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Voting Rights
iCivics
The early years
When America was founded, the Constitution didn’t say who could and could not vote. Instead, it left it up to each state to decide.
So who could vote at America’s founding?
In most cases, states allowed free, white, landowning men �over the age of 21 to vote.
Isn’t that strange?
The qualifications for voting really weren’t that strange. After all, colonists had borrowed many of their political customs from England.
In 18th century England:
But why those rules?
Those who have the power make the rules.
And those in power believed that landowners were the only ones “responsible” and “independent” enough to make political decisions.
Turn and Talk
So, what do you think...
What reasons might support that landowners would be �responsible, independent voters?
Can you think of reasons to support that non-landowners �could also be responsible, independent voters?
So, who couldn’t vote?
Was this the case everywhere?
In many cases, these people were left out:
No. The 1776 New Jersey State Constitution said that any adult property owner could vote. By 1807, though, the state limited voting to free, white, male property owners who were 21 years of age and older.
Paul Cuffee
Paul Cuffee was a free Black and Wampanoag �Indian man born in Massachusetts. In 1780, he �petitioned the state legislature to give Black people and American Indians the right to vote. He argued that, because they were tax-paying citizens, they should be allowed to vote. The petition was denied. But by 1783, the state’s Constitution allowed all male citizens to vote.
Source: Library of Congress
Captain Paul Cuffee 1812 / engraved for Abrm. L. Pennock by Mason & Maas.
Turn and Talk...
According to the law, you’re too young to vote right now. �But if you and kids across the country could vote, how �do you think laws about schools might change?
Political Voice = Political Power
Voting gives you a voice!
When people vote, representatives in our �government listen. They work on behalf �of the people who can vote for them.
Turn and Talk… How do you think the representatives in our early government worked to protect those who couldn’t vote?
Representation = Protection
In early America, the government didn’t really work for those who couldn’t vote, despite their contributions to the country.
To put it simply, “no vote” meant “no representation”. And no representation meant little to no protection for those groups’ rights and interests.
So, how did things change?
Voting rights changed in two ways:
Groups had to work to gain support and change people’s minds about who should be allowed to vote.
Voting rights expanded AND contracted over time...
Let’s take a look at how things changed.
You don’t have to own land!
Over time, states dropped the requirement that �voters had to own property.
Some states acted faster than others. New Hampshire �got rid of the property requirement in 1792.
Rhode Island did not change until 1843.
But still, for the most part, only white men over �the age of 21 could vote.
Human Enslavement Outlawed
After the Civil War ended in 1865, the 13th Amendment was added to the Constitution. It made slavery illegal.
But southern states still didn’t treat Black people fairly. �They passed Black Codes—laws that kept White �people in power by limiting what Black people could do.
Congress stepped in to help protect Black people’s �rights. They passed Reconstruction acts. These �laws gave Black men the right to vote and run for �political office.
Black Political Power
For the first time, large numbers of Black people were able to vote and participate in government.
From 1867-1877, 16 Black men were elected to Congress, more than 600 to southern state legislatures, and hundreds to local government positions. Historians estimate that during Reconstruction almost 2,000 Black men held a �political office.
"The first vote" drawn by A.R. Waud.
Source: Library of Congress
Black Political Power
Black people joined Union Leagues—civic organizations �that organized around political issues important to Black �communities like education, land rights, and serving on juries.
The 15th Amendment
Congress also worked to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 15th Amendment was passed in 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War.
The Amendment states, “The right of �citizens of the United States to vote �shall not be denied… on account �of race, color or previous condition �of servitude.”
Limits to the 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment said that formerly enslaved Black people could not be �turned away from the polls due to the color of their skin or because they had �been enslaved.
But… this amendment only gave Black men the right to vote.
And… we’ll see that states largely ignored what �the amendment ordered. The government didn’t �enforce it either.
Reconstruction Ends
Black male suffrage—the right to vote—didn’t �last long.
By 1877, Reconstruction had ended. Southern �states passed new laws limiting Black people �from voting. And white supremacy hate groups �like the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) used violence and �terror to scare Black men away from voting.
