Eleanor Finch
The framers of the US Constitution left the details of voting to the states, which resulted in unfair voting practices. The original text of the Constitution, adopted in 1787, did not define who was allowed to vote in elections for Congress and the President, and did not establish any voting rights. Instead, it was up to each state to establish qualifications for suffrage within its own jurisdiction. This led to a situation where only white male landowners were granted the right to vote, and even among them, property qualifications restricted the franchise. The subsequent Amendments to the Constitution in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, played a crucial role in expanding voting rights to include all citizens regardless of race, gender, or age (for those 18 and older).
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Voting rights | Initially granted to a narrow subset of society — white male landowners |
| By 1860, most white men without property were allowed to vote | |
| The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) extended voting rights to men of all races | |
| The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) prohibited denying the vote based on sex | |
| The Twenty-sixth Amendment states that citizens aged 18 and older cannot be denied the right to vote | |
| The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US | |
| The Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) aimed to remove voting barriers by prohibiting poll taxes | |
| Voting restrictions | Poll taxes and literacy tests were used to suppress the vote of African Americans and other targeted groups |
| State-level restrictions, such as voter ID laws and registration deadlines, can impact voting access | |
| Laws prohibiting convicted felons from voting remain controversial | |
| Concerns | Founders worried about the rights of property owners being overridden by non-landowners |
| There were concerns about the potential for corrupt individuals to gain power by exploiting emotions and prejudices |
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What You'll Learn
- Voting rights were initially restricted to white male landowners
- By 1860, most white men were allowed to vote
- The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) extended voting rights to all races
- The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) prohibited voting discrimination based on sex
- The Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971) granted voting rights to 18-year-olds
Voting rights were initially restricted to white male landowners
The right to vote in the United States was not explicitly stated in the Constitution. Instead, the framers of the Constitution left the details of voting requirements to individual states. As a result, voting rights were initially restricted to white male landowners.
In the 18th-century Thirteen Colonies, suffrage was restricted to European men with property qualifications that varied by state. By some estimates, more than half of white men were disenfranchised due to these property requirements. During the early 19th century, state legislatures began to abolish property requirements for voting, with ten states having achieved universal white male suffrage by 1830. However, this expansion of voting rights for white men coincided with the exclusion of white women and free African Americans from the franchise. For example, New Jersey revised its state constitution in 1807 to abolish property requirements but also prevented all women from voting. Similarly, New York extended the franchise to almost all white men in 1821 but imposed high property requirements for free blacks.
The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, prohibited the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. However, in the decades that followed, many states, particularly in the South, used poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers to deliberately suppress the vote of African Americans, Native Americans, and other targeted groups.
It wasn't until the 20th century that legal barriers to voting for African American men were ruled unconstitutional. Women's suffrage was also a prolonged campaign, with the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women's right to vote, being approved in 1920. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 took major steps to curtail voter suppression and expand access to the vote based on race, gender, disability, age, and other factors.
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By 1860, most white men were allowed to vote
The right to vote in the United States has historically been restricted to a narrow subset of society. When the US Constitution came into effect in 1789, only white male landowners were allowed to vote. The exact property qualifications varied by state, but by some estimates, more than half of white men were disenfranchised.
During the early 19th century, state legislatures began to relax these property requirements, and by 1840, more than 90% of adult white men had the right to vote. This expansion of voting rights was driven by economic crises, pressure from propertyless men, and the growing democratic temper of the times. Territories on the frontier, eager to attract new settlers, also helped expand suffrage.
By 1860, most white men without property had been enfranchised, although a few states still had tax-paying qualifications. However, this expansion of voting rights did not extend to all men, as African Americans, Native Americans, and other racial minorities continued to face barriers to voting. The period that saw the advent of universal white manhood suffrage also witnessed new restrictions on voting by African Americans. Every new state that joined the Union after 1819 explicitly denied blacks the right to vote.
It wasn't until the Reconstruction period following the Civil War that Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declaring that people could not be denied the right to vote based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment was ratified by the states in 1870, but it did not end voting discrimination against racial minorities, as many states, particularly in the South, used poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers to suppress the vote.
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The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) extended voting rights to all races
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution, ratified on February 3, 1870, was a landmark step towards racial equality in the country. The amendment prohibits the federal government and individual states from denying or restricting any citizen's right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This marked a significant shift by guaranteeing that people of colour, including African Americans, could not be legally barred from voting on account of their race.
