Chapter 25: How has the right to vote expanded since Constitution was adopted?

grandfather clause

A law that stated that a citizen could vote only if his grandfather had been allowed to vote. the law made it impossible for African Americans to vote because their grandfathers had not been allowed to vote.

civil rights movement

A social movement in the United State during 1950s and 1960s, in which people organized to demand equal rights for African American and other minorities. people worked together to change unfair laws. they gave speeches, marched in the streets, and participated in boycotts.

poll tax

A tax that voters in many states were required to pay in order to exercise their right to vote. these barriers were used until 1964 to prevent African Americans from voting.

literacy test

A test that requires people to prove that they are able to read and write. until 1964, thee tests were used in various states throughout the country to keep minorities from voting.

Nineteenth amendment

Added to the constitution in 1920, it gave women the right to vote.

Voting rights act

The act further protected the right to vote for all US citizens. it forced the state to obey the constitution . it made it clear that the right to vote could not be denied because of a person's color race.

Twenty-fourth amendment

The amendment adopted in 1964 that forbids the levying of a poll tax or any other tax on eligible voters in election for federal officials, including the president, vice president, and member of congress.

Twenty-sixth amendment

The amendment adopted in 1971 that says a state cannot deny someone the right to vote if they have reached the age of 18 and are otherwise eligible to vote. although eighteen years old had already been accorded the vote in national elections by Voting Rights Act of 1970, the twenty sixth amendment assured them the vote in all elections.

suffrage

The right to vote.

Thirteenth amendment

The thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially abolished slavery in America, and was ratified on December 6, 1865, after the conclusion of the American Civil War.

Civil War Amendments

The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to US constitution ratified after the civil war. the thirteenth amendment granted full citizenship to African Americans. the fourteenth amendments guaranteed the right to vote to men regardless of their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

register

To enroll one's name officially as a requirement for voting.

Fifteenth amendment

An amendment to the constitution that states that no person will have their life, liberty, or property taken away by the federal government without due process of law. this amendment protects your right to be treated fairly by the federal government.

Fourteenth amendment

An amendment to the constitution that states that no person-including people who are not citizens-will have their life, liberty, or property taken.