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Suffrage in the USA
Civil Rights: the rights belonging to citizens Synonym : Segregation: separation based on raceSynonym : Equal protection: the government will protect everyone’s rights
equallySynonym : Discrimination: unfair treatmentSynonym : Suffrage: the right to voteSynonym : Poll or polling place: Place where voting takes placeSynonym : Poll tax: a fee required to voteSynonym : Literacy test: a reading test used to determine whether or not
someone was eligible to register vote Synonym :
Important Terms
Purpose
You will learn about specific amendments and laws related to voting rights and their impact on the participation of groups in the American political process.
Voting rights are a part of civil rights. Civil rights are the rights belonging to citizens:
rights to be free from unequal treatment based on certain protected characteristics (i.e. race, gender, disability).
Voting
Volunteering for a campaign
Joining an interest group
Petitioning the government
Writing to government officials
Running for office
How can citizens participate in government?
Who is allowed to vote?
American citizens
18 years of age and older
Including all races
And both genders
When the US Constitution was written, only white, male, adult
property owners were allowed to vote. The Constitution was
official September,1787.
Property ownership and tax requirements were eliminated over the next 50-60 years.
Literacy tests and poll taxes were implemented in many states. States had discriminatory practices. (1850’s-1880’s)
Took until the 1970’s and 1980’s to eliminate literacy tests and poll taxes throughout the country.
Has it always been like this?
SCAVENGER HUNT!
Using a copy of the Constitution, locate the Amendments that address voting rights in some way.
Once you have identified the Amendment: Summarize the content Identify the groups impacted State the year each Amendment was ratified
Where do we get our voting rights today?
13th 1865 The 13th Amendment outlawed
slavery and should have given African Americans the right to vote.
White male land owners
13th Amendment
Voting Rights Timeline
Date Voting & Amendment Information Summary of Text Who Can Vote?
Who Cannot Vote?
1788 U.S. Constitution adopted. There is no agreement on a national standard for voting rights; states are given the power to regulate their own voting laws. In most cases, voting remains in the hands of white male landowners.
There is no national standard for voting. States are given the power to regulate voting.
White male landowners
All other people
1865 13th Amendment Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
The 13th Amendment ended slavery in the United States.
White male landowners
All other people
1868 14th Amendment Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
In section 2 a voter is defined as males, being at least twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States.
In the 14th Amendment, citizenship is defined and granted to former slaves. Voters are defined as male, at least 21 years old and citizens.
Male citizens at least 21 years old.
All other people.
Voting Rights Timeline1870 15th Amendment
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.
The 15th Amendment made it illegal for the federal or state governments to deny someone the right to vote based on race.
Male citizens at least 21 years old of any race.
All other people.
1920 19th Amendment 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 sex.
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in federal and state elections.
Male and female citizens at least 21 years old any race.
People under the age of 21 and non-citizens.
1924 Congress passes legislation that grants citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the country.
All Native Americans become citizens born in the U.S.
Male and female citizens at least 21 years old, any race including Native Americans.
People under the age of 21 and non-citizens.
1964 24th Amendment SECTION. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.
The 24th Amendment guarantees that the right to vote in federal elections will not be denied for failure to pay any tax.
Male and female citizens at least 21 years old of any race.
1971 26th AmendmentSECTION. 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
The 26th Amendment changed the voting age from 21 to 18.
Male and female citizens at least 18 years old of any race.
People under 18 years old and non-citizens.
Literacy Test
Louisiana State Literacy Test 1964
http://www.tn.gov/tsla/exhibits/blackhistory/pdfs/Voter%20Test%20LA.pdf
Alabama Literacy Test 1965
http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/origins/images/al_literacy.pdf
States determined voter registration procedures.
Some states created literacy tests to determine whether or not someone was eligible to register to vote.
Literacy tests were used as an intimidation factor to prevent minorities from registering to vote.
Poll Tax
States determined voting requirements
Some states created a tax to be paid in order to vote.
Poll taxes were used as an intimidation factor to prevent minorities (poor, African American) from being able to vote.
Poll: process of voting in an electionTax: paying a fee Poll Tax: paying a fee to vote in an election
1. Many of the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam
War were too young to vote.
Which amendment was it?
2. Some states instituted taxes, or fees, that
had to be paid in order to vote, knowing that many poor people would be unable to afford the fee.
Which amendment was it?
3. Before this amendment slaves were considered
property and belonged to their owners. This meant they had no rights.
