Voting: Rights and Responsibilities

Ready to vote

Overview

In this three-part lesson students use primary sources to explore voting rights in the United States. In Part I, students analyze two sets of documents to gain a deeper understanding of how suffrage has been both expanded and suppressed, developing claims about how voting rights impact equality. In Part II, students further analyze one of the documents from Day One before taking on the role of a congressional committee charged with amending (or not) the Voting Rights Act to require compulsory voting. In Part III, students write their answer to the Essential Question, informed by class discussion and primary source analysis.

Related Resources

Grade

High School

Subjects

Civics, Social Studies

Length

80-100 minutes

Topics

compulsory voting, congress, equality, legislation, poll tax, responsibilities, role play, suffrage, voting, voting rights, voting rights act, voting rights reauthorization act, woman suffrage

Author

Citizen U CRF

More Lessons

The Fight for Women’s Rights

By Emerging America

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer

By Tom Bober

Vaccinations, Science, and the Law

By Citizen U CRF

All the Way to the Top

By Tom Bober

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution.

By Tom Bober

The Declaration of Independence: Created Equal?

By Teaching with the Library of Congress

The Constitutional Amendment

By Primary Source Nexus

What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

By Tom Bober

Reservation Controversies

By Teaching with the Library of Congress

Absentee Voting & Voting by Mail

By Teaching with the Library of Congress

Selma & Voting Rights: Standing Up for Equality

By Citizen U DePaul

Signing the Declaration of Their Independence

By Primary Source Nexus

Race, the 14th Amendment, and Equal Protection

By Citizen U CRF

Making a Declaration – Beginning

By Our American Voice

Electoral College: Does Your Vote for President Count?

By Primary Source Nexus

Illustrating America

By Primary Source Nexus

Tactics in the March to Suffrage

By Primary Source Nexus

Equality Under the Law: Problems and Solutions

By Citizen U

Electoral College: Are All Votes Equal?

By Citizen U DePaul