1965-1973+Kaylyn+Roe-Ebling

=﻿ Voting Rights Act of 1965 =

In the year of 1965 there were alot of great events, this event was the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act was passed on May 26 ,1965. It was signed into law on August 6, 1965 by president Lyndon Johnson.The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to protect and insure the right to vote that is guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Southren politicians tried to prevent blacks from voting by using a variety of devices, including litareacy and good character tests that were easily manupilated by poll officials. They took much harrassment, intimidation,economic reprisals, and physical violence,﻿ while trying to register to vote. As a result, blacks participated ﻿in voting and political activity in very low numbers in the area where such devices were employed. The VRA (Voting Rights Act) was also﻿ designed to eliminate the use of these devices as a means of preventing blacks form exercising their right to vote.

Features of the VRA.:
The most important provinces of the VRA are in section 2 and 5 of the document. Section 2 prohibits states from establishing voting qualifications or standards in a way that results in a denial of the right to vote on account of race. Section 5 requires states and other jurisdictions with a history of race discrimination in voting to obtain the approval of the United States Department of Justice before changing any law with regard to voting.The preclearance provision has a wide scope. It includes the redrawing of electroal districts that occurs after every national census, voter qualification rules, and changes in goverment structure. All of these changes have potential to weaken, or, in the words of the statue dilute the strength of minority voting. To prevent this, the statue requires Justice Department clearance before such changes an be put into effect.

CONSTITUTIONALITY:
The constitutional basis for the VRA is Congress' power under section 2 of the Fifteenth Amendment. Section 1 of that Amendment states that "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 states that "the Congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation. In debating the VRA, Congress uncovered a large number of examples of states violating the Fifteenth Amendment, and determined that guaranteeing the rights granted in that amendment justified enactment of the VRA.

The 15th admendment of the United States Contitution﻿:
The 15th admendment of the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the right to citizens of the United States or by any staet on account of color, race, or previous condition of servitude. Although the promise of the 15th Admendment was not recoginzed for almost a century. Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, the Southren states were able to effectivley disenfranchise African Americans. It took the passage of the Voting Rights Act in order for African Americans were registered to vote.

The Effect of the VRA.
This law had immediate impact on the economy. There were over a quater of a million blacks registered to vote by the year 1985. The VRA. of 1965 was readopted and strengthened in the 1970, 1975, and in the year of 1982. The VRA was a huge transformation in the United States, it shows that all Americans no matter what race should have the same rights and be treated equally. Race should not stop you from your freedom or becoming who you want to be. The VRA. was a major document of 1965 and has great power.

@http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html
@http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100

You are NOT to copy and paste doing any assignment. Much of this was just that--copy and paste. You know better than this. 80-CP