Paul Jones

Mrs. Quinn
G.A.L.R.E.
December 6, 2010
Unit 3 Lesson 20 – Reviewing and Using the Lesson
1. How have states differed in expanding the franchise?

2. What reasoning supported tying the right to vote to property ownership? Is that reasoning still
valid today? Why or why not?
At the time of ratification of the Constitution, most states used property qualifications to restrict
the franchise; the exact amount varied by state, but by some estimates, over half of white men
were barred from voting.
3. What process did women use to obtain the right to vote? What factors explain why it took
women more than three generations to secure the franchise?
Wyoming was the first state in which women were able to vote, although it was a condition of
the transition to statehood. Colorado was the first established state to allow women to vote on
the same basis as men. Some other states also extended the franchise to women before the
Constitution was amended. With ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, women were
granted the right to vote in time to participate in the Presidential election of 1920.
4. People between the ages if eighteen and twenty-five vote less often than any other age group.
Why do you think this is so?
In 2004, 20.1 million 18-29 year olds voted, a 4.3 million jump over 2000. The turnout increase
among the youngest voters was more than double that of any other age group. In 2006, 18-29
year olds’ turnout grew by nearly 2 million over 2002 levels. Turnout among the youngest
voters grew by 3 percentage points over 2002 levels, twice the turnout increase of older voters.