Political Science Voting and Civil Rights: 1848-1875

1848

A declaration was issued calling for equal rights for women, along with the right to vote at the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. This was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and other women at the time.

1865

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. Although African Americans gained their freedom there were still restrictions in place such as “Black Codes”, which limited their rights and were a way to perpetuate slavery.

1866

The Civil Rights Act granted citizenship to all native born males. However, excluded from citizenship were Native American Indians, African Americans and women.

1868

The 14th Amendment granted citizenship “to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves recently freed”. It also prohibited states from “denying any person of life, liberty, property, without due process of the law” or “to deny any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the law”.

1870

The 15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote. It stated 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. ”African Americans would still be prohibited from voting “through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans.” These in conjunction with Jim Crow Laws were a system of racial segregations in public facilities, transportation, restaurants and education throughout southern states. This established the “separate but equal treatment” received by African Americans and was reinforced by the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896

1875

Page Act of 1875 was meant to prevent an “influx of contract laborers and prostitutes, in practice this measure was used largely to stop the emigration of Asian women. Many Americans feared the presence of Asian women would promote permanent communities of Asians in the U.S.”