Simone Lawson
Voting rights in the United States have been expanded over time through a series of constitutional amendments. The original U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1787, left the definition of voting rights to individual states, with most restricting the vote to white male property owners over the age of 21. The 15th Amendment (1870) extended voting rights to Black men, while the 19th Amendment (1920) enfranchised women. The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes, and the 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18. Other notable amendments include the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language minority status, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which authorized federal funding for elections and established the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
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What You'll Learn
- The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) gave voting rights to Black men
- The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
- The Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes
- The Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18
- The Voting Rights Act (1965) banned voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language (1820s)
The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) gave voting rights to Black men
The Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870, prohibits the federal government and each state from denying any citizen the right to vote based on their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This amendment was a significant step towards racial equality in the United States, ensuring that African American men, many of whom had been previously enslaved, were legally allowed to vote.
The Fifteenth Amendment was the third and final amendment passed during the Reconstruction Era, which followed the American Civil War. During this period, Congress engaged in repeated debates about the rights of millions of Black people who had been emancipated from slavery. The amendment was proposed as a compromise after more sweeping versions of a suffrage amendment had been rejected. It was also a fulfilment of promises made to African Americans, who had been granted citizenship by the Fourteenth Amendment.
The adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment was celebrated by Black communities and abolitionist societies, many of which disbanded, believing that their work was complete. Indeed, the amendment was considered a remarkable achievement, given the dominance of slavery before the Civil War. African Americans hailed the amendment as the nation's "second birth" and a "greater revolution than that of 1776", according to historian Eric Foner.
However, despite the protections offered by the Fifteenth Amendment, African Americans continued to face significant barriers to voting in the following decades. From 1890 to 1910, the Democratic Party in the Southern United States enacted "Jim Crow" laws and adopted new state constitutions that made it difficult for Black people to register to vote. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were some of the tactics used to suppress Black participation.
To address these ongoing discriminatory voting practices, President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress in 1965 to pass further legislation to uphold the Fifteenth Amendment. This resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was later extended and amended to strengthen voting rights and ensure federal supervision of voter registration where necessary.
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The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution, ratified on August 18, 1920, was a milestone in American history, as it granted women the right to vote. The journey to achieving this milestone was long and arduous, spanning decades of agitation, protest, lobbying, and civil disobedience. The campaign for women's suffrage faced fierce resistance, with supporters often subjected to heckling, imprisonment, and physical abuse.
The roots of the women's suffrage movement can be traced back to the mid-19th century, when organizations supporting women's rights became more active. In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention played a pivotal role by adopting the Declaration of Sentiments, which advocated for equality between the sexes and included a resolution urging women to secure the vote. Despite these early efforts, it wasn't until 1878 that the first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, played a crucial role in shifting public perception during World War I. By supporting the war effort, they argued that women deserved the right to vote as a reward for their patriotic service. The National Woman's Party, led by Alice Paul, employed more confrontational tactics, including marches, demonstrations, and hunger strikes, highlighting the contradiction of fighting for democracy abroad while denying it at home.
The suffrage movement gained momentum, and in 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support for the amendment. The amendment passed in 1919 and was officially adopted on August 26, 1920, after withstanding two legal challenges. The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised approximately 26 million American women, significantly altering the American electorate. However, it is important to note that the amendment did not guarantee universal suffrage for all women, as many African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American women were still disenfranchised due to discriminatory state voting laws.
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The Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1964, was a significant step forward in voting rights, explicitly outlawing poll taxes as a voting requirement. Before this amendment, many states had laws that restricted voting rights to those who could afford to pay a poll tax, which had the intended effect of disenfranchising African Americans and poor whites. This amendment ensured that the right to vote in federal elections could not be denied or abridged due to the failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
The concept of poll taxes has a long history, dating back centuries as a method of taxation. In Colonial America, governments initially restricted the right to vote to property owners, but later transitioned to poll taxes. As the nation expanded, some states gradually eliminated poll taxes, but others restricted voting rights exclusively to white men. The Fifteenth Amendment, passed after the Civil War during Reconstruction, changed this dynamic by extending the right to vote to African American men.
