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Lesson 20: How Has the Right to Vote Been Expanded since the Adoption of the Constitution?
Lesson Purpose
During the colonial period and the early years of the nation, suffrage—the right to vote—was generally restricted to white men who owned property. The majority of adult white men met this requirement, especially in rural areas. Other people—women, Native Americans, African Americans, indentured servants, and members of certain religious groups—usually were denied the right to vote. This lesson examines how the right to vote has been extended since 1787. The expansion of the franchise to include almost all citizens eighteen years of age or older represents one of the great themes in American history, in some respects the most important theme.
Lesson Objectives
When you have finished this lesson, you should be able to
- describe the extension of the franchise as a result of changes in voting laws in Congress and various states, amendments to the Constitution, and decisions of the Supreme Court and
- evaluate, take, and defend positions on how extending the right to vote is related to fundamental ideas and principles of American constitutional government.
Lesson Terms
enfranchisement
Giving the right to vote to a person or category of persons.
franchise
Lesson Biographies
Paine, Thomas (1737-1809 CE)
Author and political theorist. Born in England, he came to America in November, 1774. In early 1776, he published the pamphlet Common Sense which stirred many Americans to the revolutionary cause. During the war, his pamphlet, The Crisis, helped support the Revolution and encouraged the soldiers in the Continental Army.
Anthony, Susan B. (1820-1906 CE)
Lesson Court Cases
Harper v. Virginia (1966)
<h6 style="margin-top: -0.5rem !important;">Case Summary</h6><p>Annie E. Harper, a resident of Virginia, filed suit alleging that the state's poll tax was unconstitutional. After a three-judge district court dismissed the complaint, the case went to the Supreme Court. This case was decided together with <i>Butts v. Harrison</i>.</p><h6>Question(s)</h6><p>Did the Virginia poll tax violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?</p><h6>Answer(s)</h6><p>In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that making voter affluence an electoral standard violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Court found that wealth or fee-paying had no relation to voting qualifications. The Court also noted that the Equal Protection Clause was not "shackled to the political theory of a particular era" and that notions of what constituted equal treatment under the clause were subject to change.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0rem !important;"><em>See: <a href="http://oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1965/1965_48">The Oyez Project, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966)</a></em></p>
Lesson Primary Sources
Alabama Literacy test in 1965
Alabama's Literacy Test in 1965. Such tests were used as a requirement to register to vote until restrictions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made them all but illegal. They were used to deny voting rights primarily to African Americans, who had limited access to quality education.
Johnson
United States Constitution
