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The 24th Amendment Facts & Worksheets

In an effort to remove discriminatory laws left over from slavery, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed. Forms of discrimination were still evident in some laws, however, and so the 24th Amendment was passed as well.

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Imagine that you’ve reached the age of being allowed to vote for your first election, but there’s a catch: you have to pay for it. Decades ago, citizens in some states had to pay what was called the poll tax in order to vote. This was to keep low-income citizens from taking part in elections, particularly African American citizens.
In an effort to remove discriminatory laws left over from slavery, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed. Forms of discrimination were still evident in some laws, however, and so the 24th Amendment was passed as well. An amendment is an alteration or addition made to a constitution, statute, legislative bill, or resolution.

See the fact file below for more information on the 24th Amendment or alternatively, you can download our 23-page The 24th Amendment worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

FIGHT FOR EQUAL CIVIL RIGHTS

  • The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865) was brought upon by the tension between northern and southern states in the mid-19th century. The economy of states in the North depended on small-scale farms while southern states’ economy depended on the labor of Black slaves. The Civil War had been successful in abolishing slavery, but not discrimination against Black people.
  • The Reconstruction period (1865-1877) followed after the Civil War. The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were victorious events in establishing equal rights for all during the Reconstruction period.
  • The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, ratified in December 6, 1865.
  • The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which granted citizenship to people born or naturalized in the United States, and gave equal protection to all citizens.
  • The 15th Amendment granted people the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous servitude, ratified in 1870.
  • The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded in 1865 in Tennessee, a secret club that terrorized Black communities and promoted white supremacy. Members of the KKK varied from different classes, including even people in the government. A similar group also emerged in Louisiana in 1867, called the Knights of White Camellia.

RACIAL SEGREGATION

  • Oppression of the Blacks was evident in different scenarios aside from suffrage. Jim Crow laws were laws that enforced racial segregation. They denied African Americans jobs, education, suffrage, and other opportunities. They existed from the post-Civil War era to 1968.
  • Public places were segregated, such as theaters and restaurants. Utilities such as bus and train station waiting rooms, building entrances, cemeteries, phone booths, hospitals, and jails were also segregated.
  • Ida B. Wells, a teacher from Memphis, became a well-known activist after she refused to leave a first-class train car that was supposed to be for white people only. Wells was forcibly removed from the train. She was able to successfully sue the railroad, though the decision was later reversed by a higher court.
  • Charlotte Hawkins Brown was the first Black woman to establish a Black school in North Carolina, and was also an activist against Jim Crow laws.
  • Isaiah Montgomery had a different approach in the battle for equal rights; Montgomery created the town of Mound Bayou in Mississippi for Black people. It still exists today and is still almost 100% Black.
  • The American civil rights movement became prominent in the United States in 1954 to 1968 to fight against racial segregation and discrimination. Black Americans aimed to gain equal civil rights under the law. The movement roots from the efforts of African slaves and their descendants in resisting racial oppression and abolishing slavery.
  • Through non-violent protest, the civil rights movement was able to eliminate public facilities’ pattern of segregating by race.

DISCRIMINATION IN PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO VOTE

  • When the Constitution of the United States was ratified, qualifications for voter eligibility were not specified and were up to the states. At the time, only property owners had the right to vote in most states.
  • It was not until 1870 and the 15th Amendment’s passage that former slaves were given their right to vote. The 15th Amendment guaranteed citizens’ right to vote despite their race.
  • The former Confederate states made additions to the requirements of being eligible to vote, such as literacy tests and not allowing convicted felons to vote, aiming to suppress Black voters. They were successful in this aim but these changes also burdened poor white voters.
  • Some states decided to levy a poll tax for voters, an amount they had to pay to be able to vote. This expanded voter eligibility from property owners to people who had the ability to pay the required amount, and gave all free white men the right to vote.
  • The poll tax, an amount of around $1-2 (worth around $20-40 today), was a hindrance to people who could not pay the amount.
  • States also made poll taxes cumulative – voters must pay for every election they had failed to pay taxes.
  • Still, the 1937 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Breedlove v. Suttles invoked their decision of requiring poll taxes, reasoning that states may determine who is eligible to vote, and emphasizing that it did not go against the 15th Amendment nor the 19th Amendment, which allowed people to vote regardless of sex.
  • Most states had abolished poll taxes by 1962 but they still remained in effect in five – Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. The civil rights movement greatly gained traction that time, and as poll taxes became evident to be hindrances to the voting rights of many, the 24th Amendment was proposed on August 27, 1962.
  • Despite the abolishment of poll taxes, indirect costs on voting continue to exist, such as the cost of acquiring documents to comply with voter identification laws, or ex-felons being required to pay prison debt to be considered eligible to vote.
  • Another effort in fighting discrimination against African American voters was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 being signed. It aimed to eliminate discriminatory practices that used to be done commonly to African American voters, such as literacy tests.

The 24th Amendment Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the 24th Amendment across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use The 24th Amendment worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the 24th Amendment. In an effort to remove discriminatory laws left over from slavery, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed. Forms of discrimination were still evident in some laws, however, and so the 24th Amendment was passed as well. An amendment is an alteration or addition made to a constitution, statute, legislative bill, or resolution.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • The 24th Amendment Fact File
  • Fight For Equal Civil Rights
  • Ida B. Wells
  • A Closer Look
  • Complete the Sentence
  • Your Vote, Your Voice
  • Looking Back
  • Voter Suppression
  • You’re Qualified!
  • Your Fight Is My Fight
  • Influencers That Matter

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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