During the time period 1800-1850, the government would start a new political movement towards democracy. This would include Jackson’s movement for Universal White Male Suffrage and a fight towards women's rights. The government would seem like it was evolving towards greater good, but black people would still be treated lower. We often overlook white supremacy and its outcome throughout history, dismissing other people of color’s struggles. Democracy is defined as “a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system” , but what does it really mean to have a government ran “by the people” ? President Andrew Jackson wanted all white men to have the right to vote. Back then only the wealthy men could vote, this discluding poor white farmers and lower class politicians, led to “ Universal White Male Suffrage” since most black men were still secluded. The oppression of non privileged white people during the 1800s was short yet the fight for black people to have proper equality is still going. In 1856 the right for all white men to vote was established, and in 1876 the 15th Amendment was passed stating “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or …show more content…
The abolition movement to end slavery began in 1830, which overtime attracted numerous activist to participate in the movement. Some activist took a non violent role such as Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who taught himself to read and write. Other activist took a violent role such as Nat Turner who escaped slavery and beat his, and many other, white slave masters. The abolition went on for decades, not ending until 1850. Although the fight to end slavery started in 1830, slavery wasn’t emancipated until 1963. During this time, white men and women were granted their “equal”
Finally, with the ratification the fifteenth amendment in 1870s, it secured the vote for the African Americans, and it forbid states from denying any citizens from the right to vote based on race, color, or “previous condition of servitude.” These three amendments were significant changes during the Reconstruction period because all people, not just white, can fully enjoy being an American citizen without worrying over their race or
To gain support, they gave the allusion to the less powerful that the power was equally distributed. Right after the constitution, voting was basically exclusive to Protestant, land-owning white men. It wasn’t until 1856 when North Carolina was the last state to lift its property requirements for voting. Even then it wasn't until the 15th Amendment in 1869 and the 19th Amendment in 1919 than let all men and then all women vote.
African Americans were discriminated against at the time and were not allowed to share anything with white people and that also meant they were not allowed to vote. After several years of fighting for equal rights among all men the 15th amendment was
‘‘Brown tried to get Douglass to join him countless times in his physical escapades but Douglass refused. (Wu page 55) Slavery was eventually abolished in 1865. Douglass then started campaigning for blacks to have the right to vote. After years of devoting his life to antislavery he then started devoting it towards equality between blacks and whites. The 15th amendment was passed in 1870 which gave blacks the right to vote.
Over the course of many years, many groups of people have had to fight to win the freedom of voting. Starting with the 14th Amendment ratified on July 9th, 1868, gave citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States' which included former slaves, this Amendment was a step towards giving the "free slaves" more freedoms. On February 3rd, 1870, the 15th Amendment is ratified into the Constitution, this Amendment gave African-American men the right to vote. After fighting for many years for citizenship, finally winning and then being given the right to vote was a major win in the African-American society. Almost 50 years later on June 9th, 1919 Women won the right to vote.
The language of the law in a handful of states even specifically mentioned that a qualification to vote was to be white and a land owner. It wasn’t until the Emancipation Proclamation that black men had hopes of having the same rights as their white counterparts and it was not until after the war where black suffrage laws were passed. Post-civil war America took leaps and bounds forward for African Americans. Three important documents for the recently freed slaves were the 13th (1865), 14th (1868), and 15th amendment (1870). These were the first amendments added to the U.S. constitution in 60 years and were known as the Civil War Amendments (Landmark).
According to Merriam-Webster, equality is defined as the quality or state of being equal. All men were not equal during westward expansion due to the dehumanization of Native Americans and the lack of freedom given to African Americans. While capturing more land, settlers ran into their first problem, Native Americans.
Looking back in the history of the United States of America, African American were given the right to vote on February 3, 1870 by the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Even though they were given the right to vote they were placed under undue pressure to keep them from voting. Tactics such as, violence, literacy tests, poll taxes, ridiculous registration practices, Voters ID, Redistricting, and other obstacles were used. This was especially done in the South where slavery was popular. Many African Americans experienced violence and were even murdered to prevent them from voting.
Even though it was only white men who voted, the voting process had already begun all so long ago. These rights are now truer than ever. After so many suffrage movements, protests, and fights for rights, everyone is equal no matter gender or color. In present day United States, every man or women of any color can vote, own property, have a position in government, and just have the same rights as everyone else. Equality and the rights of the people are ever so present when citizens are voting for our representatives, presidents, senators, etc.
The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the
Women and the Abolition movement of the Nineteenth Century. Although the Women’s Rights Movement started as a fracture in the Abolition Movement of the early nineteenth century, neither movement would have made nearly as much headway without women at their core. Most women involved in the Abolition Movement in its beginning were wives, daughters and sisters of prominent members of society in the Northern states. They were women who organized and formed local anti-slavery societies where they lived.
Moreover they were able to own their own houses, trade their crops, and even divorce. While women were responsible for harvesting, building, healing, and raising children, on the other hand the men’s role was to hunt, make weapons, fight, and handle political and religious deals. Correspondingly these deals, and wars were mainly because of controversy between white
It was aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. Many people look back to the civil rights movement to see people like to see people like Martin Luther King, and Robert Williams and so many others that wanted to see change for minorities in America. They fought for their rights every day of their lives like so many others and
Equality did although begin to spread to many of the white men. America’s “very structure permitted and encouraged people to define themselves and their interests and to pursue those interests, even against the greatest odds and at the risk of their own lives, fortunes, and honors.” Equality of promising opportunity became a precisely followed ideal. As citizens started rejecting the class-based society of England, more people began to consider themselves in the middle, not rich and not poor.
It’s a fact that black men who, who were continuously persecuted by whites, were able to gain their right to vote long before any female in the United States of America. According to Anne Firror Scott in