Extending the Franchise (Right to
Vote)
• Early Republic = property-owning requirements
• 1820s = universal (white male) suffrage
• Who is left out?
– Women
• 1848 Seneca Falls
– Racial minorities
• African Americans
“Settling” the Racial Issue: The
Civil War and Its Aftermath
• 13th Amendment: ends slavery
• 14th Amendment—three major parts to Section 1:
– “Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein they reside.
1. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States;
2. nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law;
3. nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Courts will later use the 14th Amendment to INCORPORATE the Bill of Rights
to the states—restricting state governments’ powers
• 15th Amendment: voting rights cannot be based on race
– Reaction to “Black codes” (keeping African Americans from voting)
Yet discrimination remained, BOTH in the North and South
•
1896, Plessy v. Ferguson established “separate but equal”
The Civil Rights Movement
--Demands for Civil Rights
Setting the Scene: 1947, Jackie Robinson—breaking baseball’s color
barrier
1954, Brown v. Board of Education
• NAACP brings case in Topeka, KS
• Court rules that “separate is inherently unequal…”
• Overturns Plessy
1955, The Montgomery Bus Boycott (what’s a boycott?)
• Buses in the south were segregated by law
• “de jure” segregation vs. “de facto” segregation
• Rosa Parks
• Boycott brought public attention, Supreme Court outlawed that
segregation as well.
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The Civil Rights Movement
--Demands for Civil Rights
1957, The Little Rock Nine
• Arkansas governor used National Guard troops to block entrance
to high school for 9 African American students who tried to attend
• President Eisenhower sends troops to enforce Court’s order.
Delgado v. Bastrop ISD
• Case that said that segregation of Mexican American children in
schools was illegal
The Civil Rights Movement
--Leaders and Strategies
Not a unified “movement,” but led by a collection of groups
I. Laying the Groundwork
• NAACP—National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (formed 1909)
• Used legal strategy to combat racism
• CORE—Congress of Racial Equality
• Used peaceful confrontation to gain awareness
II. The Philosophy of Nonviolence
• SCLC—Southern Christian Leadership Conference
• Founded in 1957 with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Non-violent protest
• Influenced by philosophies of Gandhi
• “Passive, non-violent resistance” to unjust laws
III. A New Voice for Students
• SNCC—Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
• Involved young people in the civil rights movement
The Civil Rights Movement
--The Struggle Intensifies
I. Sit-ins Challenge Segregation
• Sit in a segregated restaurant until you received service, were
arrested, or other
• Started at North Carolina A&T, 1960: Franklin McCain
II. The Freedom Rides
• 1961, CORE and SNCC organize integrated bus rides through the
South
• Wanted to forced integration of bus stations and restaurants
• Anniston, Alabama
• Birmingham, Alabama
III. Integration at “Ole Miss”
• James Meredith, an African American, wanted to enroll at U of
Mississippi
• Governor Barnett tried to block his entrance, President Kennedy
sent in federal marshals
• Meredith ultimately admitted
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The Civil Rights Movement
--The Struggle Intensifies
IV. April, 1963--Clash in Birmingham
• Dr. King and the SCLC organize marches and protests
• Met with violence from police
• Broadcast to the nation
• Dr. King jailed
• Protests in Montgomery were successful
The Civil Rights Movement
--The Political Response
March on Washington
• August, 1963: intended to focus support for civil rights legislation
in Congress
• 200,000+ people attended
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I Have a Dream” speech
Civil Rights Act of 1964
• President Kennedy assassinated 3 months after March on
Washington
• President Lyndon Johnson pushed for civil rights legislation
• Civil Rights Act of 1964—Federal Justice Department could
police:
• Prohibited discrimination in public accommodations
• Withheld federal funds from discriminatory programs
• Created EEOC to investigate charges of job discrimination
based on race, sex, religion, or national origin
The Civil Rights Movement
-- The Political Response
Delivering on the Promise
• Freedom Summer: 1964, 3 college students murdered in
Mississippi, trying to register African Americans to vote
• The Selma March: 1965, Selma, Alabama
• Voting Rights Act of 1965: federal government could register
people to vote
• 24th Amendment: No more poll taxes
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The Civil Rights Movement
--The Movement Takes a New Turn
IV. Tragedies of 1968
• April, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King travels to Nashville to organize
a rally
• Gave a speech to supporters at a church one evening
• Assassinated the next day
• Robert F. Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy, running for
president
• Reacts in Indianapolis
What about women?
• 19th Amendment, 1920 = right to vote (women’s
suffrage)
• Title IX (Title 9) = 1970s, extended educational
opportunities for women
• Equality? Kind of…
– Thumbs up--EDUCATION: Of the 15 – 24 year olds
enrolled in college/grad school in the U.S., 2007:
• 54% female, 46% male (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
–
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2007.html
• More women than men in college for some time
– Work to be done: WORKPLACE
• In 2007, women were paid 77 cents for every dollar men were
paid in similar capacities
Important Amendments and Legislation
CIVIL WAR
ERA
» 13th: no slavery
» 14th: equal protection, INCORPORATION
» 15th: no race in voting standards
» 24th: no poll taxes (1960s)
» Civil Rights Act of 1964
» Voting Rights Act of 1965
» 19th: women can vote (1920)
» Title IX: educational opportunities
for women (1970s)
RACIAL
EQUALITY
GENDER
EQUALITY
» 26th: 18 year olds can vote (1971—Vietnam era)
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