Civil Rights Actions and Legislation

With help from the NAACP and the Supreme Court, African Americans fought for equal rights, and saw immense changes in American society. President Johnson played a key role in the passage of two major legislative acts, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended discrimination based on gender, race, religion and national origin, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ended unlawful acts like literacy tests for elections. The American's With Disabilities Act was also passed to provide reasonable accommodations to anyone with a physical or mental condition that limits his or her abilities.