Source: Library of Congress
“The color line still exists - in this case” Harper's Weekly 1879
Whaaaaatt?!? But isn’t the Constitution the law?
Yes, but the amendments weren’t enforced. States �and counties created voting laws that used literacy �tests, poll taxes, and qualifications like the �grandfather clause to determine who could vote.
Theoretically, these laws applied to everyone since �they didn’t mention race. But, in reality, they were used �to keep Black people from voting. The laws made voting �virtually impossible for Black people.
Barriers to the African American Vote
States and individual counties used many different methods to prevent Black people from voting.
Literacy Test
The literacy test was one type of poll test that was given in some locations. Voters were tested on their reading skills.
Like with the other tests, white voters always passed while Black voters �usually failed.
Registration workers chose the questions and could �decide whether the answers were right or wrong. �The goal was always for Black voters to fail.
Example �of a �Literacy Test
Source: National Museum of American History
Poll Test
Grandfather Clause
The Grandfather Clause stated that you only had the right to vote if your grandfather also had the right to vote.
In some places, poll tests asked voters to correctly guess the number of jelly beans in a jar before they are allowed to vote.
Other tests asked voters to guess the number of bubbles in a bar �of soap!
Turn and Talk: What makes these voter qualifications unfair?
�
The Poll Tax
The poll tax required voters �to pay for the ability to vote.
It usually cost about $1-2.�But a voter might have to pay �the tax for multiple years, or �months in advance, or �in-person at the sheriff's �office before they could register �to vote.
$1.50
1939
=
$37.45
Today
Source: Digital Public Library�of America
This poll tax receipt from a Tennessee election in 1939 shows that voting costed $2.00 that year.
Turn and Talk...
Poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause didn’t �need to mention race to work. Why were these qualifications �hard for Black people to meet but not White people?
The Women’s Vote
Federally (that means nationwide), women won the right to vote in August of 1920.
But much earlier, women were successful in getting 27 states to amend their constitutions or pass laws giving them the right to vote.
Women first gained voting rights in Wyoming in 1869, more than 50 years before an amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution.
Turn and Talk...
Why do you think some women focused on gaining the right to vote in their state?
Why do you think others pushed for a �national amendment?
Which strategy do you think was best?
The 19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment said, “The right of citizens �of the United States to vote shall not be denied… �on account of sex.”
Many women—White, Black, and Native, among �others—worked to achieve women’s suffrage.
But... many women of color living in states with �literacy tests and poll taxes were still denied the�right to vote, despite what the 15th and 19th �Amendments said.
Source: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Banner with the motto of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs
Notable Suffragettes
Women who worked for the right to vote were called suffragists. You might know the names Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul.
Here are some more names you should know!
Source: National Park Service
Ida B. Wells-Barnette
Nina Otero-Warren
Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
Ideas of Women Suffrage
Suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage were inspired by the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy—the Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, and Tuscarora Nations.
These American Indian Nations organized their government and family around women. Women chose the chief and could remove him! They also, made decisions about war.
Despite their influence on women’s suffrage, many native women were not recognized as American citizens and were not allowed to vote when the 19th Amendment passed.
The Native Vote
Despite being native to the land, members of Native nations were not considered citizens of the United States until 1924. Before that, they were only considered members of their own tribal governments.
Source: Library of Congress
“In the land that was once his own—America. ...There never was a time more opportune than now for America to enfranchise the Red man!” -Zitkála-Šá (1919)
The Native Vote
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed �the Indian Citizenship Act.
This gave members of American Indian nations �the rights and privileges of American citizenship, but �it still took nearly 40 years for all 50 states to guarantee �them the right to vote.
Despite the 15th Amendment which said that the right of citizens to vote couldn’t be denied on account or race or color, states denied voting rights to American Indians.
American Indians worked state by state to gain suffrage.
40
Washington, D.C. Voting Rights
Residents of the District of Columbia did not get the right to vote in presidential elections until the 23rd Amendment was ratified in 1961. This is because Washington, D.C. is not a state.
