The Right to Vote: From the Fifteenth Amendment to The Voting Rights Act of 1965

1
The Right to Vote From the Fifteenth Amendment
to The Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Teaching American History Project
• April 2006
• Mr. Azevada
• Laguna Creek High School

2
Standard

• 11.10 The students will analyze the
  developments of federal civil rights and voting
  rights.

3
Todays Objective

• Analyze, discuss, and trace the history of voting
  rights from the passage of the 15th Amendment up
  until the Voting Rights Act of 1965

4
The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

• Section 1. 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.
• Section 2. The Congress shall power to enforce
  this article by appropriate legislation.
• How effective was the 15th Amendment in the late
  1800s?

5
The End of Reconstruction 1877

• Voting by freed African-Americans changes the
  political climate in the South
• Black candidates won seats in Congress
• President Hayes orders the removal of federal
  troops in the South hoping that this would bring
  the North and South together
• With no more federal oversight, many blacks lost
  voting rights

6
Supreme Court Upholds Literacy Tests 1898

• Williams v. Mississippi
• Literacy test do not violate the U.S.
  Constitution as long as they apply equally to all
  applicants

7
Grandfather Clauses are Unconstitutional 1915

• Guinn v. U.S.
• U.S. Supreme Court ruled that grandfather clause
  in Oklahoma is a violation of the 15th Amendment

8
Poll Taxes are Permitted 1937

• Breedlove v. Suttles
• Supreme Court rules that Georgias use of poll
  taxes does not violate either the 14th or 15th
  Amendments because they are applied to all races

9
White Only Primary is Ruled Unconstitutional 1944

• Smith v. Allwright
• Supreme Court ruled that primary elections are
  subject to the 15th Amendment
• This ruling overturned the 1935 case Grovey v.
  Townsend which limited participation in primaries
  to whites only

10
Literacy Tests ruled Unconstitutional 1949

• Davis v. Schnell
• Supreme Court ruled that literacy tests in
  Alabama were intended to deny African-Americans
  the right to vote, therefore making this a
  violation of the 15th Amendment

11
Civil Rights Act 1957

• President Eisenhower proposes the first civil
  rights act since Reconstruction. This law creates
  a commission to investigate discrimination.

12
Civil Rights Act 1964

• Prohibits discrimination in public
  accommodations, unemployment, education, and
  governmental services.
• It also strengthens the 15th Amendment
  (prohibited discrimination in voting)

13
Poll Tax Ratified 1964

• 24th Amendment
• Illegal for states to charge poll taxes
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections 1966
• This expands poll tax bans to state elections,
  stating a violation of the 14th and 24th
  Amendments.

14
Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Outlaws any racially discriminatory act that
  prevents African-Americans from voting
• This suspends literacy tests

15
Present Day Challenges

• Florida 2005 Johnson v. Bush
• The issue was that there is a Florida law that
  does not allow convicted felons the right to
  vote.
• US Supreme Court upholds the law on the grounds
  that the law applies to all felons
• Is this justified?

16
Resources Used

• Images.google.com. Various Photographs. 7 Apr.
  2006 lthttp//images.google.comgt.
• Ritchie, Donald A, and JusticeLearning.org. Our
  Constitution. New York Oxford University
  Press, 2006.