1. The Road to Universal Suffrage
The Enfranchisement of the
AMERICAN ELECTORATE

2. A Representative Democracy?
*The basic principle of a representative
democracy is “one person, one vote”
* The U.S.Constitution began operating in
1789, but not every adult was represented

3. Those excluded in 1789
􀂓Poor men who did not own land
􀂓Slaves
􀂓Women
􀂓Native Americans 􀂓 People under 21 years old

4. The Poor White Man The Poor 􀂓 Poor white men aged 21 or older gained
the right to vote in 1830s

5. Slaves In the early 1860s, the Civil War was fought
over the issue of slavery. After the North won, new amendments were added to the Constitution making all former slaves citizens, and allowing them to vote.

6. Civil War Amendments 􀂓The 13th Amendment (1865) ended slavery
􀂓 The 14th Amendment (1868) defined citizenship and allowed everyone
to be equally protected by the law
􀂓The 15th Amendment (1870) prevented states from treating voters differently because of race

7. Voting Rights Act of 1965
􀂓 In March 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march in Alabama so that people would pay attention to voting rights issues
􀂓 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act sending federal registrars into
states that had less
than 50% registered.

8. Women – 19th Amendment
􀂓 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York, women began demanding the right to vote. In 1920, women finally got the right to vote with the 19th Amendment.

9. Native Americans
􀂓 Before President Coolidge signed a bill in 1924 giving
citizenship to Native Americans, they could not vote
􀂓 However, in New Mexico and Arizona they were still told they could not vote because they did not pay property taxes
􀂓 In 1947 a group successfully challenged this law and said because Native Americans paid other forms of taxes, they should be able to vote.

10. 23 Amendment
Gave the residents of Washington, D.C. three electoral votes in Why did it take an amendment to allow citizens to vote?

11. 24th Amendment #The poll tax was made illegal in 1964
#Too poor 24 kept the poor and minorities away from the voting booths because it put a price on voting.

12. People Under the Age of 21
􀂓 During the Vietnam War ( ), men were drafted to fight the war when 18.
􀂓 They had to fight but had no voice.
􀂓 Finally the 26th Amendment granted 18-year olds the right to vote in 1971

13. Gaining the Right to Vote
􀂓 1789 Only white men, over age 21, who were
property owners could vote
􀂓 1830s Non-land owners are allowed to vote
􀂓 1865 Former slaves could vote, but most
were discriminated against and did not vote
􀂓 1920 Women received the right to vote
􀂓 1924 Native Americans could vote
1961 Wash,D.C. gets three electors
1962 No poll tax for national voting
􀂓 1965 Voting Rights Act protected African
Americans at the polls, allowing them to vote
1971 All citizens 18 and older could vote

14. Conclusion The United States has gone through a
difficult and not very pretty history in giving each person the right to vote
􀂓 Yet, now with fair laws and people’s
support, all citizens over the age of 18
are allowed to vote. We now more truly can say we are a
representative democracy