History of Voting Rights

By jmultani

  • 15th Amendment

    Grants African American men the right to vote
  • Period: to

    History of Voting Rights

  • Plessy v. Ferguson

    The state can seperate races as long as both sides get equal rights and begins the segregation in the South.

  • Grandfather Clauses

    Louisana is the first state to pass the grandfather clause. As a result, registered black voters drops from 44.8% in 1896 to 4.0% four years later. Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama and Virginia follow Louisiana in enacting this barrier.

  • NAACP

    The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded by W.E.B Du Bois, Jane Addams, John Dewey and others.

  • Voting Rates

    Only 3% of African Americans in the South are franchised. Jim Crow laws are designed to segregate and deprive African Americans equality with whites.

  • Poll Taxes

    24th Amendment bans poll taxes.

  • Selma March

    500 marchers are attacked by state and local police departments.

  • VRA of 1965

    President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ensuring franchise to all Americans citizens.

  • Contemporary Relevance

    The Supreme Court strikes down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.