ARTICLE-A-DAY Voting Rights 6 Articles Check articles you have read: The Constitution Tells the States Who Has the Right to Vote 497 words Mostly Only White Men Could Vote Before 1870 644 words African American Men Get the Vote in 1870 733 words American Women Get the Vote in 1920 758 words Suffragettes 669 words 18-, 19-, and 20-Year-Old Americans Get the Vote in 1971 645 words Page 1 of 13 ReadWorks.org 2018 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.
NO_PA, Inc. 2017 The Constitution Tells the States Who Has the Right Ato Vote The Constitution Tells the States Who Has the Right to Vote By Judith Schiffer The United States is a Federal Republic. This means that power, like the power to pass laws, is shared between the Federal Government in Washington, D.C., and the governments of each of the 50 states. The Federal Government has certain powers, and the states (and their local governments, like cities and towns) have certain powers. The Constitution of the United States sets out which powers belong to the Federal Government, and which powers belong to the states. The Unite d State s Constitution is the hig he st law of the land. One of the things it does is to tell the 50 states what they must do, and also what they are not permitted to do. The Constitution gives the states the power to conduct elections The Constitution of the United States and to make their own rules about how they do it, and it also tells them what they are not allowed to do in conducting elections. For example, states are not allowed to reject people who have the right to vote in an election. The Constitution says that to be allowe d to vote, a pe rson must be a citize n of the Unite d State s. You are a U.S. citizen automatically if you are born in the United States. There are also ways to become a U.S. citize n if you we re not born the re. One of the ways is a proce ss calle d naturalization. Not all citizens are allowed to vote. For example, a ten-year-old may not vote. For much of early U.S. history mostly white men who were at least 21 years old had the right to vote. Other groups, such as women, were not allowed to vote. Since then, the rules about who has the right to vote for president and other elected officials have changed, with more groups of American citizens being given this right. These changes were the result of additions, or amendments, to the Constitution. Twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution, and three of them have to do with who has the right to vote. These three Page 2 of 13
The Constitution Tells the States Who Has the Right to Vote Amendments prohibit the states from denying the right to vote to some groups of citizens. These three groups are African Americans, women, and people who are 18 to 20 years old. Over time, each of these groups was given the right to vote. In addition, elected officials in Congress have passed laws so that citizens with voting rights can vote. One law makes it illegal for the states to do anything that prevents or makes it especially difficult for these citizens to vote. But some of the states found ways to prevent some citizens from voting, even though they had the Constitutional right to do so. For example, after former African American slaves were allowed to vote, some states did not want them to vote. So they required voters to be able to read and write. They knew that recently freed slaves were prevented from learning to read and write by their former owners. Page 3 of 13
NO_PA, Inc. 2017 A Mostly Only White Men Could Vote Before 1870 Mostly Only White Men Could Vote Before 1870 By Judith Schiffer Native Ame ricans had live d on the land that became the United States for centuries before Europe ans arrive d. Starting in 1607, pe ople from many parts of Europe we nt across the ocean to settle there. These European immig rant g roups live d in se parate colonie s, which were communities with their own religions, laws, and practices. The English had the largest group of settlers. The y controlle d 13 colonie s that stre tche d along the Atlantic coast, and the y put Eng lish laws and practices into effect in the New World. One of these practices was to decide whom to give suffrage, which means the right to print celebrating the passage of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution vote. Mainly Prote stant white me n who owne d a ce rtain amount of prope rty, usually land, we re given the right to vote. In most colonies, Jews and Catholics were not allowed to vote, whether or not the y owne d prope rty. The colonists publishe d The D e claration of Inde pe nde nce on July 4, 1776. It announce d that the 13 colonie s would now be se parate from Eng land, and not rule d by Eng land. Ame rican colonists then had to fight and win the Revolutionary War against England in order to get their freedom. The United States now celebrates its independence every July 4, in honor of the Declaration of Independence. The United States Constitution became the law of the land a few years after the colonies gained their independence from England. This document set out the rules of government for the country as a whole. A colony had to approve, or ratify, and agree to obey the Constitution in order to become a state of the Unite d State s. Eve ntually, all 13 colonie s ag re e d to ratify the Constitution and be come states. Over time, as the country grew, more territories joined as states. The United States now has Page 4 of 13
