Suffrage facts for kids
Suffrage is the right to vote in public elections. When people vote, they help choose who will represent them in their government. This is a very important part of a democracy. Sometimes, people also vote on specific laws or questions in a process called a referendum.
The right to vote is also called active suffrage. The right to run for office and be elected is called passive suffrage. When a person has both rights, it is sometimes called full suffrage.
In most democracies, citizens who are old enough can vote for their leaders. However, the right to vote has not always been for everyone. Throughout history, many people were not allowed to vote based on their gender, race, or how much money they had. Today, most countries have rules about age and citizenship, but the goal for many is to allow all adult citizens to vote.
Contents
What is Universal Suffrage?
Universal suffrage is the idea that all adult citizens should have the right to vote. This means that no one should be stopped from voting because of their gender, race, religion, or wealth.
Achieving universal suffrage has been a long process in many countries. It involved many people protesting and working to change unfair laws.
Early Steps Toward Fairer Voting
One of the first places to try universal suffrage was the short-lived Corsican Republic (1755–1769), which allowed all citizens over 25 to vote.
In 1819, a large crowd of 60,000 to 80,000 people gathered in Manchester, England, to demand representation in the government. This event, known as the Peterloo Massacre, showed how much people wanted the right to have their voices heard.
By 1893, New Zealand became the first independent country in the world to practice universal suffrage for all adults, including women.
The Fight for Women's Right to Vote
For a long time in most countries, only men were allowed to vote. Women's suffrage is the name for the right of women to vote. The fight to win this right was a major movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
People who fought for this right were called suffragists. Some, who used more direct and sometimes extreme protest methods, were known as suffragettes.
Although some places allowed women to vote earlier in history, these rights were often temporary. For example, the state of New Jersey in the U.S. allowed some women who owned property to vote in 1776, but this right was taken away in 1844.
New Zealand was the first self-governing country to give all adult women the right to vote in 1893. The following year, women in South Australia won the right to both vote and run for office.
Opposition to Women's Suffrage
Not everyone supported the idea of women voting. Groups were formed to campaign against women's suffrage. A common argument was that a woman's place was in the home and that politics was only for men.
This opposition was often shown in posters and political cartoons. These cartoons often made fun of women who wanted to be involved in politics, showing them in a negative way. Despite this, the movement for women's suffrage grew stronger and eventually succeeded in many countries around the world.
Who Was Left Out? Barriers to Voting
Throughout history, many groups of people were prevented from voting. This is called disenfranchisement. Here are some of the most common barriers that people had to overcome.
Gender
The most common historical barrier was gender. For centuries, in most societies, voting was seen as a right only for men. Even in ancient Athens, which is often called the birthplace of democracy, only adult male citizens who owned land could vote. Women, as well as slaves and foreigners, were excluded. The fight for women's suffrage was a global struggle to remove this barrier.
Wealth and Social Class
Until the 19th and 20th centuries, many countries required people to own property or pay a certain amount of taxes to be able to vote. These rules were called property qualifications. This meant that poor and working-class people, who did not own land or have much money, were not allowed to vote. Over time, most countries removed these requirements to make voting fairer for everyone.
Race
In many countries, people were denied the right to vote because of their race or ethnicity. For example, in the United States after the Civil War, laws were passed that were supposed to give African American men the right to vote. However, many southern states used unfair practices like literacy tests and poll taxes to stop them from voting.
In other parts of the world, like apartheid-era South Africa, the right to vote was limited almost entirely to white citizens. Indigenous peoples in countries like Australia and Canada also had to fight for many years to win their right to vote.
Age
All democracies have a minimum age for voting. For a long time, the voting age in most countries was 21. During the 20th century, many people argued that if 18-year-olds were old enough to work, pay taxes, and join the army, they should also be old enough to vote.
Today, the most common voting age around the world is 18. The movement to lower the voting age is part of a larger movement for Youth rights.
Key Moments in the History of Suffrage
The path to universal suffrage was different in every country, but here are some important milestones:
- 1893, New Zealand: Becomes the first self-governing country to grant all adult women the right to vote in national elections.
- 1918, United Kingdom: After World War I, all men over 21 and most women over 30 were given the right to vote. Ten years later, in 1928, women gained the same voting rights as men, allowing all citizens over 21 to vote.
- 1920, United States: The 19th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote across the country. However, many African American women (and men) were still prevented from voting by unfair state laws for many more years.
- 1948, United Nations: The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It states that everyone has the right to take part in their country's government and that elections should be held by "universal and equal suffrage."
- 1965, United States: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. This law made it illegal to use discriminatory practices, like literacy tests, to stop people from voting. It was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
- 1994, South Africa: After the end of apartheid, South Africa held its first democratic election where citizens of all races could vote.
See also
In Spanish: Sufragio para niños
- Constituency
- Democracy
- Direct democracy
- Disenfranchisement
- List of suffragists and suffragettes
- Voting system
- Youth suffrage
- Anti-suffragism
- Women's suffrage
