Path To Universal Suffrage Essay Sample

The civil right movements in 1950s and 1960s in America changed the American democratic space. Since the attainment of independence, the Black Americans were treated as not full citizen of America. Such treatments lead to civil rights activist that resulted to significant changes in the democracy. These changes are the foundations that paved way for quick democratic changes that eventually saw President Barack Obama being elected.
Some of the notable changes in the 1960 are the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Legal obstructions and an increase public exposure of suffrage abuse in Alabama made the government seek to change the voting strategies. Although the bill was faced with a lot of opposition, it however pointed out the most fundamental aspect that had to be addressed. The voter referee bill was passed later with adjustments. Civil rights activist staged demonstration in various parts of USA throughout the rule of President Kennedy. With the continued rise of civil activists, the lawmakers and the politician could not hold long enough.
In 1964, more changes in the voting rights were changed through the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, the Act had various weaknesses. The 1965 Civil rights Act brought about more changes as it was made to ensure that the civil rights act regulation of 1964 were fully implemented (Salvatore, 2009 p. 69). Qualification to vote such as the levels of education and taxation were removed. Such lead to more freedom for the Blacks to vote in America. Civil rights continued that ensured that the rest of the minorities such as Indian could vote. The path for universal suffrage continued up to late 1980s. Eventually, universal adult suffrage i.e. voting that is not restricted to race, sex, sexual orientation, belief, gender, social status, etc. (Anand, n.d) was achieved. These changes had a direct impact that led to the election of Barack Obama as the first none-white president of America.

References

Anand S. (n.d.). Universal adult suffrage movement in U.S and U.k. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/5171265/Universal_adult_suffrage_movement_in_U.S_and_U. k
Salvatore S. C. (2009). Civil Rights in America: Racial Voting Rights. National Park Service. Retrieved from http://www.crmvet.org/info/nps_voting_rights.pdf