The Fifteenth Amendment was the culmination of a prolonged struggle for voting rights in the United States, which had begun with the nation's founding. Initially, voting rights were restricted to white male landowners, and even within this group, property qualifications further limited suffrage. Over time, voting rights expanded to include white men without property, and by the late 18th century, some free men of colour in certain states were also granted suffrage. However, this progress was short-lived, and by the early 19th century, voting rights were once again restricted primarily to white male landowners.
The Reconstruction Era following the Civil War saw significant debates in Congress regarding the rights of millions of freed black people. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States but fell short of ensuring the right to vote for African Americans. The election of Ulysses S. Grant as president in 1868 further emphasised the importance of protecting the franchise of black male voters.
The Fifteenth Amendment addressed this issue directly by prohibiting racial discrimination in voting laws. It was a hard-fought victory, with Indiana, Ohio, and New York initially struggling with ratification. Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas ultimately provided the crucial votes, leading to widespread celebrations in black communities and abolitionist societies. The first known black voter after the amendment's adoption was Thomas Mundy Peterson, who cast his ballot on March 31, 1870, in a New Jersey referendum election.
Despite the Fifteenth Amendment's promise, African Americans continued to face significant obstacles to exercising their voting rights. State constitutions, poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and the infamous ""grandfather clause"" were all employed to disenfranchise black voters. It wasn't until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with subsequent amendments and renewals, that these barriers were effectively addressed, ensuring that all citizens, regardless of race, could fully participate in the democratic process.
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The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) prohibited voting discrimination based on sex
The framers of the US Constitution left the details of voting requirements to the states. Initially, only white men with property were allowed to vote. By 1860, most white men without property were also allowed to vote. However, African Americans, women, Native Americans, and citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 had to fight for their right to vote.
The Nineteenth Amendment, passed on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, was a significant milestone in the long struggle for women's suffrage in the United States. The Amendment guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied or abridged based on sex, effectively granting women the right to vote. The certification date of the Amendment is August 26, 1920, but it is also celebrated on August 18, the anniversary of its ratification by Tennessee, which was the final state needed to reach the three-fourths majority required for adoption.
The campaign for women's suffrage was challenging and protracted, spanning several generations and employing various tactics, including lecturing, writing, marching, lobbying, and civil disobedience. Despite the Amendment, in practice, it only granted voting rights to white women. Black women, Indigenous women, Asian American women, and women from other racial and ethnic minority groups continued to face discrimination and voter suppression for decades. It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that voting rights were extended to all women, regardless of race or ethnicity.
While the Nineteenth Amendment was a crucial step forward, it is important to acknowledge that voting rights in the United States have been a continuous evolution, with different groups facing barriers and having to fight for their inclusion.
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The Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971) granted voting rights to 18-year-olds
The framers of the US Constitution left the details of voting requirements to individual states. As a result, early suffrage qualifications varied across the states, with white male landowners being the only Americans routinely permitted to vote. By the late 18th century, most states had property qualifications that restricted the franchise, with estimates suggesting that more than half of white men were disenfranchised.
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment, passed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971, changed this by granting voting rights to 18-year-olds. The text of the amendment states: "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 drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 emerged during the 1940s, with the first calls being endorsed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. This movement gained momentum in the 1960s, largely due to the Vietnam War, in which many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted to fight. The slogan "old enough to fight, old enough to vote" encapsulated the sentiment of this movement.
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment addressed one of the major domestic controversies of the Cold War era, and it passed faster than any other constitutional amendment. However, about 17 states refused to pass measures to lower their minimum voting ages after Nixon signed the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act.
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Frequently asked questions
Suffrage was originally restricted to European men with property qualifications, the specifics of which varied by state.
The framers of the Constitution left the details of voting to the states. This led to unfair voting practices, as only white men with property were allowed to vote.
Amendments to the Constitution have extended the right to vote to men of all races (15th Amendment, 1870), women (19th Amendment, 1920), and citizens aged 18 and older (26th Amendment).
States may deny the "right to vote" for reasons other than those protected against by constitutional amendments. For example, many states require eligible citizens to register to vote before the election, and some states have voter ID laws that require a photo ID.
