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Questions and Answers
The right to vote is a fundamental right in the _______________________ States.
United
The 14th Amendment was ratified in _______________________ and granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US.
1868
The 15th Amendment prohibited federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on _______________________.
race
Following the Civil War, African Americans had to fight for nearly _______________________ more years to realize their voting rights in southern states.
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Southern states passed a series of restrictive measures, including _______________________, to limit the freedoms of African Americans and disenfranchise them from voting.
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The women's suffrage movement gained traction nationally, with ______ being the first state to grant women full voting rights in 1890.
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The ______ Amendment granted women the right to vote in 1920.
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Between 1920 and 1930, only about 10,000 African Americans were able to vote in ______, out of a possible 370,000 eligible voters.
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The ______ Rights Act of 1965 banned the use of literacy tests and other barriers that prevented African Americans and other minority groups from voting.
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The ______ Act has been instrumental in increasing voter turnout and access to the polls.
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Study Notes
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The right to vote is a fundamental right in the United States, a cornerstone of democracy, and is granted to citizens aged 18 and above, residing in a US state or Washington, DC.
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Initially, the Constitution granted states the power to set their own voting requirements, which led to limitations on voting rights, primarily to white men who owned property, accounting for only 6% of the US population.
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During the early 1800s, the right to vote was expanded to include all white men aged 21 and older in most states, leading to a surge in voter turnout, reaching approximately 80% of the adult white male population in the 1840 presidential election.
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Following the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, granting citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US, but not explicitly granting them the right to vote.
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The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, but in practice, African Americans had to fight for nearly 100 more years to realize these rights in southern states.
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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, southern states passed a series of restrictive measures, including poll taxes, literacy tests, and the White Primary, to limit the freedoms of African Americans and disenfranchise them from voting.
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These measures were often designed to be intentionally confusing or discriminatory, such as the Grandfather Clause, which provided an exception for many white men who couldn't pay a poll tax or pass a literacy test.
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The women's suffrage movement gained traction nationally, with Wyoming being the first state to grant women full voting rights in 1890, but resistance remained in the southern region of the US until the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
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However, even after the 19th Amendment, restrictive voting laws continued to apply to African Americans, with poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency requirements making it nearly impossible for them to exercise their right to vote in certain states.
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Between 1920 and 1930, only about 10,000 African Americans were able to vote in Georgia, out of a possible 370,000 eligible voters, with less than 3% of eligible black voters casting a ballot during this period.
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The situation remained largely unchanged until the 1960s, when major voting rights legislation swept the country, including the 23rd and 24th Amendments, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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The Voting Rights Act banned the use of literacy tests and other barriers that prevented African Americans and other minority groups from voting, ensuring that any citizen over the age of 21 could vote in the US.
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Today, states still maintain some control over deciding who can vote, with some restrictions applying to convicted felons and those deemed mentally incompetent.
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The Voting Rights Act has been instrumental in increasing voter turnout and access to the polls, but challenges still remain, with groups such as young people, high school dropouts, and those living in poverty having lower turnout rates.
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To increase voter turnout and achieve a truly representative democracy, it is essential to address these disparities and ensure that all citizens have equal access to the ballot.
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Description
Explore the evolution of voting rights in the United States, from the early days of restricted suffrage to the landmark legislation of the 1960s. Learn about the struggles of African Americans and women to gain equal access to the ballot, and the ongoing efforts to increase voter turnout and achieve a truly representative democracy.
