Suffrage Essay Example

Suffrage Essay When discussing the history of the suffrage movement in America, there are three main and distinct groups which first must be identified. The order in which they will be covered, occur in the timeline of when they were allowed to participate in the democratic process in the United States of America.   It has taken centuries but the number of people who have been allowed to vote in the political process has been expanding since the inception of this country. In an attempt to distance itself from the monarchs and societies of the few, the United States of America, upon its inception, gave the right to vote to a greater degree of people than the majority of countries in the world.However, at this time, a large portion of the country; mainly women and minorities were excluded from voting. After a great deal of lobbying and tireless effort my the fearless leaders of their day, the vote is now expanded to include in this country, all people over the age of eighteen who are not in prison and not in this country illegally. As a result, the United States of America has had a long history of exclusionary practices when giving the right to vote to its citizens.   Despite this, the people have a greater voice in the democratic process, than in most countries around the world.When studying the suffrage movement of African Americans, it is important to see beyond the dates of the legislature in order to come to a conclusion as to when exactly African Americans were allowed to vote. Formally, the 15th amendment gave the right to vote to African Americans and anyone regardless of their race. â€Å"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.†[1] The date in which this legislation was approved in Congress was February 3, 1870.[2] However, African Americans would not achieve full suffrage until nearly a hundred years later.The reason for this is the presence of the oppressive Jim Crow laws of the South during this time. Reconstruction would end in 1877 as Republicans in the North became tired of the fight to attempt to give African Americans equality under the Constitution and withdrew from the region in 1877. Southern legislation promptly sought to return African Americans back to a quasi form of slavery in which the clear lines of master and servant were reestablished. In an attempt to accomplish just that, Grandfather clauses were enacted. This was a blatant attempt to keep African Americans from voting. From 1890 until 1910, African Americans who were attempting to vote, had to prove that their grandfather been allowed to vote. This was an impossible task as many applicants had neither the ability to state that their fathers were able to vote, let alone their grandfathers. Not until Guinn vs The United S tates was the law pronounced unconstitutional.[3]Full suffrage would be given to African Americans and other people of color in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It stated that no person, on the bass of their color, could be excluded from voting. It served as one of the most important civil rights acts in the history of this country.   Only after the efforts of millions of people of color and the detailed efforts of the famous: Frederick Douglas, the formation of the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr. to name a few, the Voting Rights Act serves as one of the most important pieces of legislation and was renewed for another twenty five years in 2006 by President Bush. As it is now seen as absolutely essential to the democratic process, it is very unlikely that the law will ever be repealed. The country would now see such actions and counterproductive to the democratic process.Women were the next group to receive the right to vote. As it is the case with most events in history, the 19th amen dment, passed in 1920, has garnished support for the past century in this country but it never could attract enough support in order to allow ratification. Since the late 18th century when the wife of John Adams, Abigail Adams attempted to provoke his husband and an eventual signer of the Declaration of Independence, to â€Å"remember the ladies† as a cry for women’s equality. The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention also served as a formal declaration of the rights which women felt were theirs, not for the asking as God had given them the right to vote, but theirs for the taking. It states in part: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.†[4]   In 1870, the state of Col orado gave women the right to vote and there were a handful of other states which gave women the right to vote.However, it had yet to become a law. During the abolitionist movement, when African Americans were attempting to gain the vote, women were still not going to be included in this attempted expansion of the suffrage laws. Women were going to have to wait to exercise their right to vote. 50% of the population would have to wait until 1920 in order to exercise their democratic right to vote. The passage of the 19th amendment did just that and was ratified in Congress by a single vote. It states simply, yet profoundly, â€Å"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.†[5] And with that, the other half of the population were now allowed to vote. As a result of the expansion of the suffrage rights of its citizens, America saw an eventual, although gradual increase in the number of women who were now seen in Congress. Also, now that it seems very possible that America’s next president could very well be a woman, the 19th amendment and its lo9ng struggle to be accepted, might now come to full fruition.The last major change to the suffrage movement in America was the passage of the 26th amendment, passed in 1971 and which stated that the voting age, in an attempt to encourage the political participation of young people in this country, was reduced from 21 to 18 years of age. â€Å"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.†[6] However, the percentage of individuals, aged 18-24, is still less than 20%. Also, t here are a number of other impediments which prevent American citizens from exercising their right to vote and will likely continue to keep participation low.In the 2004 election, more than 68 million people voted. This was the highest total ever in a presidential election. However, this constituted less than 50% of the total eligible voting population and represents the apathy towards the political process. Under the law, all citizens of the country who are over the age of 18 and who are registered to vote are allowed to partake in the political process. Apathy and a lack of concern seems to disallow the individual from taking the necessary steps in order to vote. Also, unlike many European countries, many people in America are not granted a day off of work in order to go and vote.Despite the fact that many poling places are open in excess of twelve hours on election day, many people, especially potential Democrats in the state of Ohio during the 2004 election, were faced with stan ding in line for countless hours and thus, decreasing the chances that they would be allowed to vote, or that such impediments would convince potential voters to just stay home. Despite all of the shortcomings that the political process has in this country, it still offers the right to vote, to a greater degree of the population than the majority of countries in this world. If only Americans could realize this as well as how important and precious our right to vote is, more people would vote. Oppressive and exclusionary laws have been replaced by apathy and a belief that one’s vote does not and will not count, as the greatest obstacle towards one’s willingness to exercise one’s right to vote. Only time and chance will prove if this is to remain an unfortunate aspect of the American political process.