The right to vote in american history, History

Assignment Help:

The Right to Vote in American History

The right to vote, to have a voice in choosing one's leaders and shaping government's policy, is among the most fundamental rights of American citizenship. Surprisingly, the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights do not mention a right to vote. How is it possible that the Framers, who led a revolution against "taxation without representation," did not consider voting a fundamental right for all American citizens?

The Framers distrusted overly strong governments, but they also distrusted democracy, because they feared that citizens were not always sufficiently informed or broad-minded to make wise decisions about important, complicated political issues. Most of them also believed that only men who owned property were truly independent. Men who owned property were considered independent because they presumably could provide for themselves, and so were not dependent on others. Thus, they could be trusted to vote, because no one else was in a position to tell them how to vote. Under this political theory, women and slaves were not allowed to vote, because women were considered dependent on their husbands, while slaves were dependent on their masters. Also the Framers feared that those who did not own property would be dependent on their bosses or landlords, and that they might threaten the rights of property owners if they were allowed to participate in government.

 


Related Discussions:- The right to vote in american history

Was new imperialism a training ground for world war i, Some historians cons...

Some historians consider New Imperialism (European colonization in the nineteenth century) as a training ground for World War I. How did violence exerted by the great powers in con

Predict the change in health care costs, Recall the computer models develop...

Recall the computer models developed to predict the change in health care costs that would result if the U.S. adopted a Canadian style national health plan and the computer models

What is an example of policing, What is an example of policing? What spe...

What is an example of policing? What specific events in the history of policing most influenced present-day policing?

What is john brown final speech, What similarities do you see in the books,...

What similarities do you see in the books, "John Brown final speech", and "Ain't I a Woman"? How can you compare the role of the woman to each book that you read?

Debate on the us senate over the ratification of versailles, Discuss the de...

Discuss the debate in the us senate over the ratification of versailles-what argument were put forth by treaty's critics-what was the final outcome

How did the european colonial powers, How did the European colonial powers ...

How did the European colonial powers accomplish their plans in conquering Asian countries

Person celebrating the chinese new year, Based on the article, which of the...

Based on the article, which of these is something a person celebrating the chinese new year might do on the last day of the year ?

I want some assistance, I need some assistance on how to do an Annotated Bi...

I need some assistance on how to do an Annotated Bibliography on the following below. It must be in your own words. 1. Bourne, R. (1990).The Red King's Rebellion: Racial Politics i

Explain major two causes of the french revolution, Briefly describe major t...

Briefly describe major two causes of the French Revolution. What is meant by both the destruction of the Old Regime and the Radical Revolution? What was the response by neighboring

Core of radical islam, "In a paper of four pages, please explain the ideas ...

"In a paper of four pages, please explain the ideas as the core of radical Islam, as embodied in Seyyid Qutb's work, Milestones." As the prompt says, the essay is to draw heavil

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd