Expanding Voting Rights Mr. Young American Government Chapter 17 Section 2 Expanding Voting Rights Mr. Young American Government

Early Limitations on Voting Voting is not a privilege, it is a right Suffrage- right to vote, foundation of American democracy Right to vote is not absolute, it is subject to rules and regulations

Early limitations Cont. Only white, property owning males who paid their taxes could vote This resulted in about 5% to 6% of total adult population Universal male suffrage would not come until the mid 1800’s

Early Limitations Cont. Educated men of the time did not believe in mass democracy Voting best left to wealthy, white, property-owning males. John Jay, “The people who own the country ought to govern it.”

Woman Suffrage By 1914, women had the right to vote in 11 states Not until after WW1, in 1920, were women given the right to vote, 19th Amendment

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton “I will never pay a dollar for your unjust fine.” Susan B. Anthony refused to pay a $100 fine for voting in the 1872 Presidential Election.                                                                                               Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton

Women’s Suffrage in front of White House

Alice Paul: Leader of Women’s Suffrage Movement

Video on Women’s Suffrage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvqnjwKW7gA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiadX_0J8eA&feature=related

African American Suffrage 15th Amendment (1870)- Gave African Americans the right to vote Also first time national government had set rules for voting, a power only the states had previously exercised

African American Suffrage Video http://www.mrctv.org/node/76811

Grandfather Clause Provided that only voters whose grandfather had voted before 1867 were eligible to vote without paying a poll tax or passing a literacy test. Supreme court declared it unconstitutional in 1915

Literacy Test Many states required you to pass a literacy test to vote White men only needed to sign their name, African Americans had to interpret complicated parts of literature

Literacy Tests http://rights.teachingmatters.org/files/images/african/1965_test.html http://kpearson.project.tcnj.edu/interactive/imm_files/test.html

Poll Taxes Amount of money that had to be paid before a person could vote Had to be paid in advance, and paid for previous unpaid years, and had to keep track of receipt showing you paid Eventually outlawed by 24th Amendment in 1964

Video on African American Suffrage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D20exT32bQ&feature=relmfu

Voting Rights Acts Passed in 1965, one of most effective suffrage laws ever passed Federal government could register voters if it seemed they were being discriminated against Provided poll watchers, literacy tests abolished, ballots were to be printed in different languages African Americans could now play a more important role in Southern political life

Voting Rights Act Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ2j8zSxPgU

26th Amendment Vietnam War, if 18 years olds could be drafted and fight for our country, they should be able to vote Passed in 1971 Gave around 10 million more citizens the right to vote GA and KY first two states to lower their voting age to 18

26th Amendment Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re0BQzwvDsU