The Voting Rights of 1965

By amariel43

  • Idea

    Idea
    A crowd of African Americans were marching to gain voting rights in Selma, Alabama. On March 7th, 1965, police used tear gas against the protestors and many protestors or beaten as the police attempted to stop the peaceful march. On March 15th, President Johnson gave an address on TV asking Congress pass a law expanding voting rights.

  • Introduction

    The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced in Congress on March 17, 1965. It was named S. 1564. The bill was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen.

  • Committee Action in 1st House of Congress

    The bill was first considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee. During the committee's consideration of the bill, Senator Ted Kennedy gained support to add a ban on poll taxes (a tax that has to be paid in order to vote) to the bill. The bill was passed out of committee on April 9th, 1965.

  • Approval By The First House of Congress

    On April 22, the full Senate started debating the bill, with northern Senators supporting the bill and southern Senators opposing the bill. Debate continued until May 25th- more than a month! The Senate passed the bill on May 26th, 1965 with a vote of 77-19.

  • Committee Action in the 2nd House of Congress

    The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 19th, 1965 and it was sent to the House Judiciary Committee. This committee approved the bill on May 12th, 1965. It was then sent to the House Rules Committee, who approved the bill on July 1st, 1965.

  • Approval By the 2nd House of Congress

    The House of Representatives had limited debate and passed the bill on July 9th, 1965 by a vote of 333-85

  • Action By Both Houses of Congress

    A conference committee with members from both houses met to work out differences between the two bills. This single version was sent to both houses on July 29th, 1965. The House of Representatives approved this version on August 3rd, 1965 and the Senate approved this version on August 4th, 1965.

  • Action by the President

    Action by the President
    On August 6, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act into law with King, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and other civil rights leaders in attendance at the signing ceremony.