American Government

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All the people eligible to vote (in that district)

The electorate has expanded over time as African-Americans and Women have been granted suffrage

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Chapter 6, Section 1

*225 million Americans*3.75 million Wisconsinites

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The right to vote

Over times many groups have fought for suffrage to overcome their disenfranchisement

•15th amendment•Civil Rights movement•26th amendment•Voter ID Law19th amendment

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Chapter 6, Section 1

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When the Constitution first went into effect in 1789, the right to vote was generally restricted to property-owning Protestant white males.

Only about 1 in 15 adults could actually vote.

The first stage in the expansion of the vote occurred in the early 1800s.

Religious requirements to voting were removed.

No State has had a religious test to voting since 1810.

During the 1820’s each State began to remove property qualifications.

By 1850, nearly all white adult males could vote.

The Civil War (1861-1865) expanded the electorate even further.

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed slaves in the South, however they still could not vote.

In 1870, the 15th amendment was ratified and was intended to protect any citizen from being denied the right to vote because of race or color.

Still, African-Americans were systematically denied the right to vote for the next century.

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Laws developed to prevent Blacks from voting

Especially in the Southern States, officially ended with the 1964 Civil Rights act

•Literacy Test•Poll Tax•Grandfather clause•Voter ID Law?

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Chapter 6, Section 1

Women were denied the right to vote until the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920.

Pioneers for the women’s right to vote included Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ida Wells.

The fight for the women’s right to vote was an ongoing fight since the beginning of our country.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s put pressure on the federal government to remove Jim Crow Laws and truly give suffrage to all people.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed poll taxes and literacy tests and gave the Attorney General the power to scrutinize any State’s voting practices.

The 24th amendment made it unconstitutional to have a poll tax.

Up until 1971, States required people to be at least 21 years old to vote.

The Vietnam War and draft put pressure on the Federal government to lower the voting age to 18. People used the argument

“old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”

The 26th amendment (1971) required that States could not set a minimum age for voting lower than 18 years old.