The fifteenth Amendment extended the right to vote to African-Americans. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. The Twenty-sixth Amendment allowed citizens over the age of 18 to vote. Even after the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, African-Americans were still discriminated against in voting. One example is poll taxes which were levied on the right to vote that were often due when poor African-Americans had the least cash on hand. Therefore they could not pay in order to vote. Literacy tests were also issued to prevent African-Americans from voting because they were difficult and many of them were illiterate and could not pass them, thus preventing them from getting to vote. Another means to discourage African-American voting was the White primary. This permitted political parties to exclude African-Americans from voting. (Edwards 156)
Another way that African-Americans were discriminated against in regards to voting was the grandfather clause. Because many people were slaves for generations and generations, hardly any African-Americans had grandfathers who owned property. Without having a grandfather that owned property one could not vote, thus limiting African-Americans significantly in eligibility to vote.
Another way in which African Americans were discriminated against with regards to voting was with the use of violence. The Ku Klux Klan and many other terrorists murdered thousands of blacks to prevent them from voting. Many whites would threaten blacks if they tried to vote and if they went through with it anyway, public demonstrations were held including lynching, burnings, shooting them to death, or beating them to death.
Another way that African Americans were discriminated against regarding the voting process was through registration difficulties. Voting registration was often made cumbersome to discourage African Americans from voting. Re-registration was frequent and registration was purposefully held at inconvenient times, such as during the harvest, to make it difficult for blacks to come and register to vote.
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ReplyDeleteThe fifteenth Amendment extended the right to vote to African-Americans. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. The Twenty-sixth Amendment allowed citizens over the age of 18 to vote. Even after the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, African-Americans were still discriminated against in voting. One example is poll taxes which were levied on the right to vote that were often due when poor African-Americans had the least cash on hand. Therefore they could not pay in order to vote. Literacy tests were also issued to prevent African-Americans from voting because they were difficult and many of them were illiterate and could not pass them, thus preventing them from getting to vote. Another means to discourage African-American voting was the White primary. This permitted political parties to exclude African-Americans from voting. (Edwards 156)
ReplyDeleteAnother way that African-Americans were discriminated against in regards to voting was the grandfather clause. Because many people were slaves for generations and generations, hardly any African-Americans had grandfathers who owned property. Without having a grandfather that owned property one could not vote, thus limiting African-Americans significantly in eligibility to vote.
DeleteAnother way in which African Americans were discriminated against with regards to voting was with the use of violence. The Ku Klux Klan and many other terrorists murdered thousands of blacks to prevent them from voting. Many whites would threaten blacks if they tried to vote and if they went through with it anyway, public demonstrations were held including lynching, burnings, shooting them to death, or beating them to death.
DeleteAnother way that African Americans were discriminated against regarding the voting process was through registration difficulties. Voting registration was often made cumbersome to discourage African Americans from voting. Re-registration was frequent and registration was purposefully held at inconvenient times, such as during the harvest, to make it difficult for blacks to come and register to vote.
DeleteThe poll tax is another way that African Americans were discriminated against, since most African Americans were poor at the time.
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