If the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which were passed almost 100 years earlier, guaranteed that African-Americans had the right to vote, why was legislation such as The Voting Rights Act of 1965 necessary?
1) States were passing laws that discouraged or disqualified African-Americans from voting but did not technically violate the Constitution.
2) These Amendments did not apply to voting in state elections.
3) After 100 years, an Amendment tot he Constitution is considered null and void if the country does not vote to reinstitute it.
4) This is a trick question, this legislation was not necessary.
I think that the answer is number 4. Am I correct?
I would agree with you.
No, the answer is actually number 1 - States were passing laws that discouraged or disqualified African-Americans from voting but did not technically violate the Constitution.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, which were passed between 1865 and 1870, did grant certain rights to African-Americans, including the right to vote. However, despite these amendments, many states in the South implemented various tactics to prevent African-Americans from exercising their voting rights.
These tactics, commonly known as voter suppression measures, included literacy tests, poll taxes, residency requirements, grandfather clauses, and other discriminatory practices. Although these practices did not explicitly violate the Constitution, they effectively targeted African-Americans and made it difficult for them to register and vote.
Therefore, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was necessary to combat these discriminatory practices and ensure equal and fair access to the voting booth. The Act provided federal oversight of voting procedures in areas with a history of racial discrimination and empowered the federal government to take legal action against any measures that were shown to have a discriminatory impact on minority voting rights.
So, in summary, while the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were intended to guarantee African-Americans' right to vote, the reality on the ground was that many states were implementing discriminatory practices that effectively denied African-Americans their voting rights. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was necessary to address these issues and safeguard equal access to the voting process.