Voting Rights Act

What did the 15th Amendment do?

• It aimed to overcome legal barriers within states that prevented African Americans from exercising their rights to vote.
• It prohibited states from denying a male citizen the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
• It aimed to create legal berriers within states that would prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote.
• It allowed states to deny a male citizen the right to vote based on race, color,or previous condition of servitude.

As described in the text, the Voting Rights Act was a solution created to address what problem?

• African Americans did not yet have the right to vote.
• Women did not yet have the right to vote.
• African Americans were being  prevented from exercising their right to vote.
• Women were being prevented from exercising their right to vote.

Read these sentences from the text:  "After the U.S. Civil War (1861-65), the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited states from denying a male citizen the right to vote based on 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude.' Nevertheless, in the ensuing decades, various discriminatory practices were used to prevent African American, particularly those in the South, from exercising their right to vote.
Although the Voting Rights Act passed, state and local enforcement of the law was weak and it was often ignored outright, mainly in the South and in areas where the proportion of blacks in the population was high and their vote threatened the political status quo."
Based on the evidence in the text, what inference can you make about the reaction many southern states have had civil rights laws?

• Many states in the South did not agree with civil rights laws, but followed them.
• Many states in the South encouraged and supported civil rights laws.
• Many states in the South did not respect nor comply with civil rights laws.
• Many states in the South did no care about or object to civil rights laws.

Why might the number of African American members in the House and Senate have increased between 1965 and 1971?

• The 15th Amendment required a higher number of African Americans in the House and Senate.
• The Voting Rights Act encouraged more white voters in the South to vote for African American representation in the in the House and Senate.
• The Voting Rights Acts gave African American voters the legal means to challenge voting restrictions, and the act vastly improved turn out.
• The Voting Rights Act has been amended to include such features as the protection of voting rights for non-English-speaking Americans.

Read these sentences from the text:
"During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, voting rights activists in the South were subjected to various forms of mistreatment and violence. One event that outraged many Americans occurred on March 7, 1965, when peaceful participants in a voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery were back.  Some protesters were severely beaten, and others ran for their lives."
Based on this evidence, what is the meaning of the phrase "subjected to" in this excerpt?

• protected from
• exposed to
• taught about
• encouraged by

What is the main idea of the passage?

• After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment prohibited states from denying a male citizen the right to vote based on race.
• Many states used various discriminatory practices to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote.
• The Voting Rights Act gave African American voters the legal means to challenge voting restrictions, and the act vastly improved voter turnout.
• The Voting Rights Act has been amended to include such features as the protection of voting rights for non-English speaking Americans.

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.
_________ African American men were given the right to vote by the 15th Amendment, various discriminatory practices still prevented them from exercising this right.

• Although
• However
• Primarily
• Including