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Voting Rights
Even though white women were considered U.S. Citizens, they did not have the right to vote. Only white men with property could vote, -
Free White Persons
In 1790, the U.S. Congress passed the Naturalization Act of 1790. This law states that U.S. citizenship was granted to all "free white persons". This meant that all people of the White race were to be considered citizens of the United States. This law also set the criteria for nationalization. In order to be a U.S. citizen, you not only had to be white, but you also had to live int he U.S. for at least two years, have proof of moral character, and state an oath to support the U.S. Constitution. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
With tensions growing between the U.S. and France, Congress passed the U.S. Alien & Sedition Acts to make it harder for foreigners to become U.S. citizens. Foreigners had to live in the U.S. for 14 years, instead of the previous 5 years. The Sedition Acts restricted Americans freedom of speech and press. The government would fine or imprison those who spoke rudely or falsely against the U.S. government. These laws were repealed in 1802 by Jefferson because they were found unconstitutional. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave to Dr. John Emerson. Emerson took Scott and his wife to different states, some were free states. In 1846, Scott filed lawsuits for freedom. Scott and his family won their freedom in 1850, but the Missouri Supreme Court reversed it. The case went to the US Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roger Taney explained that African Americans, free or enslaved were not US Citizens, so they had to no right to sue in federal court. African AMericans were not US Citizens. -
Jim Crow Laws & Black Codes
Immediately following the abolishing of slavery, southern states found a legal way to make African American indentured slaves, take away voting rights, to control where they work and how much they were paid. These laws expanded into segregation across the country. African Americans would have to have everything separate from White Americans. If there was purposeful separation then African American's rights and White American' rights were different, but yet they were both considered US Citizens. -
African Americans
In 1866, the 14th Amendment was passed. This stated that all people born or naturalized in the U.S. were U.S. citizens, this included African Americans and previous slaves. This legislation completely excluded Native Americans. This amendment did not give African Americans the right to vote. Now that African Americans were citizens they could sue in federal courts, which was not the case with the Dred Scott vs Sandford. -
15th Amendment
In 1870 congress passed the 15th Amendment, which granted African Americans to vote. This however led to states creating qualifications to vote, which were intentionally made to limited African Americans from voting. There were literacy tests, poll taxes, and other practices that hindered African American from voting. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment was ratified, granted American Women the right to vote. In the early US history women were denied basic rights that their men were granted, but both were considered US Citizens. Many suffragists struggled with the Declaration of Independence that stated, "that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” How could women be denied voting rights? -
Indian Citizenship Act
In 1924, Native Americans were granted U.S. Citizenship when President Calvin Coolidge passed the Indian Citizenship Act. In previous years different Native American were granted U.S. Citizenship through serving in the U.S> army during World War 1 or Native American women would marry a U.S. citizen. But this legislation again did not grant these citizens the right to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
After decades of fighting against segregation and black codes. The US passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that "ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin." This legislation prohibited the unjust treatment of people who were being mistreated harshly. It unified US citizens by getting rid of segregation. No longer were African Americans and White Americans separated. -
Overview of US Citizenship
Looking at the US's past on granting citizenship there was only a matter of time before it was followed by granting voting rights. When the Declaration of Independence was created it stated, "that all men and women are created equal" Voting rights were not originally granted to those who won their US Citizenship.
Why is that?
Fighting for individual rights for these different groups took decades, but they had to also fight for voting rights.