Twenty-fourth+Amendment

**The Twenty- Fourth Amendment** By Sam McCurley Per. 6 ** Background Information: **The Twenty- Fourth Amendment was passed by Congress August 27, 1962 and it abolished the poll tax in all states January 23, 1964. The Twenty- Fourth Amendment was the right of citizens of the U.S. to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax. It also states that Congress will have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment 24 talked about the poll tax. The poll tax was a tax portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census (as opposed to a percentage of income). It was adopted in the late 1800s to stop poor African Americans and whites from voting. Whites did not want to lose hold of the power they had on blacks and most forms of preventing blacks from voting was unconstitutional so Southern states invented the poll tax.

The video below talks about what the poll tax was and the how long the lines were to vote. The video is set in modern day, but the lines to vote in the 1960s were just as long as the lines to vote in today's world. media type="youtube" key="9EAyiA5Rmf0" height="344" width="425"

**Everyone involved included:** African Americans Poor White People Congress The U.S. Supreme Court All of the States

The goal of the twenty- fourth amendment was to eliminate paying for voting at polls so that everyone was able to vote, no matter race or economic status.


 * The Costs of Poll Tax: **

The poll tax was a different amount of money for each state. It was $2.00 for male voters in Massachusetts and approximately $1.50 in other states.

The Video Below talks about the Civil Rights Movement, but it also brings up how African Americans fought to vote freely. It wa hard for them to vote because they could only make minimum wage so they never had enough money to vote. media type="youtube" key="XypFpAZua4I" height="344" width="425" **The Prize, Players who Achieved Goals, Short Term Results, Long Term Gains:** The prize amendment 24 gave to Americans was the ability for everyone to be able to vote. It did not matter whether you were black or poor. The poor African Americans and poor White people achieved their goals by getting rid of the poll tax so they had the ability to vote. The short term results were that all people could vote. The long term gains were that more people had a bigger influence in politics. Everyone had a say in who they wanted elected into office.

**Importance of Event Related to Civil Rights Movement:** The ratification of amendment 24 was very important to the Civil Rights Movement in the way that everyone was able to vote so they were all one step closer to equality. Poor blacks and whites were no longer seperated from whites who could afford the poll tax. Everyone had the chance to express their political views.

** How Did People Influence Larger Civil Rights Movement: ** The people influenced the larger Civil Rights Movement by blacks not being seperated from whites. Blacks had as much of a say in politics as whites did and were able to have a bigger influence on who is elected into office. Blacks and whites voted together, which allowed everyone to get one step closer to achieving equality.

The Pictures below are of Evelyn Butts. She filed the first suit in federal court challenging the poll tax Virginia had created. On March 24, 1966 she had won her case. The Supreme Court ruled the poll tax was unconstiutional. People such as Annie E. Harper followed in her foot steps to try and abolish the poll tax in their own state.