Civil Rights

African Americans The 14 th and 15 th 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 Repealed by the 24 th Amendment (1964) Literacy Test – Pass a reading test to vote.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 14 th 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 19 th amendment was passed in Only one person from Seneca Falls was still alive. She was 92 years old.