Mostly Only White Men Could Vote Before 1870 50 states. Most of the write rs of The Unite d State s Constitution we re Prote stant white me n. Most of the m owned property. You might know the names of some of these men. George Washington (who became the country s first president), James Madison (who later became the fourth president), and Alexander Hamilton were a few of the writers of the Constitution. The Constitution gave each state the power to conduct elections and to make the rules about how voting is done in that state. Some states did not want to give suffrage to groups they believed were not capable of choosing wise le ade rs or making g ood laws. Some state s did not want African Americans, women, or white men who did not have property to vote. Over time, property and religious requirements for voting were dropped by each of the states. Since the early 1800s, no state has had a religious requirement for voting. Soon after that, property requirements were dropped in state after state, until all white men at least 21 years old had suffrage. The Constitution te lls the state s not only what the y must do, but also what the y may not do, like discriminate against certain groups when it comes to voting. The Constitution says that amendments may be added to the original document. Over the years, the Ame rican pe ople chang e d the ir ide as about what is rig ht and fair, and so the Constitution was changed to fit the changing times through the addition of amendments. First, an amendment is proposed by at least two-thirds of the members of Congress. The amendment is added to the Constitution after the legislatures of at least three-fourths of the states ratify it. There are now 27 Amendments, which were added over the course of 202 years. Three of these amendments give the right to vote to certain groups. The 15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote in 1870. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, and the 26th Amendment gave young men and women aged 18-20 the right to vote in 1971. Page 5 of 13
NO_PA, Inc. 2017 A African American Men Get the Vote in 1870 African American Men Get the Vote in 1870 By Judith Schiffer The 13 British colonies got their freedom from England and became a separate nation after the Declaration of Independence was published on July 4, 1776, and the 13 colonie s won the Re volutionary War ag ainst England in 1783. The United States Constitution was written four years later and became the law of the land in 1789. This document sets out the basic rules and principles by which the United States is governed. It tells the states what they are permitted to do, and also what they are not allowe d to do. The Constitution says that it can be changed by adding amendments to it. Over the next roughly 200 years, the original Constitution changed through the addition of 27 amendments to the document. The first 10 Thomas Mundy Peterson, the first African American man to vote after the 15th Amendment was passed amendments are the Bill of Rights, which were all added at one time in 1791. They give Constitutional protections to the nation s people for certain basic liberties, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and they also put limits on federal and state governmental power over the people. Each of the 11th through 27th Amendments were added one at a time, from 1795 to 1992. Three of these amendments gave the right to vote to people who did not have this right before they were passed. The right to vote is called suffrage. At first, althoug h the Constitution itse lf doe s not say this, the only pe ople who had suffrag e in most of the states were white men who had property. This is because each state had the right to decide who is permitted to vote in that state, and almost every state gave the right to vote only to certain white men. The first fe w ame ndme nts to the Constitution that chang e d this we re the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. They were known as the Reconstruction Amendments because all three of them were added in the Reconstruction period. This was the period of time after the Civil War was lost by the southern states and won by the northern states. The northern states wanted the slaves to be freed, to be made citizens, and to be given the right to vote. Page 6 of 13
African American Men Get the Vote in 1870 Although the slave trade ended in 1808, a lot of Africans were brought to America to be slaves. After the slave trade ended, there were no new slaves brought to the United States. By 1865, the only new slaves were the children and grandchildren of the African slaves brought over by the slave trade. A major outcome of the Civil War was that slaves were freed in 1865, with the addition of the 13thAme ndme nt to the Constitution. It says that slave ry is not allowe d in the Unite d State s. Abraham Lincoln was the president when it passed in Congress, but he died before the amendment was ratified, or approved, by the states. The slaves were freed, but they weren t United States citizens even though many of them were born in the United States. The Constitution says that only United States citizens may vote, so the 14th Amendment was added to make former slaves citizens. It was added to the Constitution in 1868. It says that any person born in the United States is a citizen of the United States and of the state in which he or she lives. It also says people who are naturalized are citizens. Naturalization is a process for a foreigner to become a citizen. In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution was added. It gave suffrage to African American men, but not to women of any race. Women citizens did not get the vote for another 50 years. Although the 15th Amendment gave African American men suffrage, many people in some states, mostly in the south, did not want the m to vote. So the y passe d state laws that made it difficult or sometimes impossible for them to vote. One of these laws required a voter to be able to read and write. Because former slaves had usually been forbidden by their owners to learn to read and write, many were disqualified from voting in some states. This was common in former slave states in the south. It would take many years and many laws passed by Congress to prevent states from setting requirements for voting that interfered with the ability by African Americans to vote. Page 7 of 13
