Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts Nonfiction Reading Center
Directions:
Researchers often read secondary sources to gain some insight into various aspects of the time period or documents they are studying. Below are some questions to consider as you are working in this center.
1. Pick one reading to examine closely.
2. Read the piece 2 times if time permits.
3. Study the text features (headings, pictures, captions, text boxes). How do these help you better understand what you are reading?
3. Ask yourself:
4, Respond in your notebook, answering one of the questions above.
1. Pick one reading to examine closely.
2. Read the piece 2 times if time permits.
3. Study the text features (headings, pictures, captions, text boxes). How do these help you better understand what you are reading?
3. Ask yourself:
- What are the main ideas and supporting details?
- What does this piece teach us about the time period?
- Why do you think the author wrote this piece?
4, Respond in your notebook, answering one of the questions above.
Article: The New Laws of the Land, Cobblestone Magazine
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By the 1960s, activists had to look deep into the nation’s past to see evidence of the federal government’s support for civil rights. The last civil rights laws had been introduced in the years immediately following the Civil War (1861–1865), when the federal government took steps to protect former slaves in their new status as citizens. An 1866 act gave African Americans males the equal right to sue in court, to own property, and to be protected by the law. And the Civil Rights Act of 1875 affirmed the right of any citizen to use public accommodations. But these laws often were not enforced, and by 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court’s “separate but equal” ruling allowed segregated facilities.
Black citizens looked to the federal government to create laws that state and local governments would have to obey. They had spent years organizing protests, boycotts, sit-ins, and marches. Activists had been threatened, jailed, and murdered in the struggle to make civil rights an important issue. Horrible scenes of peaceful protesters being violently attacked had appeared on the news. Yet, in the 1960s, most southern states still refused to enforce desegregation. In 1964, the federal government took action. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Congress’ Civil Rights Act. This act made segregation illegal. It prevented discrimination in the workplace, as well as in education, housing, and in public places, such as hotels, theaters, and restaurants. It also banned discrimination based on religion, sex, or national origin, not just on race or color. Many Americans were denied equal treatment because of “the color of their skin,” Johnson explained moments before signing the bill. That “could not continue. . . . The principles of our freedom forbid it . . . [and] the law I will sign tonight forbids it.” The 1964 act’s effects were far-reaching and went a long way to protect civil rights in the country. But many state and local governments in the South continued to deny African Americans their voting rights. They administered tests that were designed to be impossible for black voters to pass, or they demanded payment of a fee called a poll tax at the voting booth. Congress responded with the Voting Rights Act, which Johnson signed on August 6, 1965. This law made it illegal for local authorities to impose tests or taxes as a way to prevent access to the polls. Today, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in the 20th century. And by the end of 1965, the Voting Rights Act enabled 250,000 black Americans to register to vote for the first time. Both these laws continue to ensure that all Americans will be judged by what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “the content of their character” and not by their race, their background, or their gender. |