Voting Rights

When the United States was a young and newly independent nation, voting rights were much more limited than they are today. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, only male property owners could vote, most of these being white. Some states extended the right to vote to free African-Americans.

On February 26, 1869 Congress passed the 15th amendment, which extended suffrage to African-Americans. The amendment was ratified a year later, on February 3, 1870. While this amendment stated that the right of United States citizens "to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." (US Constitution, 15th amendment). However, African-American males were often kept from voting through use of Poll Taxes (outlawed in 24th amendment of 1964) and literacy tests (outlawed in the Voting Rights Act of 1965)

Woman's Suffrage was finally achieved in 1920, with the ratification of the 19th amendment, which granted voting rights to women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony both fought hard for woman's suffrage, and finally achieved it. In 1971, the 26th amendment was ratified, granting citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote. Many people questioned the fact that citizens at the age of 18 could be drafted into the Vietnam War, but could not vote.