NO_PA, Inc. 2017 A American Women Get the Vote in 1920 American Women Get the Vote in 1920 By Judith Schiffer The United States Constitution is the document that sets out the rules about how the Federal Gove rnme nt in Washing ton, D.C., and the 50 state governments in the nation may govern. It sets out what powers the Federal Government has and what powers the states have. One of the powers it gives every state is the right to decide how elections are conducted in the state and who gets to vote in that state. Suffrage means the right to vote, and it is one of those rig hts that pe ople have foug ht for and have been given by amendments to the Constitution. With the addition of the 15th Amendment to the the resolution to ratify the 19th Amendment signed by Missouri Governor Frederick Gardner Constitution in 1870, African American men got the right to vote, but women of all races had to wait another 50 years to get it with the 19th Amendment. Before the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution, some states did give women the right to vote, but the Constitution did not make it a rig ht that every state had to g ive wome n until it was adde d to the Constitution in 1920. The Constitution says that changes can be made to the original document. The way it is changed is that Congress and the states vote to add an amendment to the original document. It has been changed 27 times. As the country s conditions and beliefs changed, new groups wanted rights that the y did not have at the time the Constitution be came the law of the land. In the 1800s, most of the states gave unmarried women many rights that were equal to men s rights. For example, as long as they did not get married, they could buy and sell real estate (such as land and home s), write a will, and work outside of the home in many type s of jobs. But in many states as soon as women got married a law called coverture made them totally dependent on their husbands. Coverture stated that the husband owned everything, even the money and property Page 8 of 13
American Women Get the Vote in 1920 the wife brought into the marriage and the money she herself earned by doing work. The husband had to support and take care of his wife and family. A marrie d woman could not own prope rty on he r own, sit on a jury, g e t a divorce without he r husband s agreement, or have custody of her children if she was divorced. In many states, the only job married women could get outside their homes was school teacher. In the middle of the 1800s, some women got together and began to work to change laws that restricted the rights of both unmarried and married women. During the Civil War (1861 to 1865), women served in the army as nurses and did other jobs. After the war, many wome n said that if the y could do the se difficult and important thing s, the y de se rve d the right to vote. It took a long time for the rest of the country to agree. Although both married and unmarried women were already given the right to vote in some states, there was no national right to vote. Some men did not want women to vote. They believed that politics and governing should be left to men, and so only men should be allowed to vote. But there were also many men who were in favor of giving women the right to vote, and some of them joined women in their fight to get the 19th Amendment passed. Many more men and women joined the woman suffrage movement after World War I (1914 to 1918). They knew that women had worked outside the home during the war, doing jobs that men who left to serve in the military used to do. They also knew that women worked as nurses and did other things to help the war effort. Finally, in 1919, Cong re ss propose d the ame ndme nt. Althoug h it was propose d, it could not be added to the Constitution yet. It needed three-fourths of the states to ratify, or approve, the amendment. In 1920, enough state legislatures voted yes, and the amendment was ratified. The 19th Amendment says that the right of citizens of the United States to vote cannot be taken away because of a person s sex. All women in every state who were at least 21 years old would now have the right to vote! On November 2, 1920 Election Day 8 million women across the United States voted for president of the United States and other elected officials. Page 9 of 13
NO_PA, Inc. 2017 A Suffragettes Suffragettes By Judith Schiffer At the time the United States became a nation, women citizens did not share the same rights as me n, including the rig ht to vote. It was not until 1848 that women began to organize and create a movement to give women rights they did not have, including suffrage. Suffrage is the right to vote. The women who organized and fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment were called Suffragettes. They were called this because they were fighting to get suffrage for women. Some of the most famous Suffragettes were Susan B. Suffrage Parade in New York City, 1913 Anthony, Elizabe th Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Lucretia Mott. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an important Suffragette. She was an activist for equality between men and women. During her lifetime, most married women were not able to do certain things because of the general belief that a woman s place is in the home, and that only men should govern. She wanted women to be allowed to work outside the home, to participate in politics, and to be able to vote. In 1848, Stanton and Lucre tia Mott cre ate d the Se ne ca Falls Conve ntion, whe re 240 wome n and men met to make a plan of action to fight for new rights for women, especially the right to vote. Many other women s groups joined them, and eventually these groups established a new org anization, The National Woman Suffrag e Association. The se wome n foug ht hard to have Congress and the states pass an amendment to the United States Constitution that would give women citizens of voting age the right to vote. In 1913, on the day that Pre side nt Woodrow Wilson be came the pre side nt of the Unite d State s, women and men held a huge parade in front of his new home, the White House, to rally for women s right to vote in the United States. Some women were arrested and went to jail. Some were even Page 10 of 13
