Ritter

White Male Suffrage

1800

Before the 1800s, the right to vote was extremely limited to people. Primarily in the 13 colonies, white male taxpayers and property owners were given the right to vote. Although, this only accounted for half the white male population.

All White Men Can Vote

1840

Due to westward expansion, nine new states were made by 1840. These states had new and forward-thinking, so they extended the right to vote to all white men over the age of 21. This change was ratified in all the states by 1840.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

1965

Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50% of the non-white population had not registered to vote, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections.