The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy. Chief Justice Earl Warren, for example, wrote in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 555 (1964): "The right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence of a … See more

• 1789: The Constitution grants the states the power to set voting requirements. Generally, states limited this right to property-owning or tax-paying white males (about 6% of the population).
• 1790: The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited citizenship to "free … See more

In several British North American colonies, before and after the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Jews, Quakers, Catholics, and/or See more

Voting rights for Asian Americans have been continuously battled for in the United States since the initial significant wave of Asian immigration to the country in the mid-nineteenth century. The escalation of voting rights issues for Asian immigrants had started with the … See more

From 1778 to 1871, the government tried to resolve its relationship with the various native tribes by negotiating treaties. These treaties formed agreements between two sovereign nations, stating that Native American people were citizens of their tribe, living within … See more

At the time of ratification of the Constitution in the late 18th century, most states had property qualifications which restricted the … See more

A parallel, yet separate, movement was that for women's suffrage. Leaders of the suffrage movement included Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul. In some ways this, too, could be said to have grown out of the See more