WEBVTT

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When the next general election rolls around,

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who will be eligible to show up at the polls

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and vote for the President of the United States?

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It's really pretty simple.

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If you are at least 18 years old,

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a citizen of the U.S.,

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and a resident of a state,

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you can vote,

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assuming, that is, you are not a felon.

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Seems about right.

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After all, the United States prides itself

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on being a democracy,

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or a government in which the ultimate authority

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lies with the citizens of the nation.

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But it was not always this way.

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In 1789, George Washington won

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the electoral college with 100% of the vote,

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but whose vote was it?

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Probably not yours.

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Only 6% of the entire United States population

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was allowed to vote at all.

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Voting was a right

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that only white, male property owners

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were allowed to exercise.

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By the 1820s and 1830s,

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the American population was booming

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from the east coast into the western frontier.

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Frontier farmers were resilient,

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self-reliant,

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and mostly ineligible to vote

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because they did not own land.

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As these new areas of the nation became states,

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they typically left out

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the property requirement for voting.

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Leaders such as Andrew Jackson,

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the United State's first common man President,

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promoted what he called universal suffrage.

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Of course, by universal suffrage,

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Jackson really meant universal white, male suffrage.

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All he emphasized was getting rid

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of the property requirement for voting,

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not expanding the vote beyond white men.

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By the 1850s, about 55% of the adult population

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was eligible to vote in the U.S.,

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much better than 6%,

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but far from everybody.

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Then, in 1861,

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the American Civil War began

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largely over the issue of slavery

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and states' rights in the United States.

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When it was all over,

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the U.S. ratified the 15th Amendment,

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which promised that a person's right to vote

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could not be denied

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based on race,

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color,

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or previous condition as a slave.

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This meant that black men,

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newly affirmed as citizens of the U.S.,

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would now be allowed to vote.

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Of course, laws are far from reality.

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Despite the promise of the 15th Amendment,

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intimidation kept African-Americans

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from exercising their voting rights.

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States passed laws that limited

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the rights of African-Americans to vote,

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including things like literacy tests,

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which were rigged

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so that not even literate African-Americans

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were allowed to pass,

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and poll taxes.

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So, despite the 15th Amendment,

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by 1892, only about 6% of black men

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in Mississippi were registered to vote.

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By 1960, it was only 1%.

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And, of course, women were still totally out

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of the national voting picture.

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It wasn't until 1920

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that the women's suffrage movement

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won their 30-year battle,

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and the 19th Amendment finally gave women the vote,

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well, white women.

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The restrictions on African-Americans,

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including African-American women,

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remained.

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After World War II,

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many Americans began to question

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the state of U.S. democracy.

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How could a nation that fought

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for freedom and human rights abroad

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come home and deny suffrage based on race?

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The modern civil rights movement

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began in the 1940s with those questions in mind.

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After years of sacrifice,

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bloodshed,

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and pain,

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the United States passed

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the Voting Rights Act of 1965,

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finally eliminating restrictions

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such as literacy tests

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and protecting the voting rights

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promised under the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.

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Now, any citizen over the age of 21 could vote.

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All seemed well

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until the United States went to war.

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When the Vietnam War called up all men

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age 18 and over for the draft,

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many wondered whether it was fair

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to send men who couldn't vote to war.

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In 1971, the 26th Amendment to the Constitution

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made all citizens 18 and older

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eligible to vote,

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the last major expansion of voting rights

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in the United States.

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Today, the pool of eligible voters in the U.S.

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is far broader and more inclusive

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than ever before in U.S. history.

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But, of course, it's not perfect.

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There are still active efforts

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to suppress some groups from voting,

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and only about 60% of those who can vote do.

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Now that you know all the hard work

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that went into securing the right to vote,

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what do you think?

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Do enough citizens have the right to vote now?

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And among those who can vote,

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why don't more of them do it?