🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <32819@oasys.dt.navy.mil> smennitt@oasys.dt.navy.mil 
(Stuart Mennitt) writes:
>    Marcus mentioned the Constitution was changed to allow blacks to
>be citizens to grant women the right to vote.  Did the Constitution
>originally and specifically prohibit these?  Did the appropriate ammendments
>contradict a prior section of the constitution,  or did they clarify
>a vague area?  I'm obviously no expert here.  It seems most ammendments
>have served to increase personal freedom, not vice-versa.

Hey Stuart,

Here's what I've found, in answer to your questions.

I read the Constitution last night and didn't find anything regarding the
quaifications of citizenship, until the 14th Amendment was ratified in
1866...after the Civil War.  Still, even after that, women and blacks
were not guaranteed the right to vote until 1920 (19th amendment) for
women and 1870 (15th Amendment) for blacks.  Also, the 24th Amendment
prohibited the use of "poll taxes" to institute a de facto ban on the
voting rights of blacks.

Still, I wondered what prevented them from voting before that, so I looked
at a couple History books we have laying around.  It turns out that it
seems to have been left up to the various states to decide that and most
limited voting rights to tax-paying or property-owning white males.  So,
the Federal Constitution did not take away anyone's rights but was
unfortunately tardy in extending them to all people.

The only case I found where an Amendment REVOVED freedoms was the case
of Prohibition (18th Amendment), which was repealed in the 21st
Amendment.

     don