Jonah Patel
The right to vote in the United States has been expanded over time through a series of constitutional amendments. The original Constitution did not explicitly protect the right to vote, leaving eligibility requirements largely up to individual states. The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, was the first amendment to explicitly grant voting rights, giving all male citizens the right to vote regardless of their race, ethnicity, or previous status as slaves. The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, extended voting rights to women, prohibiting states from denying the vote on the basis of sex. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, removed barriers to voting by prohibiting poll taxes, which had been used to disenfranchise African Americans. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 further secured voting rights for adult citizens of all races and genders, and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age to 18 for all elections. These amendments have played a crucial role in expanding and protecting the voting rights of different groups of citizens in the United States.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| 15th Amendment | Gave African American men the right to vote in 1870 |
| Extended voting rights to men of all races | |
| 19th Amendment | Gave women the right to vote in 1920 |
| Banned discrimination at the ballot box based on sex | |
| 24th Amendment | Eliminated poll taxes in 1964 |
| 26th Amendment | Lowered the voting age for all elections to 18 in 1971 |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | Prohibited voter discrimination based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group |
| Required certain places to provide election materials in languages besides English | |
| Extended voting rights to adult citizens of all races and genders | |
| Abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote and authorized federal supervision of voter registration | |
| 13th Amendment | Set free African Americans |
| 14th Amendment | Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States |
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What You'll Learn
- The 15th Amendment (1870) gave all men the right to vote
- The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
- The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes
- The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18
- The Voting Rights Act (1965) prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language
The 15th Amendment (1870) gave all men the right to vote
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution, ratified on February 3, 1870, granted all male citizens the right to vote, regardless of their race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. The official text of the amendment is as follows:
> The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The 15th Amendment was the last of the three Reconstruction Amendments, coming after the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the 14th, which guaranteed citizenship. The 15th Amendment was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and certified as part of the Constitution on March 30, 1870. The first black person known to vote after its adoption was Thomas Mundy Peterson, who cast his ballot on March 31, 1870, in a Perth Amboy, New Jersey, referendum election.
The amendment was a significant step towards racial equality in the United States, particularly in the context of the Civil War and Reconstruction Era. However, it is important to note that in practice, many African Americans, particularly in the Southern states, were unable to exercise their right to vote due to discriminatory practices and laws such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and the intimidation tactics of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan. This led to the overwhelming majority of African Americans in the South having little to no electoral power by the 20th century.
It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote were abolished, and federal supervision of voter registration was authorised. This act secured voting rights for adult citizens of all races and genders, ensuring that all men could truly exercise their right to vote.
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The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, granted American women the right to vote. The road to achieving this milestone was long and challenging, spanning decades of agitation, protest, lobbying, and civil disobedience. The campaign for women's suffrage began in the mid-19th century, with the amendment first introduced in Congress in 1878.
The text of the 19th Amendment states: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This amendment legally guarantees that women cannot be denied the right to vote based on their gender.
Before the 19th Amendment, voting rights for women varied across states. Between 1878 and 1920, supporters of women's voting rights employed various strategies to achieve their goal. Some focused on passing suffrage acts in individual states, with nine western states adopting such legislation by 1912. Others challenged male-only voting laws in court or used more confrontational tactics like picketing and silent vigils.
The House of Representatives passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate followed suit two weeks later. On June 4, 1919, Congress approved the amendment, and on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify it, securing its adoption into the U.S. Constitution.
While the 19th Amendment was a significant step forward, it did not ensure immediate and full enfranchisement for all women. In practice, it primarily benefited white women, as women of colour continued to face discrimination and voter suppression for several more decades due to systemic racism and discriminatory state voting laws. It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that crucial protections were extended to Black, Indigenous, and Women of Colour (BIWOC) voters, ensuring their right to vote was protected regardless of race or ethnicity.
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The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes
The 24th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting in federal elections. The amendment was a significant step forward in voting rights, as poll taxes had been used to restrict the voting rights of African Americans and poor whites, particularly in Southern states.
