Voting Rights Act Research Paper

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The Voting Rights Act is an act that protects the rights of African American voters by banning the use of literacy tests and poll taxes. Since many African Americans could not read or write, they could not vote when literacy tests were used. Also, since most blacks were not making a lot of money, they could not vote when poll taxes were used. In that time, the only people voting were rich white men. A lot of African Americans were very upset that they were having their voting rights taken away from them.
On March 7, 1965, voting rights activists in Selma, Alabama were attacked with nightsticks, tear gas, and whips after they refused to turn back during a peaceful protest. President Lyndon Johnson was enraged. He didn’t want discrimination against black voters, and thought they should have the same voting rights as other white men did. Even African Americans with college degrees were turned away. On March 15, 1965, Johnson presented a speech to the Congress about how blacks were being denied their vote under the use of poll taxes and …show more content…

They made a law that banned the use of poll taxes. The Voting Rights bill was eventually passed on May 26, 1965. Afterwards, the House of Representatives passed the bill on July 9, 1965, and it was officially signed into law on August 6, 1965. Many voting rights activists were at the signing, including Martin Luther King Jr. By the end of 1965, over a quarter million black voters were registered to vote. After the Voting Rights act was signed into effect, many states were against it, and enforcement was weak. A lot of states just ignored the act because they knew that they would not get in trouble by any officials. The Voting Rights act had very little enforcement. This act was also amended many times. It was amended in 1970, 1975, and 1982. After the act was passed, the civil rights movement shifted their attention to helping blacks trapped in

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