United States Voting Rights Timeline

1. United States Voting Rights Timeline

2. 1776 When the Declaration of Independence is signed, the right to vote is restricted to white male property owners who were 21 years of age or older.

3. 1787 United States Constitution Adopted There is no agreement on a national standard for voting rights, so states are given the power to regulate their own voting laws. Voting remains in the hands of white male landowners.

4. 1789 George Washington taking the oath of office Only 6% of the population can vote in the election of George Washington.

5. 1790 Naturalization Act of 1790 states that only “…a free white person may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States.”

6. 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton Activists for ending slavery and for women’s rights meet together at a convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. The convention adopts a resolution calling for voting rights for women.

7. 1856 The right to vote is expanded to all white men as North Carolina removes property ownership as a requirement to vote and is the last state to do so.

8. 1866 Susan B. Anthony The American Equal Rights Association is formed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to seek universal voting rights for black and white women and black men.

9. 1868 The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified granting citizenship to former slaves. Voters are explicitly defined as male.

10. 1870 The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. It stated that the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of race.

11. 1872 Susan B. Anthony is arrested and brought to trial in New York for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election. During 1872 presidential election, Sojourner Truth is turned away from a polling booth in Michigan.

12. 1890 United States Flag with the addition of the Wyoming star. Wyoming is admitted to statehood and is the first state to grant women the right to vote in its constitution.

13. 1901 Members of the women’s suffrage movement implore Alabama to extend voting rights to women in the new state constitution which is being written in 1901. The letter on the right is from Carrie Chapman Catt to the president of the Alabama Constitutional Convention. The new constitution fails to franchise women and instead places the power of Alabama firmly in the hands of white landowners by placing literacy tests and poll tax as qualifications to vote. http://216.226.178.196/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/voices&CISOPTR=2101&filename=2102.pdf#search=%22suffrage%22

14. 1912-1913 Leaders of the women’s suffrage movement organize major marches in New York and Washington, D.C.

15. May 19, 1919 Congress proposes “…an amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to women.” This article is then sent to the states for ratification. Approval by two-thirds of the states is required for ratification.

16. September 22, 1919 Alabama specifically rejects the proposed amendment to franchise women. http://216.226.178.196/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/voices&CISOPTR=2184&filename=2185.pdf#search=%221919 legislature%22 Brochure sent by the Alabama Equal Suffrage Association encouraging the Alabama Legislature to ratify the proposed amendment.

17. August 24, 1920 The Tennessee General Assembly, by a one-vote margin, becomes the thirty-sixth state legislature to ratify the proposed amendment meeting the two-thirds majority required for ratification. Thus the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is ratified granting women the right to vote. The document on the right, sent by the governor of the state of Tennessee to Congress, certifies the ratification of the amendment.

18. September 8, 1953 Even though Alabama complied with the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. the Legislature of the State of Alabama did not ratify the amendment until 1953. http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=2473&CISOBOX=1&REC=13