Essays

Voting Rights and Restrictions in Pre-Emancipation America essay page

"Voting Rights and Restrictions in Pre-Emancipation America," by Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt (independent scholar)

Pioneering New Methods to Expand Voting, 1865–1920 essay page

"Pioneering New Methods to Expand Voting, 1865–1920," by Prof. Lisa Tetrault (Carnegie Mellon University)

The Battle to Expand Access to the Ballot from 1920 to 2000 essay page

"The Battle to Expand Access to the Ballot from 1920 to 2000," by Prof. Michael J. Pitts (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)

Essays in History Now

The following essays from our online journal, History Now, are available to all readers. For access to the full History Now archive, visit gilderlehrman.org/history-now. Additional resources from the Institute and partner organizations can be found on our Supplementary Resources page.

“The First Generation: America’s Women Voters, 1776−1807” by Marcela Micucci (History Now 56, “The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond,” Spring 2020)
“Making (White Male) Democracy: Suffrage Expansion in the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War” by Stuart M. Blumin (History Now 51, “The Evolution of Voting Rights,” Summer 2018)
“Adams v. Jackson: The Election of 1824” by Edward G. Lengel (History Now 33, “Electing a President,” Fall 2012)
“The Seneca Falls Convention: Setting the National Stage for Women’s Suffrage” by Judith Wellman (History Now 7, “Women’s Suffrage,” Spring 2006)
“A Second Declaration of Independence: The 1848 Declaration of Sentiments” by Sally G. McMillen (History Now 63, “The Declaration of Independence and the Long Struggle for Equality in America,” Summer 2022)
“Citizenship in the Post-Civil War South” by Susanna Michele Lee (History Now 55, “Examining Reconstruction,” Fall 2019)
“Reconstruction and the Battle for Woman Suffrage” by Ellen DuBois (History Now 7, “Women’s Suffrage, Spring 2006)
“The Reconstruction Amendments: Official Documents as Social History” by Eric Foner (History Now 2, “Primary Sources on Slavery,” Winter 2004)
“The Contentious Election of 1876” by Michael F. Holt (History Now 33, “Electing a President,” Fall 2012)
“A Right Deferred: African American Voter Suppression after Reconstruction” by Marsha J. Tyson Darling (History Now 51, “The Evolution of Voting Rights,” Summer 2018)
“Adella Hunt Logan: Suffragist and Educator” by Adele Logan Alexander (History Now 54, “African American Women in Leadership,” Summer 2019)
“Women’s Long Journey for the Vote” by Eleanor Clift (History Now 51, “The Evolution of Voting Rights,” Summer 2018)

“Alice Paul, Suffrage Militant” by Barbara Winslow (History Now 51, “The Evolution of Voting Rights,” Summer 2018)
“Her Hat Was in the Ring: How Thousands of Women Were Elected to Political Office before 1920” by Wendy E. Chmielewski (History Now 47, “American Women in Leadership,” Winter 2017)
“Sisters of Suffrage: British and American Women Fight for the Vote” by Barbara Winslow (History Now 7, “Women’s Suffrage,” Spring 2006)
“Why They Marched: Rank and File Perspectives on the Women’s Suffrage Movement” by Susan Ware (History Now 56, “The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond,” Spring 2020)
“Modern Women Persuading Modern Men: The Nineteenth Amendment and the Movement for Woman Suffrage, 1916–1920” by Jonathan Soffer (History Now 30, “American Reform Movements, Winter 2012)
“With All Due Respect: Understanding Anti-Suffrage Women” by Susan Goodier (History Now 56, “The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond,” Spring 2020)
“African American Women and the Nineteenth Amendment” by Sharon Harley (History Now 56, “The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond,” Spring 2020, Summer 2020)
“An Arduous Path: The Passage and Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment” by Elaine Weiss (History Now 56, “The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond,” Spring 2020)
“‘A Vote-less People Is a Hopeless People’: Lessons from Selma” by Robert A. Pratt (History Now 51, “The Evolution of Voting Rights,” Summer 2018)
“The League of Women Voters: A Century of Voter Engagement” by Barbara Winslow (History Now 56, “The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond,” Spring 2020)
“Women in American Politics in the Twentieth Century” by Sara Evans (History Now 7, “Women’s Suffrage,” Spring 2006)
“Hanging by a Chad—or Not: The 2000 Presidential Election” by James Gormly (History Now 33, “Electing a President,” Fall 2012)

The Right to Vote Resource Suite

Image showing scene of women voting in New Jersey

Read scholarly perspectives on the history of voting rights through essays geared to high school students

Read Essays

Flyer in Spanish pertaining to voting in California

Lesson Plans

Learn how individuals and groups attempted to expand access to the vote in "Taking a Stand for Voting Rights: Six States, Six Stories, One Goal."

Browse Lesson Plans

Image from illustrated 19th-century magazine showing line of Black men casting their vote

Digital Exhibitions

Explore our four-part digital exhibition on the history of voting rights, which includes audiovisual elements and interactive maps

Explore Digital Exhibitions

Essays

The Right to Vote: The Role of States and the US Constitution

"Voting Rights and Restrictions in Pre-Emancipation America," by Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt (independent scholar)

"Pioneering New Methods to Expand Voting, 1865–1920," by Prof. Lisa Tetrault (Carnegie Mellon University)

"The Battle to Expand Access to the Ballot from 1920 to 2000," by Prof. Michael J. Pitts (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)

Essays in History Now

The Right to Vote Resource Suite

Essays

Lesson Plans

Digital Exhibitions

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