Prior to the Civil War the question of Negro suffrage was debated and in most states settled against the Negro. At the time of the Civil War only five states had no color qualification on the books: Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont; but in practice unhindered Negro suffrage was limited to Maine.

Corrupt Carpetbaggers

President Lincoln and Johnson did not include Negro suffrage in their Reconstruction schemes. It was the so-called radical group in Congress, who wanted to insure Union party control of southern states who argued most heatedly for Negro suffrage. In 1870 the Fifteenth amendment was adopted stating: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude."

Eight Reconstruction years of corrupt southern rule by a combination of Negroes and carpetbaggers was followed by a bloody reestablishment of control by southern whites. Since that time the Supreme Court has generally attempted, through its rulings, to insure the Negroes the vote in practice that is their's on paper.

The most recent extention of the vote was in 1920 with the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment granting woman suffrage. The earliest rumblings of the suffragette crusade were closely associated with the abolition movement. Woman's lot was compared to that of the slave; the parallel drawn was not unfounded since legal rights of married women were closer to the slave's than to those of free white men.

Opponents of giving women the vote argued basically that "woman's place is in the home." Perhaps typical of the arguments, though couched in the language of a southern gentleman, are the words of Senator Joseph E. Brown of Georgia who said in 1884 that woman suffrage "would be a great cruelty to a much larger number of the cultivated, refined, delicate and lovely women of this country who seek no such distinction, who would enjoy no such privilege, who would with woman-like delicacy shrink from the discharge of any such obligation, and who would sincerely regret that what they consider the folly of the State had imposed upon them any such unpleasant duties.

Close the Saloons

But the fair sex refused to let their apron strings continue to serve as political shackles. In their loud demand for franchisement they promised to clean up government and close down the saloons.

Wyoming was the first state to give women the vote; it did so in 1890. By 1914 then other western states granted suffrage to women. Militancy became the keynote in the 1914 Congressional elections as the suffragette campaign became national in scope.

In 1917 the suffragattes threw picket lines around the White House. Soon many of the demonstrators were arrested for "obstructing traffic." Newspapers and magazines devoted considerable space to these "antics." At their trials the women delivered passionate orations on behalf of liberty and woman suffrage: they also refused to pay their fines "as a matter of principle" and were there upon hustled off to the workhouse. Public sentiment swelled in resentment of the government's suppressing tactics and in sympathy for the women's sacrifices.

At one trial an elderly woman was given a light sentence and the presiding judge urged her to pay the fine rather than go to jail. She responded: "Your Honor, I have a nephew fighting for democracy in France. He is offering his life for his country. I should be ashamed if I did not join these brave women in their fight for democracy in America. I should be proud of the honor to die in prison for the liberty of American women."

Finally Successful

After more arrests, hunger strikes, and "Prison Special" tours of the country, in 1919, President Wilson gave in, along with a number of hitherto reluctant Senators, and an amendment passed both Houses by the required two-thirds vote. By 1920 the necessary three-fourths of the states had ratified the amendment which provides that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Early extentions of suffrage reflected the potent effects of a democratic revolutions in this country. Enfranchising the Negro has decreased discriminatory practices, especially in the South. This effect is not wholly attributable to voting power, education and Congressional and judicial rulings are also involved. As for the consequences of woman suffrage, no comprehensive study has been made, but is it obvious that women have not been successful in singlehandedly cleaning up politics and alcoholism.

The move to lower the age qualification for voting to 18 is not new. In 1943 thirty-one state legislatures entertained the proposal. Only Georgia amended its constitution to effect the change. The successful slogan was "Fight at 18, Vote at 18." Opponents of the measure in Georgia and elsewhere called the scheme a contrivence of northern professors and Communists. Former Governor Talmadge mustered chivalrous concern for innocent young women whom politicians would have a legal right to approach, "Without an introduction," to seek their votes. But Georgia extended the vote and appears happy about the results.