Suffrage and Party Power in American History Essay by Diana

This paper discusses the history of suffrage in the United States and it's affect upon the distribution of power between the Republican and Democratic parties at different points in American History. It discusses the three most central suffrage movements in the United States: universal white male suffrage, universal black male suffrage, and universal female suffrage and the expansion of voting rights that coincided with each of these three movements.

From the paper:

"While the universal white male suffrage progressions in the first period had more to do with the influential ideas of the French Revolution and democracy in general, an incentive to settle the western frontier, and increasing trust of the non-upper classes, the suffrage progressions of blacks and women came about from more deliberate effort. Two main reasons for the attainment of the vote by blacks and women is the weakening of the political parties and the increased activist role of the federal government that occurred in the twentieth century."