Suffragettes beaten in jail. This got many citizens angry, and many men and women began to support the Suffragettes cause. In 1916, a woman name d Alice Paul founde d the National Wome n s Party to take ne w and bold action towards getting new rights for women, especially the right to vote. From 1916 to 1920 they did things to get public attention and support for their cause. They marched in the streets with signs saying things like, Help us to get the Vote. They gave out flyers to people on the streets e xplaining why this ame ndme nt should be passe d. The y pointe d out that during World War I wome n had proved that they were just as patriotic and deserving of being able to vote as men were. World War I starte d in 1914 and e nde d in 1918. In 1917, the Unite d State s joine d the war that was being fought in Europe. American women did many of the jobs that men could not do because men were away from home, fighting in the war. Some women worked in factories that made war we apons. Othe rs we re fire fig hte rs, railroad and bus conductors, bank te lle rs, farm worke rs, and government workers. Alice Paul even went on a hunger strike, which got more public attention and support. She refused to eat until the 19th Amendment was passed. When news of her hunger strike became known, more people joined the movement for women s suffrage. Finally, in 1919, seventy years after the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, Congress voted to pass the 19th Amendment. It was ratified, or approved, by three-fourths of the states and became law in 1920. All women in every state who were over 21 years old or older would now have the right to vote! Before the 19th Amendment was passed, many states had already given women the right to vote, and also the right to hold political positions, such as governor of their state. After the amendment be came law, wome n in every state could now vote and also hold political office. We now have many women who hold high positions in state governments and even the Federal Government. Page 11 of 13
NO_PA, Inc. 2017 18-, 19-, and 20-Year-Old Americans Get the Vote Ain 1971 18-, 19-, and 20-Year-Old Americans Get the Vote in 1971 By Judith Schiffer The United States Constitution became the law of the land a few years after the 13 British colonies gained their independence from England. In order to become a state of the United States of America, a colony had to agree to obey the Constitution. The Constitution gave each state the right to decide who could vote in that state. In most states, only white Protestant men 21 years of age or older were given the right to vote. Some states allowed women to vote, but most did not. Most African Americans were slaves, and slaves were not citizens of the United States. Only citizens were allowed to vote. In order to give groups other than white men 21 years of age and older the right to vote in every state in the nation, the Constitution had to be changed. This was done through amendments, or proposal of the 26th Amendment by Congress additions, to the orig inal docume nt, and thre e of the se ame ndme nts gave the right to vote to new groups of citizens: to African American men in 1870, to American women in 1920, and people aged 18, 19, and 20 years old in 1971. These amendments made it the law that these groups of people must be allowed to vote in every state. In 1970, all men and women citizens of every race had the Constitutional right to vote in America if they were 21 or older. What was going to change is that young people would be allowed to vote if they were 18 or older. General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the president of the United States in 1952. He told the American people that he was in favor of adding an amendment to the Constitution that would lower the voting age from 21 to18. He said that American citizens aged 18, 19 and 20 had risked their lives to fight for their country in World War I and World War II, and so they should be able to vote. Even though many people agreed with this, it did not happen for another 13 years. Page 12 of 13
18-, 19-, and 20-Year-Old Americans Get the Vote in 1971 During the 1960s, when Lyndon B. Johnson was the president, people fought to give black citizens the same rights and privileges of being an American citizen that white citizens had, and to end discrimination ag ainst the m. This pe riod in Unite d State s history was calle d the civil rig hts movement. Voting rights became an important concern during the civil rights movement. Even though black citizens had been allowed to vote since 1870, they were often prevented from voting, especially in some southern states. One way some states did this was to require everyone to show a driver s license or other government identification document in order to vote. Fewer black citizens than white citizens had such documents, so it was a way to prevent many black citizens from voting. Many protests against voting restrictions on black citizens took place in the streets of America, e spe cially in Washing ton, D.C. Finally, Cong re ss passe d the Voting Rig hts Act of 1965. It prohibits racial discrimination in voting. In 1970, an extension to the Voting Rights Act led to the lowering of the voting age to 18 years old in elections for the president and vice-president of the United States, but not for candidates in state and local elections. In order to lower the voting age to 18 years old in all elections in the country, an amendment to the Constitution was needed. In March 1971, the United States Congress voted in favor of what would become the 26th Amendment. It was ratified, or approved, by the required three-fourths of the state legislatures and be came the law of the land in July. Richard Nixon, who was the pre side nt at that time, told the Ame rican pe ople that he be lie ve d the se new voters would contribute a great deal to the country by participating in the political process. Page 13 of 13