Process Paper
Next Presidential election in 2016, we will be of voting age. That got us excited about voting rights in our country. As we researched about voting rights, we found several turning points, from the 15th amendment in 1869 which gave African American men the right to vote, to the 19th amendment in 1920 which gave women the right to vote. We ended up picking the Voting Rights Act of 1965, because we realized that it was this law that did what previous legislation could not; it worked. The local connection with President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law, along with a Supreme Court Case (Northwest Austin Municipality District vs. Holder) being about voting rights which originated in our neighborhood, got us even more interested in this topic.
Once we finalized the topic, we began researching by going to our local libraries and finding good videos, and websites online. Our first stop was the LBJ Presidential Library, where we met archivist Allen Fisher, who gave us an interview, and helped us find documents while we scoured through the archives. While on the University of Texas campus, we also visited the Tarlton Law Library, and the Perry-Castañeda Library. We interviewed many civil rights activists, and other experts in the field. On January 31st, we interviewed civil rights activist Andrew Young before attending his presentation at the University of Texas at Austin.
We liked the website category because it appealed to all of our interests. It allowed us to use a variety of multimedia. The Weebly platform helped our team because it allowed us to work from virtually any site, from at home, to libraries. A website seemed to best fit our project, since we would easily be able to post videos and quotes from the internet, increasing the diversity of our primary sources. We split up the pages amongst the team members for the initial research. As we went along the process we constantly rotated the pages, while also periodically working together on the project as a whole.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a turning point in history because it broke down discriminatory barriers such as literacy tests, and gave minority voters the voice they deserve in the political system. This law allowed for many minorities to be elected into office and allowed for the formation of coalitions. With representation, minorities were able to push forward issues they felt important and influence the decisions made. Aside from minority rights, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 also changed the political winds by its unique enforcement mechanism of allowing the federal government to intervene in the electoral process which was earlier only a state right. This law provided the benefits of voting and representation to all the citizens of the United States, and in turn transformed the government to reflect all of its population. With the Voting Rights Act of 1965, American democracy would truly hold up to its basic principles and reinforce that one vote is one voice.
Once we finalized the topic, we began researching by going to our local libraries and finding good videos, and websites online. Our first stop was the LBJ Presidential Library, where we met archivist Allen Fisher, who gave us an interview, and helped us find documents while we scoured through the archives. While on the University of Texas campus, we also visited the Tarlton Law Library, and the Perry-Castañeda Library. We interviewed many civil rights activists, and other experts in the field. On January 31st, we interviewed civil rights activist Andrew Young before attending his presentation at the University of Texas at Austin.
We liked the website category because it appealed to all of our interests. It allowed us to use a variety of multimedia. The Weebly platform helped our team because it allowed us to work from virtually any site, from at home, to libraries. A website seemed to best fit our project, since we would easily be able to post videos and quotes from the internet, increasing the diversity of our primary sources. We split up the pages amongst the team members for the initial research. As we went along the process we constantly rotated the pages, while also periodically working together on the project as a whole.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a turning point in history because it broke down discriminatory barriers such as literacy tests, and gave minority voters the voice they deserve in the political system. This law allowed for many minorities to be elected into office and allowed for the formation of coalitions. With representation, minorities were able to push forward issues they felt important and influence the decisions made. Aside from minority rights, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 also changed the political winds by its unique enforcement mechanism of allowing the federal government to intervene in the electoral process which was earlier only a state right. This law provided the benefits of voting and representation to all the citizens of the United States, and in turn transformed the government to reflect all of its population. With the Voting Rights Act of 1965, American democracy would truly hold up to its basic principles and reinforce that one vote is one voice.
Word Count: 500