Which amendment was it?
4. Slaves were now considered to citizens of
the United States.
Which amendment was it?
5. Voting was restricted to only white males until this
amendment came along and allowed all races to be allowed to vote.
Which amendment was it?
6. Even though women were considered
citizens they were only given suffrage after this amendment.
Which amendment was it?
1. Answer: The 26th Amendment moved the voting age from 21
to 18. 2. Answer: 24th Amendment was written to prevent states from
charging poll taxes or literacy tests 3. Answer: Once the 13th amendment was passed, they were still
not permitted to vote –just because slavery was illegal, it did not make them citizens.
4. Answer: The 14th amendment defined who would be considered a citizen.
5. Answer: Once the 15th amendment was passed, which banned the restriction of voting based on race or previous servitude.
Answer: The 19th amendment banned the restriction on voting based on sex/gender.
Answers
If these amendments had never been added these people would not be able to vote: African Americans
Female citizens
Citizens who are poor
Citizens who are uneducated
Citizens under the age of 18
Who would be unable to vote?
Those under the age of 18
Non-citizens residing in the United States
Illegal aliens
Prisoners
Who is not allowed to vote?
This means you!
This means anyone working
or studying in the U.S. on a visa.
This means people living in the US
illegally.
This includes those who are incarcerated and recently
released from prison.
If you could propose a constitutional
amendment to ban discrimination of certain groups, who would you target?
If you could propose an amendment to the Constitution to not allow certain groups to vote, what would you propose?
With such a low percentage of persons in the
United States who actually vote, what would happen if we amended the Constitution to require everyone to vote?
Some countries have such a requirement. What are
the pros and cons of such a policy?
Should we require citizens to vote?
Suffrage in the USA Part 2
Political Cartoon
What do you think is going on in this cartoon?
What is the issue on which it is focusing?
What amendments relate to this?
How do you know?
What the cartoon means?
The 15th Amendment provided that the right to vote would not be denied or abridged on the basis of “race, color or previous condition of servitude”.
Although the 15th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote for African Americans, southern officials found various means to take that right away. One way was requiring that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote.
A literacy test required citizens to prove that they were able to read and write before being registered to vote; literacy tests were used primarily to deny African Americans and other minority groups the right to vote.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
14th Amendment
No state shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
Meaning: No state can make a law that limits the rights of citizens
Examples of: Literacy Test = preventing people from their
right to vote Poll taxes= preventing people from their right to
vote
14th Amendment
Nor shall any State deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Meaning: States can not treat any people differently
Examples: Literacy Tests =were not treating people equally
Poll taxes = were not treating people equally
14th Amendment
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail,
1963: What do you think
was Dr. King’s approach to fighting for civil rights?
What does he mean that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily?
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.
King Leads the March on Washington
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement/videos/martin-luther-king-jr-leads-the-march-on-washington?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
As you watch the video answer the following questions… 1. How was the March on Washington
significant in the fight for civil rights? 2. What legislation was passed?
Reading
Decided that
separate but equal
was a violation of
the 14th amendment
Brown V
Board of
Education1954
Leaders like
Martin Luther King
began protestin
g the discrimin
ation against African
Americans
Civil Rights Movem
ent Began
Banned discrimin
ation against anyone
based on race
religion, or
national origin
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Banned discrimination when it comes to
voting
The voting Rights Act of 1965
Because of these Amendments and Acts, we now have equality under the 14th Amendment.
Political Cartoon
“Why are the Civil Rights Acts and Voting Rights Act important?
Which Amendment was related to the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
The title of the text was ‘The Journey for Civil Rights,’ how was the fight for civil rights a journey? What stood out to you from the reading or videos that helped you understand the journey?”
Civil Rights
What do you see in this photo?
What does the signage say?
What do you think the people in this photo want?
Equal Rights Amendment
Alice Paul, one of the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, believed that freedom from gender discrimination required an Equal Rights Amendment. In 1923, the ERA was first introduced.
The amendment was introduced in every session of Congress until it passed in a reworded form in 1972.
In the 1960s, women organized to demand their rights, including the ERA.
The Equal Rights Amendment passed both houses of Congress on March 22, 1972 and was sent to the states for ratification. Congress placed a seven-year deadline on the ratification process, however the amendment was not ratified.
The Equal Rights Amendment continues to be pursued by women’s groups and members of Congress.
