Voting Rights In The United States

Improved Essays
The voting rights have changed through history. All colors of all race have the right to vote and even all genders have the right to vote. But you still have to be atleast the age of 18 or older to have the right to vote. Women could vote in New Jersey and in some local areas, in all the other northern states. Non-white Americans could also vote in these areas as well, provided they could meet the property requirement. Freed slaves could vote in only four states. Initially, men without property and women were not allowed to vote. By the time of the U.S. Civil War, most white men were allowed to vote regardles of property ownership.

Freedom of speech is the political right to communicate one's opinions and ideas it's here you can say whatever
…show more content…
This right has been limited ever since the Sandy Hook incident. Obama and other people with the government has said their opinions about it. "We're a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment. We've got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves. My belief is that we have to enforce the laws we've already got, make sure that we're keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We've done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we've got more to do when it comes to enforcement. But weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there's an awful lot of violence and they're not using AK-47s. They're using cheap hand guns." This was part of a presidental debate. This right was not always with the colonial times. In colonial times it was difficult to buy a gun and not everyone can just go to a store and buy …show more content…
This right was born right after the civil war when the war was between The Unions and The Confederates (North vs South). Abraham Lincoln strongly disliked the thought of slavery let alone have any part of it. "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."- Abraham Lincoln. The 13th amendment probably will never change in the future, but there is still racism. Slavery does still go on in other countries but those are 3rd world countries like in the middle east and all over Africa. Slavery is still a big issue in other countries but there are no worries in America because the 13th amendment protects that right. Abraham Lincoln was one of the best presidents America has ever had and has even done the biggest things in America and that is to obalish slavery. "On the question of liberty, as a principle, we are not what we have been. When we were the political slaves of King George, and wanted to be free, we called the maxim that "all men are created equal" a self evident truth; but now when we have grown fat, and have lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the same maxim "a self evident lie." This was actually a quote from Abraham Lincoln but

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Framers 3/5 Compromise

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Since the Framers began writing the Constitution in 1787 to govern our great nation, Americans had been avoiding an ugly truth. Slavery had been in American since the colonization of Jamestown in 1619 because indentured servants had become too expensive to bring over from England to do their work. The colonists’ only option for survival was to bring slaves over to help with the hard labor no one else wanted to do or could do. When the slaves came, they gave the colonists a chance at living. They helped with the tobacco crop and rice.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    15th Amendment Dbq

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the years citizens of America have been deprived of their right to vote based on their ethnicity, religion status, and their gender. White males that owned property were the only ones who were allowed to vote. It caused a lot of problems within the government and the communities. Many alterations have been made since then, expanding their regulations to everyone disregarding race, color, or previous term of bondage or servitude. Later on down the line they made it feasible for women to be able to vote also.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Why South Seceded

    • 2036 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Northern states by electing Abraham Lincoln, a strong abolitionist were going to take these freedoms away. The Declaration of Independence also states “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” This is justifying that the South has a right to separate and start their own institution, principles, and foundation that will make life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness into a…

    • 2036 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil War Dbq

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many leaders could not decide whether or not to make slave men and women free. Which was a conflict because of the Declaration of independence, it stated that “all man are created equal”. This was a conflict, especially for Thomas Jefferson since he wrote part of the Declaration of independence. Despite the Declaration of Independence, we have the U.S. Constitution does have something to say about slavery. In the year 1865, we can see that it state “Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, nor any place subject to their jurisdiction”.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Slavery Dbq Essay

