The Founding Fathers initially left those decisions up to the state governments. Over the years, however, Congress has passed several amendments to the Constitution to extend voting rights to include every citizen over the age of 18. Just how did we get from white-male-landowner suffrage to where we are today? It has been a long and challenging road.
PROPERTY EQUALS POWER
Before the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the right to vote was restricted to people who owned property or paid taxes. For the most part, the only people who met those criteria were white adult men. Some colonies also enforced religious restrictions. Catholic and Jewish men often were denied the opportunity to vote.
After the United States became independent from Great Britain, most states lifted the restriction on landowning as a requirement to vote. The states felt pressure from men who did not own property but wanted the privilege of voting. Some of the men were soldiers who had fought in the war for independence. It didn’t seem fair to deny the right to vote to people who had been willing to die for the new nation. The early 1800s was a time of “universal manhood suffrage,” or the expansion of the right to vote to all white men.
Efforts to win voting rights for women and certain immigrant groups in the late 1800s were often scorned by those who had already achieved that privilege.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May/June 2023 من Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May/June 2023 من Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
nellie Bly Journalist
nellie Bly's first newspaper articles appeared in print when she was just 20 years old.
Arabella Mansfield -Lawyer
Arabella Mansfield started out life as Belle Babb (1846-1911). She grew up in a Midwest family that valued education. In 1850, her father left to search for gold in California. He died in a tunnel accident a few years later.
Sarah Josepha Hale Editor
Long before Vogue or Glamour caught women's attention, Godey's Lady's Book introduced the latest fashions.
Louise Blanchard Bethune - Architect
Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856-1915) showed early promise in math. Lucky for her, her father was the principal and a mathematics teacher in a school in Waterloo, New York. Instead of going to school, Louise's father taught her at home until she was 11 years old. She also discovered a skill for planning houses. It developed into a lifelong interest in architecture and a place in history as the first professional female architect in the United States.
Sojourner Truth Speaker
There was a time when slavery wastes abolished the institution over a number of decades. New York abolished slavery in 1827. Isabella Baumfree (c. 1797-1883) was born enslaved in Hurley, New York. When she was nine, she was taken from her parents and sold. She then was sold several more times. Some of her owners were cruel and abused her. During that time, she had several children.
Getting Started
In this editorial cartoon, a young 19th-century woman must overcome the obstacle of carrying a heavy burden while climbing a multirung ladder before she can achieve \"Equal Suffrage.\"
Leonora M. Barry - Investigator
When Leonora M. Barry (1849-1923) was a young girl, her family left Ireland to escape a famine. They settled in New York. Barry became a teacher. In 1872, she married a fellow Irish immigrant. At that time, married women were not allowed to work. So, Barry stayed home to raise their three children.
Finding a New Path
For many Americans, this month's mystery hero represents the ultimate modern trailblazer. She is recognized by just her first name.
The Grimké Sisters Abolitionists
Every night, Dinah was supposed to brush the E hair of her mistress, Sarah Moore Grimké (1792-1873). But one night, 12-year-old Sarah stopped Dinah. She wanted to help Dinah instead. They had to be quiet so they wouldn't get caught. It was 1804 in Charleston, South Carolina. The Grimkés were among Charleston's major slaveholding families. Strict laws regulated the behavior of both master and enslaved people.
Frances Willard Leader
During Frances Willard's lifetime (1839-1898), she was the best-known woman in America: She headed the largest women's organization in the worldthe Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). In that role, her abilities shone as a social activist, a dynamic speaker, and a brilliant organizer. She educated women on how to run meetings, write petitions, give speeches, and lobby state and federal legislators.
