African+American+Voting+Rights+and+NC+Constitution+Webquest

[|NC Constitution of 1776]

1. Read pages 8 & 9. What article(s) deals with voting rights? 2. What are the voting requirements to vote for Senators? 3. What are the voting requirements to vote for members of the House of Commons? 4. List the people you think are excluded from voting.

[|NC Consitiutional Convention of 1865]

5. Read page 22. What resolution did Mr. Shober propose? What resolution did Mr. Morehead propose? (Summarize in your own words.)

Shober’s Resolution: Morehead’s Resolution:

6. Skim page 23. What resolution was adopted?

[|NC Constitutional Convention of 1868]

7. Go to page 233. What are the requirements for suffrage?

8. How do they differ from the 1776 Constitution and the 1835 Constitutional Amendments? 9. Who is eligible for public office? 10. Who is disqualified?

[|15th Amendment of the US Constitution]

11. When was the 15 th Amendment ratified? What is this period of American history called? 12. What was the purpose of the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution? How did it achieve this purpose?

14. How did the 15th Amendment impact the NC Constitution?

[|North Carolina Constitutional Amendments of 1900]

13. Read Section 4. In your own words, what two things must a person do before being able to register to vote? 14. In your own words summarize the first paragraph of section 5. What is this type of clause called? 15. Explain how sections 4 & 5 intended to keep African Americans from voting?

[|Guinn vs. United States]

16. Scroll down and read the paragraph that starts “This case is before us on a certificate……” What were Oklahoma officials accused of doing?

17. Scroll down and read the paragraph that starts, “’But no person who was, on January 1 ,1866…..” Summarize the meaning of the Oklahoma law in one or two sentences. (Hint: If you are having trouble understanding the language, think of question 15 above.) 18. Read the paragraph directly below the previous one. It starts “We have difficulty…” According to the Supreme Court, how does the Oklahoma law disenfranchise some people without mentioning race or color? 19. Read the paragraph that starts, “No time need be spent….” According to the Supreme Court, are literacy tests valid and legal? Why?

[|Voting Rights Act of 1965]

20. What is the purpose of the Voting Rights Act? 21. Read Section 4c and 4d. What impediments to voting does this section eliminate? 22. Read section 10a and 10b. What impediments to voting does this section eliminate?

[|North Carolina Constitution of 1971]

23. Who may vote in North Carolina? 24. Who is barred from voting in North Carolina?

25. How did // Guinn v United States // and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 affect North Carolina law? What clause of the US Constitution made this possible?