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In 1789 when the U.S Constitution went into effect, it guaranteed the practice of slavery in America. By the mid-1800’s the topic of slavery became a divisive force in the country, with much of the north, especially the Republican Party opposing it and almost the entire south and many northern democrats supporting it. The senate passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of United States on 8th April 1864 and the House on 31st January 1865 and it was ratified on the 6th December 1865. It abolished servitude and slavery as a legal institution. Though the Constitution does not explicitly use the word “slaves”, it does refer to it by using words such as “such persons” in Article 1, Section 9 and “a person held to service or labor” in Article…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Those who were free and participated in the constitution of their political institutions had the right to vote without any restrictions. But during that time, only North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia refused the idea of letting free people to vote without the proper requirements. Eventually all states accepted the idea of free voting, but Rhode Island still…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees that 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. "(Library of Congress). This means, in theory, that any US citizen should be able to vote no matter what their background. But the limits of this amendment are very apparent. This amendment does not guarantee rights of black women, they were not able to vote until 1920, earned with the rise of the woman’s suffrage movement.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As of today, almost 6 million citizens are incarcerated and stripped of their given right to vote, these men and women have their voices, thoughts, and opinions silenced due to their past mistakes. “This is a fundamental question on democracy”, said the Sentencing Project’s executive director Marc Mauer. “These polices go back to the founding of this country.” (McLaughin 1). Although some might say that they have broken the law, therefore they should not be allowed to walk amongst decent people let alone be given the right to vote.…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Voting Process

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Constitution is particularly vague on the issue of voting. Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution left the establishment of voting practice procedures and who is eligible to vote up to the individual states. A provision was made for Congress to alter the voting process if necessary (Justia, 2015). As an unintended result, suffrage was initially limited to white, male property holders. The Fifteenth Amendment addresses the rights of citizens to vote in two sections.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The concept of voting is defined to be one of the most significant powers held by all individuals within a democratic form of government. The Fifteenth Amendment addresses the voting rights adhered to the citizens of America (Epps, theatlantic.com). Tracing back to the ratification of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers rooted the power concerning suffrage rights upon the independent states. Due to the states having the sole authority in establishing the laws concerning suffrage, restrictions were implemented that have evolved, but continue to be in existence within the democratic state of our country (Sidlow and Henschen 188-189). Expansion of the voting rights within the United States can be defined as one of the most remarkable achievements…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Voting Rights Dbq

    • 1559 Words
    • 6 Pages

    All people are created equal and their rights have to be protected under the Constitution. However, African Americans seem not to be one of them because they have suffered discrimination and segregation for a long period. In order to change the situation, African Americans created the Civil Rights movement that gained people’s attention. The Voting Rights Act was one of significant Act in the Civil Rights movement because it changed AAs’ lives and get rid of inequal problems. The Voting Rights Act was a leading improvement because African Americans gained the right to vote and stood in their political positions.…

    • 1559 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Right To Voting

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The right to vote is one of the most important, fundamental rights given to American citizens. Yet, rather than seeking to make more convenient and accessible for citizens interested in engaging in the political process, state governments focus rather often focus time and resources on restricting voting and making the process more complex and difficult. States governments have the authority to determine not only who is allowed to register to vote, but also how the process of voting itself operates. Some states require ID just to cast a vote, such as Mississippi, which placed new restrictions on voting in 2016 which require certain forms of photo ID. Other states, for example Nebraska and Florida, place restrictions on early voting by taking…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I certanily agree with you that in the past years the governments relationship with the citzens have changed dramatically. I too mentioned that today people do not understand the importance of voting. I never really thought about the fact that people do not vote simply because they do not trust the government. I have never understood why we are seen as the model of democracy when our voting turnouts have been tremendously low in the past decades. As you mentioned countries like Belgium and Turkey have compulsory-voting laws within their countries.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cons Against Gun Control

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A big topic up for debate in the United States is gun control. A question that is often asked is, should there be more restrictions on the process of buying a gun? While some say there is a need to require stricter background checks or psychological testing others would argue that it is our right as Americans to own firearms. Gun control in the United States has become too restricting to serve its original purpose. The second amendment of our country’s Constitution states, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    First, Abraham Lincoln’s election as president was a huge blow to the southern community, as it made them nervous he would eventually abolish slavery. They considered this a threat to their luxury of enjoying the profit of slavery. Although Lincoln was clear about his opposition of slavery he also admitted he had not intention of messing with the South’s slave system. For example, Lincoln said, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists (Hine, 2014).” Be that as it may, the South was not convinced.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays