see why. However, not everything is always black and white, there are undoubtedly some grey areas…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Essay On Voting In America

    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Voting in America is difficult. There are many obstacles the potential voter has to run through in order to have their voice heard, and even, their candidate of choice may not win. They have to struggle with paperwork to get registered to vote, which also registers them for the eligible list of candidates for the jury pool, a task nobody wants anything to do with. Then after the hard paperwork and jury duty comes Election Day. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which leads to great confusion as to what day the elections are on. Even worse are the municipal elections which vary from town to town, and county to county, leaving masses of voters confused as to what day they have to go out and make their voices heard.…

    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    African Americans have faced great difficulties in owning and having a voice and respect in the early years in the United States of America. For far too long, they have faced oppression by the whites. However, they no longer accepted the mistreatment and double standards they faced and took a stand and fought for they believed in. Even though African Americans did not have much rights as families, the fact that they stood up for themselves, to bring peace, honor, and freedom was enough so that they can start a new life and many new opportunities to start a whole new way of living.…

    • 2548 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not being able to fairly vote was one of the last unfair tribulations they faced, and finally it was coming to an end. States got away with administering tests designed only to prevent African Americans from not being able to vote. Participating in the electoral process has a big influence on how the country would be ran for generations to come, and some feared that change was the enemy. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan were violent protesters who would harass and execute them on the sole purpose of fearing that change. On March 7,1965 state troopers unprovokingly attacked peaceful protesters on their way to the state Capitol in Montgomery. This was soon brought to the attention the television and people all over America were angered by the violence, persuading president Lyndon B. Johnson to take a stand. Five days later, he introduced to Congress the idea of a Voting Rights Act in what is considered to be one of his best…

    • 1550 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Texas Voting Rights Essay

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Texas legislative body is designed to represent the citizens of the state of Texas . Forty five percent of Texas is White, twelve percent is black, thirty eight percent is hispanic, and four percent is Asian. In contrast two thirds of the Texas House and seventy percent of the Senate is white, about a tenth is black in the House and Senate, only a fifth of the House and Senate are Hispanic. The body that is representing us isn’t exactly fair with the consensus of the general population. Minorities as a whole represent the state of Texas with over 55 percent of the population, or State Legislation is 70 percent white. Our politics at the state level is dominated by white middle aged males and at times can’t relate or reflect the needs of…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The First Amendment protects the right of citizens to their freedom of speech. There are ways that those freedoms can be taken away. Limitations to this law can be at the work place, when something obscene is said, threats and many others. One way your rights can be limited is when you are convicted as a felon. You often loose many of the rights as a felon, including the right of the second amendment to own a gun. Lester Packingham was convicted as a sexual offender in 2002. He was caught using a Facebook in North Carolina. In North Carolina there is a law to prevent sexual offenders from being on sites like Facebook and other social media sites that minors use. Packingham believes this to be a violation to his First Amendment rights. However, in the case of Packingham there is a government interest to limit his First Amendment right.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Chapter Eight, the majority of the chapter discusses how campaigning works and perspectives of the voters. To begin with, before you can even vote there are some requirements and eligibilities. The laws in the United States exclude from voting people who are not citizens of this country. Other voting laws go in more detail, including the residence requirements which were weakened by the Voting Rights Act of 1970 (Turner el, at.239). The requirement was state laws designed to limit the eligible electorate by requiring citizens to have been a resident of the voting district for a fixed period of time prior to an election (Turner el, at.239). After meeting the basic requirements, all potential voters in the up coming election are required to…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays