Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher
• Extension of voting rights is a 200 year process
• Concept of “universal suffrage” is resisted by various
groups throughout American history
• Some citizens (women, African Americans) had to
“struggle” to win voting rights
• Historical factors (wars) and political dynamics influence
timing of changes in suffrage
• History of American suffrage “complicates” the view of
American democracy
Founding Period (late 1700s)
Founding Period (late 1700s)
• No democracies existed in late 1700s
• In England, 5%-10% of men could vote for Parliament
• Idea that only property owners should be allowed to vote;
property owners were “tied” to community and were
sufficiently independent
• Revolutionary rhetoric about freedom, equality, natural
rights
• “Idea” of equal citizenship rights for all free male citizens
• Conflict between “fear of democracy” and revolutionary
ideals
Founding Period (late 1700s)
• Colonies/states had different rules for voting; most had
some property-owning or tax-paying qualifications
• Founding period saw considerable changes in voting
requirements
• Framers at constitutional convention were “ambivalent”
about democracy and suffrage
• Shay’s rebellion (1786-1787) was extreme example of
“mob democracy” in action
• Founding fathers created a republic over a democracy
Founding Period (late 1700s)
• Constitution grants states the power to decide rules for
suffrage
• Voting was a “privilege” more than a “right”
• 14th Amendment is first instance of concept of a “right to
vote”
• HOWEVER – by 1790s about 50-60% of white males
could vote (free black men could vote in 10/13 states)
• USA as “quasi-democracy” in a world of no democracies
Jacksonian Democracy (1828-1850s)
Jacksonian Democracy (1828-1850s)
• Most property-owning or tax-paying requirements are
dropped; most white men can vote
• Population increases from 4 million in 1790 to 20 million
in 1850
• Fewer male citizens met property-owning/tax-paying
requirements; smaller farms or leased farms; rise of urban
workers
• New states encourage settlement by “granting” universal
suffrage
• Creation of new mass parties which must “compete” for
votes
• Intensification of “democratic” ideals
Jacksonian Democracy (1820s-1850s)
• USA achieved universal white male suffrage (nearly)
• Women’s suffrage movement begins
• Free black men disenfranchised in most states (could vote
in only 5/35 states by 1850s)
Post-Civil War Period (1865-1900)
Post-Civil War Period (1865-1900)
• Abolition of slavery does not necessarily imply voting
rights for freed slaves (eventually it did)
• Idealistic and practical reasons to support black male
suffrage
• Northern Republicans view freed slaves as new “voting
bloc” for themselves
• Black men in North and South “enfranchised” via 14th
and 15th Amendments; 15th Amendment prevents
disenfranchisement on basis of race
Post-Civil War Period (1865-1900)
• Southern states undertake series of “informal means” to
limit black voting in decades following 15th Amendment
• “Formal procedures” (literacy tests, poll taxes, white
primaries) created in 1890s
• Southern black males “disenfranchised” by early 1900s
• Northern Republicans grow tired of suffrage issue
• Major failure of American democracy
Women’s Suffrage Period
(1848-1920)
Women’s Suffrage Period
(1848-1920)
• Argument against women voting based on “traditional”
view of women’s role in society; women not independent;
politics “beneath” women; politics “harm” family life
• 1st women’s rights convention held in NY in 1848; calls
for women’s suffrage
• Two separate women’s suffrage organizations formed in
1869
• Women hope that 14th and 15th Amendment will include
voting rights for women – does not happen
• Supreme Court rules that 14th Amendment does not
guarantee voting rights for women in 1874
Women’s Suffrage Period
(1848-1920)
• Wyoming enters union with women’s suffrage in 1890
• New Zealand becomes first country to give women the
right to vote in 1890; a dozen or so countries follow suit
before USA
• Suffrage movement expands to include working women
during early 1900s
• 15 states grant voting rights to women before 1920; 11
states during 1910s
• Women’s assistance in WWI helps win support for voting
rights
• 19th Amendment passed in 1920
Civil Rights Period (1900-1970)
Civil Rights Period (1900-1970)
• Disenfranchisement of Southern black men “complete” by
early 1900s
• NAACP formed in 1909
• Early civil rights movement focuses on courts and on
“separate but equal” over voting rights
• African Americans’ participation in WW2 raises new
concerns about lack of voting rights in South; nature of
WW2 raises “democratic ideals”
• White primary declared unconstitutional in 1944; black
registration rises slightly
• President’s Committee on Civil Rights calls for voting
rights for southern blacks in 1947; national government
should expand and protect such rights
Civil Rights Period (1900-1970)
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Civil rights protests of 1950s
Perhaps 25% of southern blacks registered to vote by 1956
Civil Rights Act of 1964 ends “overt” discrimination
24th Amendment bans poll tax in 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965 guarantees voting rights for
African American men and women in South; federal
government empowered to oversee elections
• Extension of Voting Rights Act bans all literacy tests in
1970
• Black turnout in Southern states approaches that of whites
by late 1960s
Vietnam Period (1960s)
Vietnam Period (1960s)
• Voting age is 21 – based on British and colonial tradition
• In 1942 draft age lowered to 18; weak attempts to lower
voting age to 18
• Protests against Vietnam War by college students who can
be drafted but cannot vote; student protesters demand
voting rights
• Mixed motives for supporting 18-21 year old voting
• 26th Amendment passed in 1971 (4 months time)
Conclusion
• USA achieves near-universal voting rights by 1971
• HOWEVER
• Felons temporarily or permanently disenfranchised in
many states; 40 states temporarily and 10 states
permanently; high affect on minority males
• Political participation requires more than voting
• Voting turnout is low in USA; around 60% for
presidential elections
• Election disputes in 2000 and 2004
• New voter ID laws in states