THE EXPANSION OF THE ELECTORATE- NOTES
2 Conceptual trends in suffrage expansion in American political
history:
 Steady growth in eligible voters as country developed
 Federalism- voting requirements went from state to
federal control
Phase I- Founding to 1830’s
 Constitutional Convention could not agree on suffrage- left to
states
 State suffrage laws differed- voting open to white
landowning, taxpaying males (approx. 6% of adult male
population) only
Phase II- Jacksonian Era to Civil War
 Jacksonian Democracy and Common Man reforms in voter
eligibility
 Seneca Falls Convention of 1848- early but unsuccessful
attempts at women’s suffrage
 By start of Civil War- Universal Adult White Male Suffrage is
norm
Phase III- Reconstruction Era to Early 1900’s
 Passage of Civil War Amendments (Amendments 13, 14, &
15)
 Reconstruction Governments in South register and elect first
blacks to office
 Return of “Home Rule” after 1876 election allows South to
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employ tactics that minimize the 15 Amendment
 Introduction of poll tax, literacy test, grandfather clause, KKK
intimidation
 Women’s suffrage amendment first introduced into Congress
in 1878
Phase IV- Progressive Era to 1950’s
 Women’s suffrage granted in state and local elections in
Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah
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 17 Amendment ratified in 1913
 Grandfather clause declared unconstitutional
 Women on home front in WWI along with progressive politics
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allow for ratification of the 19 Amendment in 1920
(electorate is doubled)
 First presidential primaries occur in Progressive Era
 State governments enact voter registration laws
 Southern states’ major parties adopt all white primaries
Phase V- Civil Rights Era
 White primaries declared unconstitutional in 1944
 Voting rights for blacks becomes a major campaign issue in
Eisenhower and Kennedy presidential campaigns
 Dr. Martin Luther King raises public awareness of voting
rights issue
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 Poll taxes declared unconstitutional by ratification of the 24
Amendment in 1964
 Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Phase VI- Contemporary Times
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 Vietnam War hastens ratification of the 26 Amendment (18year-old right to vote) in 1971
 Early voting and absentee ballot laws passed by states in
1980’s
 National Voter Registration Act is signed into law by
President Clinton-also known as the "Motor Voter" bill it
simplifies voter registration by creating a single form to
register voters nationwide and increasing state power over
registration procedures