1. 15th Amendment
De facto vs. De
jure
Civi l Rights Act
1964
Vot ing Rights Act
1965
SUFFRAGE &
CIVIL RIGHTS

2. 15TH AMENDMENT
 1870
 Right to vote cannot be denied to any citizen on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
 Does this settle the question?
 De facto segregation v. De jure segregation
 Congress must pass laws to enforce this.

3. ROADBLOCKS TO VOTING
-- l iteracy requirements created to prevent minorities from
voting
-- Congress outlawed
-- pol l tax created in late 1800s in the South to prevent African-
Americans from voting
-- outlawed by 24th Amendment (1964)
Voter ID Laws
-- some states require voters to
have ID on them when voting

4. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1957 & 1960
 Fi rst law to implement the
15th Amendment
 Establ ished the Civi l Rights
Commission
 1960: created federal elect ion
of ficials
 Why d o e s t h e Fe d e r a l g ov ’ t
assume more author i ty dur ing
this per iod?

5. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1964
 Outlaws unfair registration or l iteracy requirements
 Rel ied on cour t injunctions to l imit voter discrimination

6. SELMA, ALABAMA
 1965: MLK leads a voting registration drive
 Met with violent resistance by whites, including law
enforcement
 Two civi l rights workers murdered
 Prompts Lyndon Johnson to fur ther action
 h t t p : / /www. y o u t u b e . c om/wa t c h ? v =A L y k 8 xOc 5 Z U

7. VOTING RIGHTS ACT 1965
 Appl ies to al l elect ions
 Chal lenged pol l tax
 Out lawed l i teracy tests
 Preclearance by DOJ
 Expanded over the years to
i n c l u d e “ l a n g u a g e mi n o r i t i e s ”