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Moments In Black History

A Voting Rights Chronology: 1870 to the Present

1870 15th Amendment to the Constitution grants voting rights to African American males.

1905 The Niagara Movement is born

1920 19th Amendment grants women the right to vote.

1957 President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1957, primarily to protect voting rights by establishing a Civil Rights Division within the Justice Department and a U. S. Civil Rights Commission to investigate cases of denial of civil rights.

1960 President Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Federal court ends restrictions against voting by Blacks in Fayette County, Tennessee.

1962 Fannie Lou Hamer becomes a leading advocate for voting rights as a voter registration field worker.

1963 After 3rd attempt to register to vote, Fannie Lou Hamer passes required literacy test in Mississippi.

1964 Poll taxes are outlawed in federal elections after passing of 24th Amendment to the Constitution. Civil Rights workers, James E. Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman are murdered while helping with voter registration in Mississippi.

1964 Exclusion of Blacks from regular Democratic Party gives birth to alternative party, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

1965 Voter registration drive, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., opens in Selma, Alabama and throughout the state. 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama contributes to the passing of the Voting Rights Act.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Right Act into law.

Civil Rights workers, Jimmy Lee Jackson, Viola Liuzzo and the Reverend James Reeb are murdered for their efforts to ensure equal voting rights.

Summer Community Organization and Political Education Program founded by SCLC attempts to register Black voters in 50 counties within the South.

1970 Voting Rights Act of 1965 is renewed.

1971 Voting age is lowered to 18 after the passing of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.

1982 Reverend Joseph Lowery of SCLC organizes a campaign retracing the march from Selma to Montgomery to prevent the Reagon Administration from making sweeping changes to major strides in the Voting Rights Act.d)

Constitution Day

Photo by Kevin Lamarque / Reuters. Keystone Pipline signing. www.http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-donald-trump-s-executive-orders-n720796

Essays on the Origin of the Constitution

A More Perfect Union: The Creation of the U.S. Constitution An introduction to the U.S. Constitution based on Robert Bruns' book of the same title.
The Evolving Constitution This article from the CQ Encyclopedia of American Government provides an overview and commentary on the evolution of the Constitution from the the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, to the ratification of the Constitution and the first ten amendments (known as the Bill of Rights).
The Federalist Papers - The Library of Congress provides the full text of the 85 essays written to encourage the ratification of the Constitution.
Primary Documents in American History - A copy of the Constitution with marginal notes by George Washington is included in the Library of Congress' virtual collection.
The Signers of the Constitution - Biographical sketches of the 39 men who framed the U.S. Constitution.
An Introduction to the U.S. Constitution The essay by Epstein and Walker, in Constitutional Law for a Changing America, discusses the underlying principles of the Constitution, including some of the biases of the men who framed the document.

Government Book Talk

GovBookTalk from the Government Publishing Office (GPO) highlights some of the best publications from the Federal Government, past and present. Below are a few of the recent topics:

Jul 23, 2017