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North Carolina Constitution
The North Carolina Constitution set up the branches of government and gave the General Assembly the most amount of power, but when it was passed it was not done so by the voters and citizens of the State. This Constitution was important because this is what originally gave the people the right to vote. The people of the state elected the governor and the General Assembly. As time goes on the people are given even more rights that lead to North Carolina becoming a democracy. -
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Convention was led by a woman named Elizabeth Stanton for the purpose of giving women the same rights as men. This convention concluded with women being given their suffrage rights. This expanded democracy in America because it allowed women to vote. This was a serious issue at the time because America called itself a democracy but everyone couldn't vote. With women being given this opportunity America becomes one step closet to being the country it is today. -
Passage of 15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment states that everyone can vote regardless of their race, color,or previous condition of servitude. This allowed blacks to vote regardless of if they used to be a slave. This enfranchised blacks because they previously had no say in government. Even thought the blacks were already being used for representation, they did not have the right to vote. This amendment gave them that right and finally gave them a say in government. -
Jim Crow Laws- poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses
Jim Crow laws were laws that legally segregated black and white people. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses all disenfranchised blacks by making it extremely hard for them to vote. This set democracy back a lot because not everyone had a say in the government. Poll taxes made voting cost money, literacy tests meant that you had to know how to read, and grandfather clauses said that if your grandfather had voted then you were legally allowed to vote. -
Passage of the 17th Amendment
The 17th amendment said that Senators would be elected by the people every six years. This furthered the idea of democracy in American because it essentially gave the American people a larger say in the government by allowing them to elect the officials that would represent their entire state. The Senate is an extremely important part of the legislative process and the people needed to have a say in electing the people who would be in possession of all this power in their government. -
Passage of the 19th Amendment
The 19th amendment essentially says that anyone can vote regardless of gender. This greatly furthered the American democracy. Women were finally given the right to vote, which they had been denied for hundreds of years. There were numerous women's suffrage groups that worked toward allowing women to vote and giving them the same rights as men. The democracy that we know so well today has almost come into existence at this point. -
Indian Citizenship Act
The Indian Citizenship Act was passed in 1824 and it granted citizenship to all of the Native Americans born in the country. This means that the race of people who had been here the longest amount of time were finally able to vote. This expanded the idea of democracy to the final group of disenfranchised people in America. Now that every race and gender has the right to vote, things only get better from then on when it comes to democracy. -
Passage of the 23rd Amendment
The 23rd amendment gave Washington D.C. representation in the electoral college and gave its people the right to vote. The 23rd amendment stretched American democracy into Washington D.C. This allowed the people of the region to vote and to have equal representation in the government that regulated their day to day lives. This is also where the seat of the American Federal Government is located. -
Passage of the 24th Amendment
The 24th amendment says that you can not be charged to vote. This enfranchised the African-American people by getting rid of one of the Jim Crow Laws that was holding them back. The poll tax was a serious barrier for blacks who wanted to vote but who were to poor to afford the poll taxes that had been imposed on them. This was an attempt by whites to keep the African-Americans unheard and to keep their say at a minimal. This amendment got rid of the barrier for blacks and poor people all around. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 got rid of all the rest of the Jim Crow Laws that were holding African-Americans back from having a say in the government. This completely enfranchised the African-American people because it completely did away with the laws that stopped them from voting. At this point in time anybody who was of the correct age and wasn't a felon had the right to vote despite their, race,color, or race. -
Passage of the 26th Amendment
The 26th amendment lowers the legal voting age from 21 to 18. This marks the period of time where democracy is at its peak. Everyone who wants to and is not a felon can vote. Most of our officials in every level of the government are elected by people of both genders and all races..