However, despite this amendment, several Southern states chose to reinstate poll taxes and literacy tests, specifically targeting African-American men. These measures effectively suppressed the Black American vote until the peak of the Civil Rights Movement in 1962, when Congress proposed and passed the Twenty-fourth Amendment. The amendment prohibited both Congress and the states from requiring the payment of a poll tax for voting in federal elections.
The ratification process for the Twenty-fourth Amendment was relatively swift, taking just over a year from August 1962 to January 1964. At the time of ratification, five states still retained poll taxes: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. While the amendment was a triumph for voting rights, some critics argued that it did not go far enough to protect Black voting rights in state and local elections. Nevertheless, it represented a significant milestone in expanding the electorate and upholding the principle of democratic inclusivity.
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The Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18
The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1971, lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. This amendment expanded voting rights to approximately eleven million new voters, reflecting a broader commitment to democratic inclusivity.
The push to lower the voting age was driven by the military draft during the Vietnam War, which conscripted young men between the ages of 18 and 21 to serve in the armed forces. This meant that these young men could be sent to fight and risk their lives for their nation before they were legally allowed to vote. The slogan ""old enough to fight, old enough to vote" gained traction during this time, reflecting the sentiment that individuals eligible for military service should also have the right to vote.
The drive to lower the voting age gained momentum in the 1960s, with increasing advocacy for youth suffrage. This was influenced by the rise of the baby-boom generation, increasing high school graduation rates, and young people's access to political information through new technologies. In 1970, the Voting Rights Act was amended to include provisions for 18-year-olds to vote in federal elections, further solidified by the Twenty-sixth Amendment in 1971.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment faced legal challenges, particularly regarding its interpretation and applicability in various contexts. For example, there have been questions about how a college student from out-of-town is represented at the polls and if the amendment extends to other political institutions such as serving on a jury. Despite these challenges, the amendment stands as a significant milestone in American electoral policy, reflecting evolving societal views on youth civic engagement.
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The Voting Rights Act (1965) banned voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language (1820s)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that sought to address racial discrimination in voting, which had been pervasive in the country's history. The Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965, and was a direct response to the discriminatory voting practices that emerged in many southern states following the Civil War.
African Americans in the South faced significant obstacles to voting, including poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions designed to deny them the right to vote. They also faced harassment, intimidation, economic reprisals, and even physical violence when attempting to register or vote. As a result, African-American voter registration and political power remained limited.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 specifically banned voter discrimination based on race, colour, or language minority status. Section 2 of the Act outlined two key protections against voter discrimination. Firstly, it prohibited intentional discrimination based on race or colour in voting. Secondly, it banned election practices that resulted in the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on race or colour. These protections closely aligned with the language and spirit of the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified 95 years earlier in 1870, which aimed to safeguard the voting rights of former slaves.
The Act also included a special provision, known as Section 203(c), which required jurisdictions with significant language minority populations to provide bilingual ballots and other election materials. This provision ensured that language minorities were not disenfranchised due to language barriers. Additionally, Section 5 required covered jurisdictions to obtain "preclearance" from the District Court for the District of Columbia or the U.S. Attorney General for any new voting practices and procedures, further safeguarding against discriminatory voting changes.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 had an immediate impact, with a quarter of a million new Black voters registered by the end of 1965, a third of whom were registered by federal examiners. By the end of 1966, only four out of 13 southern states had fewer than 50% of African Americans registered to vote, reflecting a significant shift towards greater democratic inclusivity.
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Frequently asked questions
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, extended voting rights to African Americans, specifically Black men.
The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote.
The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age to 18.
The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes, which had been used to disenfranchise African Americans. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also prohibited voter discrimination based on race, colour, or membership in a language minority group.