Before that, men and women living in Washington, D.C. couldn’t vote for the president and vice president unless they were registered voters in another state.
Source: Library of Congress
The Washington Monument in D.C.
The Civil Rights Movement
Despite what the 15th Amendment said about protecting the right to vote for citizens of color, poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause kept Black people from voting for almost 100 years.
Black people challenged these laws for many years. In the 1950s and 60s, the Civil Rights Movement began to grow. Black people demanded that the government guarantee them equal rights and end discrimination in voting, in schools, and in public places.
People were jailed, beaten, and died fighting for the right to vote.
Voting Laws Change
The 24th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1964.
It banned the use of poll taxes in elections.
In addition to being used to prevent Black people from voting, poll taxes were difficult for poor Whites to pay.
Source: Library of Congress
“Citizens being checked to verify payment of poll tax” in 1944.
Voting Laws Change
This law:
The Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965.
Courtesy: PhotoQuest/Getty Images
Georgia voters line up to register.
The Voting Rights Act
In 1975, the Voting Rights Act was amended to also protect “language minority citizens” like Latino, Asian, and American Indians by requiring that states provide ballots and information in additional languages.
Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County v. Holder that some parts of the Voting Rights Act were unconstitutional.
It said allowing Congress to ensure that states’ election laws didn’t discriminate made sense in the 1960s and 70s, but the same monitoring isn’t needed today—not unless Congress changes how they determine which states need their laws checked. The Court said power should be left to the states to oversee their elections. Five justices agreed.
Four justices disagreed. They said that Congress has the power to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments by passing laws like the Voting Rights Act and that voter discrimination had decreased because of the act itself.
Voting Laws Today
Today, some state voting laws work to reduce voter participation especially for communities of color, low income, and the elderly. While some argue that these laws prevent voter fraud, research has found that, in general, instances of voter fraud are low and not widespread.
Strict voter ID laws require voters to show certain types of ID when they vote. The IDs may be costly or hard for some people to get.
Physical address laws require voters to have a physical address. American Indians living on reservations often have a P.O. Box address, which doesn’t meet the requirements.
Polling place closures or reducing voting hours can make it inconvenient for residents to vote.
Changing the Voting Age
In the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of young men were drafted to fight �in the Vietnam War. Many were too young to vote.
Source: Library of Congress
The 26th Amendment
The 26th Amendment was passed in 1971.
It says, “The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied… on account of age.”
Supporters of this amendment chanted, “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote!”
Source: National Museum of American History
Buttons worn by people who supported the ratification of the 26th Amendment.
Turn and Talk
It took almost 200 years for rich and poor men, Black people, women, American Indians, and adults 18 and older to be able to vote in our country. What do you think helped change the country’s mind about who could vote over time?
Review Time!
Do you have to own land to vote in the United States?
No
Yes
All land ownership requirements ended by 1880!
True or False? Rhode Island was the first state to give women the vote.
False
True
Wyoming gave women the right to vote in 1869.
Forcing people to pay to exercise the right to vote was called a _________.
Literacy Test
Poll Tax
Poll taxes were used to keep poor African Americans �from voting.
True or False? The Indian Citizenship Act gave American Indians the right to vote.
False
True
It granted American Indians citizenship, but American Indians had to work state-by-state to gain the right to vote.
True or False? The Voting Rights Act reinforced �the 15th Amendment.
False
True
After the 15th Amendment, many states and counties still prevented Black people from voting. The Voting Rights Act was written to remove those barriers.
Which war led to the passage of the 26th Amendment?
The Vietnam War
World War II
Many of the soldiers fighting in �the Vietnam War were too young to vote. The 26th Amendment moved the voting age �from 21 to 18.
Are residents of Washington D.C. banned from voting for the president?
No
Yes
Not anymore! The 23rd Amendment was passed in 1961. Now people in D.C. can vote for president and vice president of the United States.
Our earliest ideas about voting came from �which country?
France
England
When the colonists came to America from England, they brought many of the ideas and customs along with them.