6th August 1965: Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law during the height of the Civil Rights movement

**Scott Allsop** (0:00)
On the 6th of August 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Welcome to HistoryPod.
The 15th Amendment of 1870 prohibited denying the vote on the basis of race, but many states introduced measures such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and complex registration procedures that disproportionately prevented African Americans from voting. Intimidation, violence, and economic reprisals were also used to discourage voter registration, particularly in the Deep South. Civil rights organizations led campaigns to challenge these barriers. In Alabama, peaceful demonstrators attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery, but were attacked by state troopers in an incident that became known as Bloody Sunday. Television coverage of the violence prompted widespread public reaction, and strengthened support for comprehensive voting rights legislation. President Johnson responded by urging Congress to pass a law guaranteeing equal access to the ballot. The Voting Rights Act outlawed literacy tests, and authorised federal officials to oversee voter registration in jurisdictions with a history of discrimination. It also required certain states and local authorities to obtain federal approval before changing their voting laws, helping to prevent new forms of discriminatory practice. This resulted in a substantial increase in voter registration and political participation among African Americans in the years that followed.
Although some of its provisions have since been modified or limited through later court decisions, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 remains one of the defining pieces of civil rights legislation. It strengthened federal enforcement of voting rights and reshaped the electoral landscape of the United States.