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15th Amendment
The 15th amendment grants the right to vote to African American men. However, many devices were used to disable their rights under the amendment. From grandfather clauses to difficult literacy tests, the government found loopholes around the new found right. -
Alice Paul
Alice Paul was an influencial woman who was a critical part in the Womans Suffrage Movement that was a large part in the passing of the 19th amendment. She was the founder of the Congressional Union for Women and she spent her life advocating for the rights and protection of women. -
Guinn vs United States
The case of Guinn vs United States occured because the Grandfather Clause discriminated against African American rights. States found loopholes around granting African Americans voting rights, which violated the 15th amendment. The case demolished the grandfather clause and outlawed any literacy test that had previously been used to deny the right to vote. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment states that government can not deny a persons right to vote because of their gender. Tactics like hunger strikes, silent vigils, and picketing were used to achieve their goal. Tennessee was the final state to change their position, creating a 3/4 vote and ratifying the amendment. -
Indian Citizenship Act
The Indian Citizenship Act regulated citizenship for Native Americans by birthright rather than basing their status on gender, descent, or marital status. This granted citizenship to any Native American born on territories that were on United States land. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer occured in Mississippi. Peopleaimed to gain voting right for African Americans. It was coordinated by organizations like the CORE and SNCC. Over 700 white voters assisted african americans in standing against the obstacles they faced when it came to voting. They were met with law enforcement and angry citizens, which resulted in abuse and murder. However, this event led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. -
Reynolds vs Sims
The Reynolds vs Sims case took place in 1961 and led to the Equal Protection Law. While states were divided into voting districts, citizen found certain districts had exponentially more viable voters than other and deemed this to be unfair. They agreed that this restricted their rights to be involved in a republican form of government. The decision of the courts came to be that distrcits are required to remain with as equal voting population as pracitable. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendmentsays the government can not deny someone the right to vote based on if they can afford the poll tax. Denying this right can be declared unconstitutional. -
Voting Rights Act
Loopholes were declared illegal in terms of restricting African American voting rights. After the marchers from Selma, President Johnson outlawed the restrictions that white men had implicated to go around African American rights. -
26th Amendment
The 26th amendment created the right to vote for people 18 and above. Previously, the legal voting age was 21, however, the slogan "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" was used to support the idea. While some states backed the idea, some used Jim Crow laws to restrict these rights to white men only.