HY 357 Lecture Notes - Lecture 40: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Universal Manhood Suffrage, Voting Age
6 Jun 2018
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The Right to Vote
In a democratic society, it is the citizens' responsibility to vote in elections; the vote of a street
cleaner counts just as much as the vote of a millionaire. The right to vote is the right to determine
who governs. For many years, however, large numbers of Americans were denied this basic
right. Today, even with all the formal restrictions against voting eliminated, a significant
percentage of Americans choose not to cast their ballots. Voter participation has generally
declined since 1960.
The term suffrage, or franchise, means the right to vote. Under the Constitution,
residency requirements and other qualifications for voting were set by the states. In the
late 18th century, it was widely held that only the best-educated men of substance were
capable of making the correct voting decisions; therefore, the right to vote was limited to
white male property owners. Poor white men, women, and slaves were excluded.
Universal manhood suffrage
The first breakthrough in the crusade to end voting restrictions took place in the 1820s
and 1830s, when many states revised and liberalized their constitutions. During this
period, often called the "Age of the Common Man" or the "Age of Jackson," property
qualifications and religious tests that denied the right to vote to Catholics and Jews were
removed in some states. Universal manhood suffrage is a little misleading, because
the franchise was denied to African Americans almost everywhere.
Expansion by amendment
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Document Summary
In a democratic society, it is the citizens" responsibility to vote in elections; the vote of a street cleaner counts just as much as the vote of a millionaire. The right to vote is the right to determine who governs. For many years, however, large numbers of americans were denied this basic right. Today, even with all the formal restrictions against voting eliminated, a significant percentage of americans choose not to cast their ballots. The term suffrage, or franchise, means the right to vote. Under the constitution, residency requirements and other qualifications for voting were set by the states. In the late 18th century, it was widely held that only the best-educated men of substance were capable of making the correct voting decisions; therefore, the right to vote was limited to white male property owners. Poor white men, women, and slaves were excluded.
