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Unit 3 Videoscript
How can we tell what’s right?
In 1988, less than 37% of potential U.S. voters registered, and only 50% bothered to
vote, thus allowing George Bush to become President of the United States with barely
27% of the people’s support; the lowest of any Presidential election in history.
Since then, not much has changed. The United States still remains the lowest in voter
registration and turnout than any other industrialized nation, a classification that is
ironic, considering the turbulent evolution of suffrage throughout American history.
In 1787, the Constitution of the United States was written and signed, and ultimately
ratified in 1789. Although the Constitution’s articles go into great detail about the
specifics of the new government, and the Bill of Rights constitute the fundamentals of
human rights, the right to vote was largely left up to the individual states to decide.
It is estimated by the year 1790, only 6% of the white male population was entitled to
vote. Under the administrations of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson,
many voting restrictions were eliminated, but it wasn’t until 1870, after a brutal Civil War,
that all adult males, both black and white, were given the right to vote.
The right of the 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.
Although the 15th Amendment was explicit in its meaning, it didn’t prevent certain states
from initiating laws that made it difficult for black men to cast their vote.
Poll taxes, literacy tests, and white primaries were imposed, while “grandfather clauses”
were initiated that allowed many white males to get around these restrictions if they or
their grandfather was entitled to vote on or before January 1, 1867.
Dr. Joseph L. Graves, Jr: “One recognizes immediately that this is circular logic.
Because, of course, anyone who had been a slave, who is a descendent of a slave, the slave
descendent would not have been able to vote.”
In 1915, the Supreme Court ruled that grandfather clauses were unconstitutional.
But it wasn’t until 1964, when the 24th Amendment was ratified, making poll taxes
unconstitutional, and the voting Rights Act, signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1965, that
all adults were finally granted the necessary liberties to vote in state, local, and federal
elections.
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.
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“Today we strike away the last major shackle of those fierce and ancient bonds. This
law will insure them the right to vote.”
It’s very important, if African-Americans are going to make headway in the American
political process, that more people register, more people vote, and also more people
become concerned with what the political agenda is.
The fight for suffrage in this country wasn’t exclusive to black males and minorities. As
early as the mid-1800s, women showed that they were also in the fight to defend their
rights and win their freedom.
The demand for women’s right to vote was formally organized at the Seneca Falls
Women’s Convention. Headed by reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony, both activists believed that women could not effectively promote social reform
without the right to vote.
Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone felt that once the black man was given the right to
vote, the women’s right to vote would soon follow. As a result, Stone and Howe formed
the American Women’s Suffrage Association, which focused on enfranchisement through
state legislation, while Stanton and Anthony formed the National Women’s Suffrage
Association, which focused on suffrage at a federal level.
Ultimately, the two associations merged in 1890, after Wyoming become the first state
to grant women full voting rights. Other states would soon follow. But it wasn’t until
1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified, that all women were given the right to vote.
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.
But the women’s fight for equality didn’t end with the 19th Amendment. In 1923, Alice
Paul of the National Women’s Party drafted a bill stating, that “equality or rights under
the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of
sex.”
She introduced the bill to Congress, where it lay dormant until 1970, when the
National Organization for Women got behind it and proposed it as the 27th Amendment
to the Constitution. Given seven years for ratification, the amendment was ultimately
granted a three-year extension. On June 30, 1982, the Equal Rights Amendment fell short
of ratification by three states.
Ann Timmer: “What we did learn with the failure of ERA was that we must not
depend upon the male vote to bring about the Equal Rights Amendment, that we had to
campaign for women and for candidates, male or female, who supported women’s rights.”
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.
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The last amendment concerning suffrage came in 1971, when the 26th Amendment
was proposed and ratified. It stated that “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.”
Since that time, the percentage of individuals who register and actually vote has steadily
decreased, even though there are more eligible voters than ever before.
Timmer: “It’s the most dynamic way of speaking. Before women were granted that
right, they could think of whom they would like to have for President, but they could not
take action.”
In the past two decades, we have witnessed a tremendous amount of change
throughout the world—change that was brought about by men and women who were
willing to sacrifice everything to stand up for their rights.
It’s our responsibilities as United States citizens to never forget nor take for granted the
sacrifices of those brave men and women who came before us, and to honor and enjoy the
many freedoms and rights they helped to bring about.
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.