Voting

Although most Americans consider voting a fundamental right, many citizens do not realize that the right to vote is not explicitly guaranteed by the US Constitution because the Founding Fathers worried that giving everyone the right to vote would lead to political turmoil. Originally, the framers wanted only wealthy, white landowners to vote and these men would only be allowed to vote for members of Congress, not the president or senators. Instead, these positions were to be chosen by state legislatures.

The Founding Fathers later decided that states should determine who was eligible to vote. Many states finally dropped the property requirement, extending the right to most white males who were eventually also allowed to vote for the president and...