Explain the history of voting rights. How were blacks discriminated Essay

Explain the history of voting rights. How were blacks discriminated against what where some of the methods used to obstruct them from voting - Essay Example The 14th Amendment saw citizenship being granted to American immigrants making them equal with others. The 15th Amendment gave only adult men, both black and white, the right to vote. However, women were still restricted from voting. The same year, 1869, when the 15th Amendment was made witnessed the emergence of Black Codes which were chiefly laws that were restrictive of the freedom of African Americans (Hayduk 77). The right to vote was one of the crucial freedoms that African Americans were deprived and understanding the history of the same is critical. With women still being restricted from voting, activists on the rights of women that were to be seen in the liberation of the sex were common in the late 1880s. The Seneca Falls Convention that was held in 1848 saw activists contest for the right of women to vote (Hayduk, 47). The 19th Amendment of 1920 was a promise that was meant to see the liberation of women and their eventual right to vote. The breakthrough was witnessed in 1965 with the enactment of the federal Voting Rights Act. Here, Dr. Martin Luther King and other activists aimed at registering voters and eliminate barriers that obstructed the same. Several methods were used by Whites to prevent African Americans from voting. Literacy tests were widely used to sieve African Americans as the same group of people could not access an education. African Americans failed these tests making them ineligible to vote (Hayduk 53). The use of poll taxes was also extremely effective as Black people were slaves and had no money to pay as fees. This saw many African Americans being left out of the poll as they were with no money. Locations of polls were only known to whites as blacks were kept in the dark regarding were to cast their votes. In most cases, these polling stations were manned by armed guards and were classified making it exceedingly difficult for African Americans to access the same. Black codes also emphasized