This collection uses primary sources to explore the Fifteenth Amendment. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This resource provides the text and a summary of the 26th Amendment (Reduction of Voting Age Qualification).

[Free Registration/Login Required] Historian-authored three-part overview looks at the history of voting rights in America, touching on all the critical moments in American history when voting rights were first denied then granted to women, people of no property, Native Americans, African Americans, immigrants, and other groups.

Learn of the events leading to The Voting Rights Act which was one of the most expansive pieces of civil rights legislation in American history. It greatly reduced the disparity between black and white voters in the U.S. by amending previous laws demanding literacy tests which favored the white voters. [1:27]

This page provides links to every step in the legislative process, from sources of legislation through publication.

A third grade class in Wuhan province, China holds debates for the election of class monitor in this segment from Independent Lens. This is the first time education on democracy has been allowed in the city of Wuhan (most populace city in central China). This is the first of two videos on the classroom debate. [5:16]

Did changes in state constitutions tend to affect the voting population? In this lesson, students discuss the general trend in the first half of the 19th century to extend the right to vote to more white males.

The rivalry between the Federalists and Republicans in the early days of the American Republic was bitter. What were the key positions of the parties? How important to the parties' positions were their basic attitudes toward constitutional interpretation (Federalists, broad interpretation / Democratic-Republicans, strict interpretation)? Which positions of either party resonate in the politics of today?

Some American citizens were never able to exercise their voting rights because of the poll tax. Learn about the intentions behind prohibiting poor Americans from voting, and how the 24th Amendment to the Constitution banned the poll tax.

This lesson plan from the Council for Economic Education for students, grades 9-12, examines the question of why many Americans don't vote. It interestingly ties the answer to some economic terms such as choice, cost/benefit analysis, and decision making. There is also a link to the student version of this lesson that can be followed on line.

Since 1948, the National Election Studies group has been polling Americans on public policy issues. Information is presented statistically and graphically on a wide range of topics involved in the "flow of public opinion and electoral behavior and choice."

In this activity students learn about literacy tests and other barriers that kept black Southerners from being able to vote. Students also take a 1960s literacy test from Alabama.

Need to make a choice about what to do? Friends can't decide what do? Use this video to understand how voting can be used to make a decision. Also, review counting in this video. [1:01]

In this activity, students analyze documents to arrange events on a timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline and documents will help students understand the intersection of social movements and constitutional change. This activity can be modified by reducing the number of documents. An optional Smartboard Notebook file is included to facilitate the activity.

Students research an age restricted privilege/right such as driving, drinking, and voting. Students conduct research to answer questions including: Why was the age limit for your privilege determined? When was it determined? Students use their research and their knowledge of the teenage brain's influence on teen behavior to participate in a formal discussion.

The efforts to secure African American voting rights in Mississippi are described within this resource. Anne Moody's, "Coming of Age in Mississippi", a four-part memoir recounts her childhood and young adulthood in racist rural Mississippi.

Students research archival material to examine nineteenth and early twentieth century arguments for and against women's suffrage.

Students explore a variety of sources for information about voting. They evaluate the information to determine if it is fact or opinion, and then create a graffiti wall about voting.

Contains plans for an eight-lesson cross-curricular unit that uses the history of voting to teach reading and research skills. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons as well as assessment and reflection activities.