Voter Suppression: 21st Century Style
What is a "Voter ID Law?
This kind of law requires voters to show some form of government issued picture I.D. at the polling place in order to vote.
Who called the First Reconstruction a "Splendid Failure?"
W.E.B. Dubois
What time period is the Second Reconstruction?
The Second Reconstruction, or the Modern Civil Rights Movement began in 1945 and extends to the present.
Name the two Presidential Candidates in the election of 1876
Rutherford B Hayes: Republican
Samuel J. Tilden: Democrat
Why has it been said that Voter I.D. Laws are a "solution looking for a problem?"
Proponents of Voter I.D. Laws say the intent of such laws is to prevent voter fraud. There is no strong evidence for widespread voter fraud problems in the United States.
According to the "splendid failure" theory, what is one reason the First Reconstruction did not fail?
What was the "Dunning School's" explanation of why Reconstruction failed?
Identify two ways the 14th amendment defined U.S. Citizenship
All Citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law
What did the Democrats agree to give the Republicans?
The Presidency, electing Hayes to the White House.
Which political party do Voter I.D. laws favor? Why?
Voter I.D. Laws favor the Republican Party, by making it more difficult for racial minorities, the poor, the young, the elderly and those with disabilities to vote.
Why were the First Reconstruction and its accomplishments so threatening to white supremacists?
The First Reconstruction proved that inter-racial democracy could succeed and that black people were fully capable of governing and leading.
Identify three lasting accomplishments of the First Reconstruction.
Public Education for all in the South
Strengthening of Black Churches
Strengthening of Black Families
What does the 15th amendment guarantee?
The Right for all male citizens to vote.
What did the Republicans give to the Democrats?
Republicans promised to remove the U.S. Army from the South.
What percentage of Americans is it estimated do not have a photo I.D.? Why is it hard for some of them to get one?
11%. They may have been born at home, birth certificates may have been lost, or names may have been misspelled in official records.
What name did White Supremacist Southerners give to white Republicans who traveled to the south to rebuild it and work for African American citizenship rights?
Carpet Bagger
Why was the fact that inter-racial government was successful, threatening to white supremacists?
White supremacists believed that African Americans were inferior to white people and that they could never work with whites as equals. Acknowledgment of successful leadership by African Americans would have discredited the racist viewpoint of white supremacists.
What evidence from the First Reconstruction do activists in the Second Reconstruction use to work toward full citizenship rights for all Americans?
Current Day Civil Rights activists state that they are merely asking the United States to live up to the promises it made in the 14th & 15th amendments:
Equal Protection Under the Law
The Right to Vote
How did removal of the U.S. Army from the South deal a death blow to Reconstruction?
Without the Army, there would be no protection against White Supremacist Violence to suppress the right to vote other citizenship rights from African Americans.
How Do Restrictions on early voting suppress voting rights?
In the United States, most voting happens on a work day. For people who work, it may be difficult to take time off from work to vote during the day or night. There are negative economic consequences for workers who miss a day of work, especially those who work for hourly wages.
What name did White Supremacist Southerners give white southern Republicans who worked with formerly enslaved African Americans and were proponents of full citizenship rights for all?
Scalawag