The Dark History of the Black Vote

Before the 1963 Voting Rights Act was signed, giving black people the right to vote has been a struggle beforehand. Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Abraham Lincoln permitted black men to vote in certain states. However, since black men were still slaves and considered as property, they could not vote. In Richard M. Valelly’s The Two Reconstructions: the Struggle for Black Enfranchisement, the states that actually allowed black men (only, excluded black women) to vote were Maine, Tennessee, and Vermont in 1789. In 1865, those states expanded to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. A year later, the “Radical Reconstruction” occurred. Congress passed the 14th Amendment to the constitution, which granted black people citizenship. The 15th amendment, however, “granted a new generation of black men the ability to vote” (May 2004; pg. xi) This “Radical Reconstruction” gave black people political freedom somewhat, but these freedoms were eventually reversed, and “by the 20th century black disenfranchisement , like economic and social segregation was complete in the south and remained unchanged for sixty years” (May 2004;pg.xi).

Valelly, Richard M. The Two Reconstructions The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement. University of Chicago Press, 2009.

May, Gary. Bending Towards Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy. Basic Books, 2009.