Black Suffrage
The term "black suffrage" refers to the rights of black people to vote. This has been especially contentious in various nations that were established under policies of white supremacy. In many nations where black suffrage has been an issue, it has been resolved through the independence of the country from colonial rule. In others, the process has gone on through legal and constitutional change. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on Black Suffrage that follows your guidelines.
Therefore, it seems that black suffrage has been resolved through either one of the following two ways:
- Through constitutional change
- Through independence gained when governments changed hands, usually from colonial rule to independence, as in the case of South Africa
Black Suffrage and Great Britain
One of the earliest movements towards black suffrage came in Great Britain, where the London Corresponding Society began urging expanded suffrage beginning in 1792. It was not until the passage of the British Nationality Act of 1981 when all citizens of the British Commonwealth were guaranteed equal voting rights.
According to THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, IN South Africa, black suffrage was heavily restricted during the period when the nation was governed by Apartheid. Black South Africans were restricted to separate voter rolls beginning in 1936 and several attempts were made to completely disenfranchise black voters until the end of Apartheid in 1994.
In the United States, slavery was institutionalized until 1865. Black men were granted the right to vote following the Civil War, but many restrictions were put in place in Southern states until the middle of the 20th century. Women, white or black, were not given the right to vote until 1920. It was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that finally outlawed voter registration requirements that kept many blacks from voting.