Race and Citizenship Requirements for Suffrage, 1790-1855
State and Year of Date of
Statehood
Requirement
Race
Citizenship
Native Americans
Alabama (1819) 1819 (C)
White
U.S. citizen
-------
Arkansas
(1836)
1836 (C)
White
-------
California
(1850)
1849 (C)
White
U.S. citizen,
citizen of state
for 6 months
U.S. citizen or
Mexican citizen
who became
U.S. citizen
under Queretaro
Treary of 1848
Connecticut
1715 (S)
1818 (C)
1845 (C)
No requirement ------White
U.S. citizen
White
U.S. citizen
Delaware
1734 (S)
1792 (C)
1831 (C)
No requirement ------------White
No requirement ------White
Citizen
-------
Florida (1845)
1838 (C)
White
Georgia
1789 (C)
1798 (C)
No requirement Citizen of state
No requirement Citizen of state
Illinois (1818)
1818 (C)
1848 (C)
White
White
No requirement ------Citizen or
------inhabitant of
state on April
1, 1848
Indiana (1816)
1816 (C)
1851 (C)
White
“No negro or
mulatto”
U.S. citizen
U.S. citizen or
alien declarant
with 1 year of
residence
U.S. citizen
--continued on next page--
The legislature
may by a 2/3
vote admit
Indians or
descendents
-------------------
-------------------
-------------
Race and Citizenship Requirements for Suffrage, 1790-1855, continued
State and Year of Date of
Native Americans
Statehood
Requirement
Race
Citizenship
Iowa (1846)
1846 (C)
White
U.S. citizen
------Kentucky
(1792)
------“Indians”
specifically
excluded
1850 (C)
No requirement Citizen
“Negroes,
Citizen
mulattos, and
Indians
excepted”
White
Citizen
Louisiana
(1812)
1812 (C)
1845 (C)
1852 (C)
White
White
White
-------------------
Maine (1820)
1819 (C)
No requirement U.S. citizen
“Indians not
taxed” excluded
Maryland
1776 (C)
1801 (S)
1810 (C)
1851 (C)
No requirement
White
White
White
-------------------------
Massachusetts
1780 (C)
1807
1821
No requirement No requirement ------------------Inhabitants of
incorporated
plantations not
entitled to vote
for governor or
lt. governor
No requirement Citizen
-------
1835 (C)
White
1850 (C)
White
Michigan
(1837)
1792 (C)
1799 (C)
Citizen
U.S. citizen
U.S. citizen for
2 years
No requirement
------Citizen of state
U.S. citizen
Citizen or living
in state at time
of 1835
constitution
U.S. citizen,
living in state in
1835, or
inhabitant
declaring intent
to be citizen
--continued on next page--
-------
-------
Civilized males
of Indian
descent entitled
to vote if not a
member of any
tribe
Race and Citizenship Requirements for Suffrage, 1790-1855, continued
State and Year of Date of
Native Americans
Statehood
Requirement
Race
Citizenship
Mississippi
1817 (C)
White
U.S. citizen
------(1817)
1832 (C)
White
U.S. citizen
------Missouri
(1821)
New
Hampshire
1820 (C)
White
1792 (C)
1813 (S)
No requirement No requirement ------No requirement Citizen
-------
New Jersey
1776 (C)
1807 (S)
1844 (C)
No requirement No requirement ------White
Citizen
------White
U.S. citizen
-------
New York
1777 (C)
1804 (S)
1821 (C)
No requirement
------White or “man
of color” who
could meet
property and
tax
requirements
Same as 1821
Same as 1821
1826 (C)
1846 (C)
U.S. citizen
-------
No requirement ------Citizen
------Citizen; “man
------of color” must
be citizen for 3
years
Same as 1821
Citizen for 10
days; “man of
color” must be
citizen for 3
years
-------------
North Carolina
1776 (C)
1835 (C)
No requirement No requirement ------White
No requirement -------
Ohio (1803)
1802 (C)
1809 (S)
1851 (C)
White
------White
Pennsylvania
1790 (C)
1838 (C)
No requirement Citizen
White
U.S. citizen
-------------
Rhode Island
1762 (S)
1842 (C)
No requirement ------No requirement U.S. citizen
------Members of
Narragansett
tribe excluded
South Carolina
1790 (C)
1810 (C)
White
White
-------------
No requirement ------U.S. citizen
------U.S. citizen
-------
Citizen of state
Citizen of state
Race and Citizenship Requirements for Suffrage, 1790-1855, continued
State and Year of Date of
Native Americans
Statehood
Requirement
Race
Citizenship
Tennessee
1796 (C)
No requirement No requirement ------(1796)
1834 (C)
White; cannot
U.S. citizen of ------be excluded on the county
basis of color if, where voting
by laws of
for 6 months
state, could be a
competent
witness against
a white man in a
court of justice)
Texas (1845)
1845 (C)
“Indians not
taxed, Africans,
and descendents
of Africans
excluded”
U.S. citizen or “Indians not
resident of
taxed” excluded
Texas at time of
adoption of
constitution
Vermont (1791) 1786 (C)
1793 (C)
1828 (C)
No requirement No requirement ------No requirement No requirement ------No requirement U.S. citizen or ------freeman before
the 1828
amendment
Virginia
1762 (S)
1830 (C)
White
White
1850 (C)
White
1848 (C)
White
Wisconsin
(1848)
------Citizen of the
commonwealth
Citizen of the
commonwealth
-------------
U.S. citizen or
alien declarant
Persons of
Indian blood
declared by
Congress to be
citizens of the
U.S., or
civilized
persons of
Indian descent
not members of
any tribe
-------
*Reproduced from Alexander Keyssar, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy
in the U.S. (NY: Basic Books, 2000), pp.349-353. Some paraphrasing of contents, and
footnotes are exluded.