Constitutional Amendments Affecting Voting Rights
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The 15th AmendmentThe 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870 granted African American men the right to vote.
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The 19th AmendmentRatified in 1920, the 19th Amendment gave American women the right to vote.
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The 24th AmendmentThis amendment, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes. The tax had been used in some states to keep African Americans from voting in federal elections.
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The 26th AmendmentRatified in 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age for all elections to 18.
The Fight for the Right to Vote in the United States
This video gives an overview of the United States Constitutional Amendments concerning voting rights and the challenges disenfranchised groups have faced.
Could you pass this test?
Voting Rights: Could you pass this test?
Literacy tests were used between the 1850s and 1960s to prevent the impoverished, African-Americans and other People of Color from voting. This sample is from a literacy test used in Louisiana in 1964. Students at Harvard couldn’t pass this test. Could you? (The complete test is here.)
