THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
In
We need to ask ourselves, "How
much do
we appreciate our right to vote?" Is it a right we cherish and take
seriously, or is it something we can let pass without too much thought
of the
struggles our country has endured to assure our right to vote?
The right of each individual
adult eighteen
years of age and above to vote in
In Colonial America only white
men with
property were routinely allowed to vote. By the time of the Civil War,
almost
all white men were allowed to vote whether they were property owners or
not. In
some cases, immigrants had to wait fourteen years for the right to
vote. As the
frontiers were settled, the citizens who opened new lands were given
the right
to vote. But there were limitations such as literacy tests, poll taxes
had to
be paid, and in some places, religious tests applied. Native Americans,
most
white women (except in some states, property owners) and most free
black
Americans still could not vote.
After
the Civil War, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was passed. In
this
Amendment, former slaves were made citizens and their status changed
from being
counted as 3/5 of a person to a whole person. In 1869, the 15th
Amendment
guaranteed the right to vote to black men. But most women of white and
black
races were still denied the right to vote. It would not be until the
Civil
Rights movements of the 1950's through the 1970's that voting rights
were
assured to blacks- men and women.
Go back in time to 1848. When
women were
barred from abolitionist meetings, the suffragettes became active. The
first
Women's Civil Rights Convention was held in
Civil Rights marches in the
1960's were
accelerated, with violence and bloodshed. After many demonstrations,
President
Lyndon B. Johnson signed the "Voting Rights Act" on
The Voting Rights Act of 1970
called for
assistance with language for those who were not fluent in English. This
legislation helped many Latino- Americans and Asian Pacific Americans
to be
able to cast their votes.
The Vietnam War indirectly
brought voting
rights to eighteen year olds. The argument was that if they were old
enough to
be drafted to fight in the war, they should be franchised. Prior to the
passage
of the 26th Amendment, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1971,
the
voting age had been 21 and above. It was lowered to 18.
Of course, to be able to vote,
each
individual must be properly registered in his local area and on the
precinct
roll as an authentic voter.
One of the latest voting
assistance acts
came to disabled Americans. "The Americans with Disabilities Act" was
passed in 1990. Among access to public buildings and other amenities,
the act
also provided handicapped access to polling places and ballots.
When we hear the results of
Tuesday's
primary, view the Democratic and Republican Conventions, and hear the
battle
for the nation's chief administrator from now through the General
Election in
November, let us not take our vote for granted. To be sure, there are
still
some pitfalls in our democratic way. But of all the countries in the
civilized
world, we have the opportunity to be the voice of the people. It came
with much
struggle.
c2008 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published Feb. 7, 2008 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Updated August 10,
2009
Back To Union County, Georgia GenWeb Site