The concept of poll taxes has a long history, dating back to when governments used them as a method of taxation. In Colonial America, only property owners were allowed to vote. Over time, this transitioned to poll taxes, and voting rights were restricted to white men. Despite the 15th Amendment granting African American men the right to vote in 1870, many Southern states continued to use poll taxes and literacy tests to disenfranchise Black voters.
The 24th Amendment specifically addressed this issue, stating that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." This amendment ensured that Congress had the power to enforce this article through appropriate legislation.
The ratification of the 24th Amendment was relatively quick, taking just over a year from its proposal by Congress in August 1962 to its ratification by state legislatures in January 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson praised the amendment as a "triumph of liberty over restriction" and a "verification of people's rights."
While the 24th Amendment was a significant step forward, it only applied to federal elections. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 further strengthened voting rights by granting the US Attorney General the authority to pursue legal action against states that used poll taxes to discriminate in state and local elections.
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The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18
The 26th Amendment, which was passed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1 of the same year, lowered the voting age to 18. The full text of the amendment is as follows:
> The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The road to the 26th Amendment began in 1942, when Congress lowered the minimum age for the draft to 18. This discrepancy between the voting age and the draft age sparked a decades-long debate, with young men being sent to fight for their country while being denied the right to vote. This led to the youth voting rights movement, with the slogan "old enough to fight, old enough to vote". In 1943, Georgia became the first state to lower the voting age to 18, although this only applied to white youth due to the state's Jim Crow laws.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first president to endorse the proposal to lower the voting age, calling on Congress to "propose to the States a constitutional amendment permitting citizens to vote when they reach the age of 18". Opposition to the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s further renewed debates over lowering the voting age, as many conscripted citizens were being sent to fight in a conflict that they had no political authority to vote on.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon added a provision to lower the voting age in the extensions of the Voting Rights Act. However, this was challenged in the Supreme Court case of Oregon v. Mitchell, where it was determined that Congress could only lower the voting age for federal elections, not state elections. As a result, the 26th Amendment was proposed and passed by both chambers of Congress in March 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971. The amendment faced a few legal challenges in the following decades, but it ultimately addressed one of the larger domestic controversies that had emerged amid the Cold War.
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The Voting Rights Act (1965) prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that sought to address and prohibit voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language minority status. This legislation was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965, and it played a crucial role in safeguarding the voting rights of racial minorities, particularly African Americans, who had faced significant obstacles to voting in the past.
Prior to the VRA, African Americans in the South faced numerous barriers to voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes, and other bureaucratic restrictions. These discriminatory practices, often referred to as "Jim Crow" laws, effectively denied African Americans their constitutional right to vote, as granted by the 15th Amendment in 1870. Despite the significance of the 15th Amendment, which stated that voting rights could not be denied or abridged by any state "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude", the Supreme Court interpreted it narrowly, allowing discriminatory laws to persist.
The VRA of 1965 specifically targeted these discriminatory practices. Section 2 of the VRA prohibited any jurisdiction from implementing voting qualifications or practices that resulted in the denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race, colour, or language minority status. This section provided two key protections: firstly, it prohibited intentional discrimination based on race or colour, and secondly, it prohibited election practices that resulted in the denial of the right to vote for the same reasons.
Additionally, the VRA required certain jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination to obtain approval or "preclearance" from the federal government before making changes to their voting practices. This provision, outlined in Section 5, was designed to prevent further discriminatory voting laws from being enacted. The VRA also included provisions to ensure language accessibility for voters. Section 2 required certain places to provide election materials in languages other than English, ensuring that language minority groups could effectively exercise their right to vote.
The VRA of 1965 was a significant step forward in ensuring that all citizens, regardless of race, colour, or language, had equal access to the ballot box. However, it is important to note that the fight for voting rights did not end with this legislation. Even today, there are ongoing efforts to strengthen and protect the voting rights guaranteed under the VRA and the Constitution.
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Frequently asked questions
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. It states that voting rights cannot be denied or abridged based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".
The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote. It prohibits states from denying the vote on the basis of sex.
The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, removed barriers to voting by prohibiting poll taxes. The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age for all elections to 18.
