Civil Rights
African Americans
The 14th and 15th amendments had not done what
they were to do. African Americans were not equal.
The South found unique ways to prevent African
Americans from becoming citizens.
Poll Tax – A tax to vote. Most were too poor to pay.
Repealed by the 24th Amendment (1964)
Literacy Test – Pass a reading test to vote.
Grandfather Clause – If your grandpa or dad voted,
then you could vote.
Plessy V Ferguson – Homer Plessy chose to sit in a
whites only RR car. He was arrested and charged
with breaking the law. He went to court basing his
case on the 14th Amendment.
The case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
The court ruled that the cars could be separate as
long as they were equal. The idea of separate but
equal was used for the next 60 years.
Jim Crow Laws – Laws designed to keep blacks and
whites separate. After the RR decision they were
applied to schools, hotels, movie theaters, etc.
Women’s Rights
The big push for women was the right to vote.
This is called Suffrage.
Seneca Falls Convention – 1848 Women met to
discuss their rights as U.S. citizens. They said they
should have the right to vote. It would take 72
years to get this right.
National Women’s Suffrage Movement – Susan B.
Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The goal
was a Constitutional Amendment so women could
vote.
In 1872 Susan B. Anthony voted in an election in
N.Y. She was arrested for “knowingly” voting for a
U.S. Representative.
The judge fined her $100. She refused to pay,
hoping the judge would put her in jail so she could
appeal the decision. The judge just let her go.
Eventually the 19th amendment was passed in
1920. Only one person from Seneca Falls was still
alive. She was 92 years old.