Political status

Question 1

Topic sentence

Answer 1

The black civil rights movement also aimed to improve the political status of black people.

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

Even up to 1950, Southern State legislation was in place to deny blacks of their constitutional rights to vote through obstacles such as literacy and income qualifications.

Question 2

Evidence 1

Answer 2

Lyndon B Johnson was the American president from 1963-68, he was determined to make America a fairer place. In 1964 he passed the Civil Rights Act which included provisions such as banning exclusion from restaurants, stores and other public places.

Question 3

Analysis 1

Answer 3

This led to the the improvement of black Americans political status because as a result of this act black people gained more rights and were treated more fairly in America.

Question 4

Counter analysis 1

Answer 4

However some historians argue that the political impact of the 1964 civil rights act was limited because it did little to facilitate black voting.

Question 5

Evidence 2

Answer 5

Furthermore, Johnson’s administration passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 1965 following the BCRM campaign in Selma, Alabama. This act outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes.

Question 6

Analysis 2

Answer 6

This improved the political status of black people because the passing of the voting rights act ensured that political discrimination endured by Southern black people had been brought to an end.

Question 7

Evaluation

Answer 7

To evaluate, during the 1950s and 60s the political status of black people had been improved because they gained many rights from the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and historian Irving Bernstein describes this act as “a rare and glittering moment in the history of American democracy”. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also granted black people the right to vote because it outlawed literacy qualifications and poll taxes.