1. Objectives By the end of this lesson, I will be able to…
Identify the laws and amendments that altered U.S. voting laws
Identify obstacles to voting
Determine whether individuals living at various times in U.S. history would have been able to vote

2. Voting Rights

3. Voter handbook
Due Monday, November 6

4. TimeLine of Suffrage
1789
Originally, only adult white male landowners could vote
Got this idea from England
The idea was that only landowners were responsible enough to make decision
Federalists supported this
James Madison; elitists

5. Out of the voting Process!
This left…
Poor White Males
Women
Native Americans
Africans (free and slave)
Young People
Out of the voting Process!

6. Independence and Voting
The framers couldn’t decide on who should be able to vote
Left it up to the states to determine voter qualifications

7. Timeline of Suffrage
Over time, states began dropping the property requirement
New York dropped it in 1821
Rhode Island didn’t change until 1880

8. Who is left out now? Poor White Males Women Native Americans
Africans (free and slave)
Young People

9. Timeline of Suffrage The African American Vote
The 15th Amendment
The right to vote cannot be denied based on race
This amendment wasn’t always followed
More on that in a minute

10. Who is left out now? Poor White Males Women Native Americans
Africans (free and slave)
Young People

11. Can I vote?
WHY?
The year is I am a single African American Man living in Chicago, Illinois.
Yes!
No!

12. Timeline of Suffrage
Wyoming gave women the right to vote in state elections in 1869
Women received the national right to vote in 1920
The 19th Amendment
Voting cannot be denied based on sex

13. Who is left out now? Poor White Males Women Native Americans
Africans (free and slave)
Young People

14. Can I vote?
WHY?
The year is I am a woman living in new York City. I am 25, married, and have two children.
Yes!
No!

15. TimeLine of Suffrage
Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1924
Along with citizenship, the right to vote

16. Who is left out now? Poor White Males Women Native Americans
Africans (free and slave)
Young People

17. Can I vote?
WHY?
I am a native American living in Montana in the year I’m 65 years old, married, have three children, and 7 grandkids.
Yes!
No!

18. Timeline of Suffrage
Residents of Washington, DC couldn’t vote for President until the 23rd amendment was ratified in 1961
Washington, DC still doesn’t have voting representatives in Congress

19. Can I vote?
WHY?
I live in Washington, D.C. just down the street from the White House. The year is I am a 35 year old woman with two children. Can I vote for president?
Yes!
No!

20. Timeline of Suffrage
In the 1960s and 1970s, many young men were drafted into the Vietnam conflict
The average age of a person in combat was 19 years old
The voting age was 21
In 1971, the 26th Amendment was ratified
Lowered the voting age to 18

21. Who is left out now? Poor White Males Women Native Americans
Africans (free and slave)
Young People

22. Can I vote?
WHY?
I just graduated from high school in Maryland, Class of 1972! I am 18 years old and just got drafted to fight in the war in Vietnam.
Yes!
No!

23. Voting is a civil Right

24. Voting as a Civil Right
After the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, many people in the South did not want African Americans to have the same rights as white Americans. This included the right to vote or hold office.
Jim Crow Laws
racial segregation laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the United States at the state and local level.

25. Barriers to African American Voting
Limited opportunities to register to vote
Arrest and beatings by police
Threats of violence toward voter’s family and home
Personal information shared with groups like the KKK and employers
Unfair tests at the polls

26. Poll Tests
This poll test asks voters to correctly guess the number of cotton balls in a jar before they are allowed to vote.
Other tests asked voters to guess the number of bubbles in a bar of soap!

27. Literacy tests type of poll test that was given in some locations
Voters were tested on their reading skills
white voters always passed while African American voters usually failed

28. Voting requirements in the south
Alabama
Louisiana
1) Read a section of the Constitution out loud.
2) Tell what the section says in your own words.
3) Write out another section of the Constitution.
4) Answer eight questions on the Constitution.
Voters who could not prove a 5th grade education had to:
1) Complete a 30 question test
2) Finish the test in 10 minutes!
Many African Americans in these states lacked a quality education, and the tests were meant to exclude blacks from the voting process.

29. Louisiana Literacy Test
Alabama Literacy Test
Louisiana Literacy Test

30. Other Barriers to Voting
The Grandfather Clause stated that you only had the right to vote if your grandfather also had the right to vote.
The Poll Tax required voters to pay for the ability to vote.
$1.50
1932 =
$23.00
Today

31. Can I vote?
WHY?
I am a 22 year old African American man living in the deep South in I work in the cotton fields and cannot read or write.
Yes!
No!

32. The Civil Rights Movement
Over time, more and more people demanded civil rights for all Americans.
th amendment is passed
Banned poll taxes
1965- Voting Rights Act
Reinforced the 15th amendment and forced the states to obey the constitution

33. Review Time!

34. Currently, Do you have to own land to vote in the United States?
Yes Or NO
All land ownership requirements ended by 1880!

35. Rhode Island was the first state to give women the vote.
TRUE Or
FALSE
Wyoming gave women the right to vote in 1869.

36. Forcing people to pay for the right to vote was called a _________?
Literacy
Test Or
Poll Tax
Poll taxes were used to keep poor African Americans from voting.

37. Are Native Americans US citizens?
Yes Or NO
The Indian Citizenship Act was passed in

38. The Voting Rights Act reinforced the 15th Amendment.
After the 15th Amendment, many states and counties still prevented African Americans from voting. The Voting Rights Act was written to remove these barriers.
True Or
false

39. Which war led to the passage of the 26th Amendment?
Many of the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War were too young to vote. The 26th Amendment moved the voting age from 21 to 18.
World War Two Or The Vietnam War

40. Are residents of Washington, D.C. banned from voting for the President?
Yes Or NO
The 23rd Amendment was passed in Now people can vote in D.C!

41. Voting Timeline Determine if your assigned part of the timeline is…
A date/people involved
A law or amendment
A fun fact
Find other people in the class that have information related to your piece of information
Place the correct information in the correct order on the timeline in the hallway

42. On your own…
Complete the “Can I Vote?” activity and turn it in!