Timeline & Context: The Voting Rights Act (VRA)
Pre‑1965 Roots & Antecedents 1789 / Early Republic: Voting qualifications left to states; many restricted voting to white male property owners. 1865–1870: 15th Amendment ratified to prohibit voting discrimination by race; Southern states soon undermined it with poll taxes and literacy tests. 1896 onward: Grandfather clauses and similar tools drastically reduced Black voter registration in…