Thursday, June 6, 2013

What did the civil rights legislation of the 1960s do?

There were several pieces of legislation in the 1960s that dealt with the topic of civil rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public accommodations. This included places like theaters, restaurants, and sports arenas.


In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed. This law made it illegal to deny anybody the right to vote if they couldn’t pass a literacy test. Federal workers also helped register voters. The Justice Department also began to investigate the use of poll taxes in state elections.


In 1968, another major civil rights law was passed. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made it illegal to discriminate in the selling of houses or the renting of apartments based on the race, religion, national origin, or sex of a person. African-Americans, Hispanics, and people of various religious groups often weren’t allowed to buy a home or rent an apartment wherever they wanted before this law was passed.


These three laws were major laws that dealt with civil rights in the 1960s.

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