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BackStory · August 7, 2015 · 55m

Give Us the Ballot: A History of Voting Rights

BackStory Hosts

The history of voting rights in America from the founding to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The hosts trace how the franchise expanded — and contracted — through constitutional amendments, Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement.

Canon

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Courage is learnable — voting rights activists faced death to register voters
In 1964-65, voting rights workers in Mississippi faced beatings, bombings, and murder. Their courage was not spontaneous — it was built through training, community support, and the example of earlier civil rights leaders.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini

Highlights

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Voting rights in America have expanded and contracted like a heartbeat, not a straight line
The standard narrative of ever-expanding rights is wrong. After Reconstruction, millions of Black voters were disenfranchised. Progress was followed by rollback, repeatedly.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini