Section Outline

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

I. Abolishing Slavery

II. African Americans and the Right to Vote

III. Women and the Right to Vote

IV. Youth and the Right to Vote

V. The Voice of the People

Color Transparency: Number of Black Elected Officials in the South

Section Reading Support Transparency

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

Main Idea

Citizenship and voting rights have undergone

dramatic change in our country’s history. The

amendment process enables our Constitution to

adapt to a constantly changing society.

Key Terms

•Suffrage

•Poll tax

Our Enduring Constitution: Section 1Amendments 11-27

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Abolishing Slavery

•The Southern States— Feared collapse of their economy if slave labor was outlawed

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

•Tensions— Missouri Compromise, 1820: Divided new lands into “Free” and “Slave” territories

•Dred Scott Court Decision— The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property and not citizens.

Abolishing Slavery (continued)

•The Civil War— War fought between the Northern States (the Union) and the Southern States

(the Confederate States of America)— The Southern States wanted to be a separate country with their own weak

federal government.— 600,000 lives were lost during this conflict.

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

•The Thirteenth Amendment, 1865— Abolished slavery

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

African Americans and the Right to Vote

•The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868— Established that all persons born or naturalized in the United States qualified for

citizenship— This included African Americans and former slaves.— No state may “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process

of law” or “deny to any person…the equal protection of the laws.”

•The Fifteenth Amendment, 1870— Guarantees suffrage or the right to vote for all [male] citizens— No state may deny the vote to any person on the basis of “race, color, or previous

condition of servitude.”

•The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, 1964— Outlawed poll taxes or fees for voting— Some states used poll taxes to keep minorities from voting.

Go Online: Voting in the United States

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

Women and the Right to Vote

•Left Out— For the most part, women had been excluded from full citizenship and subsequent

rights.

•Women’s Suffrage Movement, 1848–1920— Seneca Falls convention: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men

and women are created equal.”

•The Nineteenth Amendment, 1920— Guaranteed suffrage for women

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

Youth and the Right to Vote

•The Twenty-Sixth Amendment, 1971— Lowered the voting age to 18— The voting age had previously been 21.— However, thousands of citizens between the ages of 18-20 had fought in foreign

wars to preserve the American way of life, and it seemed unfair that they could not vote.

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Our Enduring ConstitutionSection 1: Changing the Law of the Land

The Voice of the People

•Amendments— The ‘Framers’ of our Constitution were wise to include in it a process for changing

it, should the need arise.— However, a strong majority of representatives must agree on the proposed

changes.

There have been a total of 27 Amendments to the Constitution.

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Our Enduring Constitution: Section 1Color Transparency

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Our Enduring Constitution: Section 1Color Transparency

1. Which state had the highest number of black elected officials in 1970? In 1999?

Alabama; Mississippi

2. Which state gained the largest number of black officials during the period shown?

Mississippi gained the largest number of black officials.

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Our Enduring Constitution: Section 1Section Reading Support Transparency