Voting Rights

As many of you already know, the right to vote in the United States was originally limited to white, male, landowners. As time moved forward and to build a stronger democracy, the franchise was spread to all white males, regardless of land holdings. As History has shown it would be a great many years before the franchise would be expanded, again. This time, in the aftermath of the Civil War, all men, regardless of race or history of servitude, were allowed to vote, though many would not be given the opportunity for generations to come. This issue, which we have discussed with Jim Crow, is the crux of this week’s lecture.

After Jim Crow legislation was passed and years of illegal infringement on the franchise led to the government requiring certain states to have any further rules or legislation on voting go through the Department of Justice for vetting. The first thing I want you to explore this week is the Voting Rights Act of 1965; yes, 1965, one hundred years after the Civil War: https://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws. The next is an article on a Supreme Court decision related to the Voting Rights Act: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/us/affirmative-action-lawsuits.amp.html. With these two items you will see the current fight against the conception of “preclearance”. Explore your ideas on this concept and its need in today’s country.