Qualifications for voting in the early 20th century

2009-11-27T19:46:00.000-08:00

As a kid I loved flipping through the latest edition of World Almanac and Book of Facts. So many tables of trivia to absorb and cross-reference and compare! And nowadays we can read out-of-copyright editions as far back as the late 1800's thanks to Google Books.

I was doing just that when I stumbled upon a table summarizing the qualifications required of U.S. citizens of each state in order to vote in federal elections. I knew that women's suffrage wasn't mandated until 1920, but I had no idea how many other kinds of discrimination people faced! Here are links to the World Almanac's summary of U.S. voting rights broken out by state for a few editions from early last century:

1899

1906

1914

Some historical context: The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, giving equal voting rights by race, color, and former slave status, was ratified in 1870, before all of these editions. The 19th Amendment, giving equal voting rights by gender, was ratified later, in 1920. The 24th Amendment in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated such barriers as the poll tax and literacy tests. Residency requirements were capped at 30 days in 1972.

But look at all the other kinds of institutionalized discrimination on display in the World Almanac tables: "Idiots" and the "insane" couldn't vote in many states. Nor could "paupers", including "persons in poorhouses or asylums at public expense" in Missouri, reflecting the view that you shouldn't get a say in the government unless you contribute materially to society. Chinese couldn't vote in California until 1926; "Indians and Chinamen" couldn't vote in the Arizona territory. People who had fought in duels couldn't vote in Florida and Michigan (and apparently several other states, according to this 1960 newspaper article.)

Fast forward to 2009. A combination of Supreme Court decisions and Constitutional amendments have expanded voting rights considerably over the last century, but most states are still too exclusionary in my opinion. There are exclusions for the "mentally incompetent" in 44 states (also see here); for felons in 48 states; and for ex-felons in 8 states. The definition of "mentally incompetent" is for the states to decide, and from my reading of Drachman's article it seems very broken in many states, where the same medically imprecise and offensive language of "idiots" and "lunatics" is still on the books.

My handful of Google searches can't compete with the work of actual scholars who have studied the history of voting rights in the U.S. The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States by Alexander Keyssar looks like an interesting read -- my link goes to his section discussing pauper exclusion. If you're knowledgeable about this subject and have some other reading suggestions please let me know!

1964: An exposé on "Homosexuality in America"

2009-11-27T19:38:00.001-08:00

Article (LIFE Magazine, June 1964): Homosexuality in America

"Homosexuality--and the problem it poses--exists all over the U.S. but is most evident in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans and Miami." The language used by the author is terrifying enough, but the world described in this piece makes this thirty-something doubly appreciate how much LGBT rights groups have accomplished over the past few decades.

Don't forget to read the section beginning on page 76 entitled "Why?", which poses the question "Do the homosexuals, like the Communists, intend to bury us?"

A Past Imperfect: Interesting archive finds on social issues

Qualifications for voting in the early 20th century

1964: An exposé on "Homosexuality in America"