The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868. It guaranteed equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. Although this was not the case as the years progressed. Many states in the south implemented rules such as a literacy tests, civics tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and violence. Many colored people’s voting rights were opressed up until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed. Despite the rights guaranteed by the 14th amendment, the racial discrimination going on at polls did not begin to change until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed.

A key force in this process were the multiple protests and …show more content…
This PDF shows the gargantuan increase in voter registration since 1960. In places like Mississippi many things were used to hinder the ability of colored voters. One of the things used to intimidate voters and prevent registration were the nearly impossible literacy tests given by the registrar. These tests were completely based on prejudice and first impression of the attempting voter. The chart shows reflects the intimidation, in that only 5% of the eligible black voter in Mississippi actually registered to vote. Five years later the Voting Rights Act was signed into law and 47 years later nearly 100% of the eligible black voters registered. This shows the immense progress that we have made throughout the years since the Voting Rights Act was implemented.

Although slow, the change that the Voting Rights Act has made has been dramatic. Without the Voting Rights Act the United States would be much farther back than it is today. This is because many states would have had the opportunity to continue oppressing black voters until something was done about it. From 5% of the eligible black voters in Mississippi registering to vote to the nearly 100% today America has completely flipped its situation, but we still have progress to