Civil Rights and Voting Rights

Read the excerpt from an article written by President Barack Obama, reflecting on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law—breaking down legal barriers at the state and local level that had prevented African Americans and others from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Because of that law—one of our nation's most influential pieces of legislation—Americans who were previously disenfranchised and left out of the democratic process were finally able to cast a ballot. The law was designed to ensure that all American citizens, regardless of the color of their skin, had an equal opportunity to make their voices heard. How did the Voting Rights Act expand the ability of Americans to vote?

It made barriers like poll taxes and literacy tests that targeted African Americans illegal.

The Civil Rights Act was proposed by

John F. Kennedy.

Refer to the table. According to the yes and no votes shown in the table, who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

residents of Southern states

The "I Have a Dream" speech referred to which historic American document?

the Declaration of Independence

Civil rights activists challenged Southern voting laws because they conflicted with

the Fifteenth Amendment.

Read the passage. The first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction was signed by President Eisenhower in 1957. "No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate [for national office] . . . ." -Civil Rights Act of 1957 Based on the passage, what inference can be made about why President Eisenhower supported the Civil Rights Act of 1957?

He wanted to protect the rights of minority voters.

The governor of Alabama during the Selma voting rights marches was

George Wallace.

Refer to the table. What does the table show about how Congress voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957? Check all that apply.

More Democrats than Republicans opposed the bill. The majority of both parties voted in favor of the bill. All Senate Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

During the 1960s, a federal civil rights act became necessary because

it was the only way to end Jim Crow laws.

During the first Selma voting rights march on March 7, 1965,

marchers were attacked by police as they crossed a bridge.