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Chronological Reasoning and Causation

19th Century African American Voting Rights

  1. Load An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1799 in Main Image Viewer
  2. Load An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1799 in Main Image Viewer
  3. Load An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1799 in Main Image Viewer
  4. Load An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1799 in Main Image Viewer
  5. Load An Act Relative to Slaves and Servants, 1817 in Main Image Viewer
  6. Load New York State Constitution of 1821, Article II, Voting Rights in Main Image Viewer
  7. Load Proposed Constitution, State of New York, Resolutions of 1868, African American Voting Rights in Main Image Viewer
  8. Load Appointment of Frederick Douglass to Deliver New York Electoral College Votes to U.S. Senate, 1872 in Main Image Viewer
  9. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  10. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  11. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  12. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  13. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  14. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  15. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  16. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  17. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  18. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  19. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  20. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  21. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  22. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  23. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  24. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer
  25. Load New York State Constitution of 1777, Excerpt - Property Ownership and Voting in Main Image Viewer

Suggested Teaching Instructions

Historical Context
White New Yorkers were divided over slavery even after the close of the American Revolution.  They remained divided over the issue of equal rights for blacks far longer.  While gradual emancipation proceeded according to state laws passed in 1799 and 1817, other laws and the 1821 state constitution barred large numbers of free blacks from voting.  New York's black abolitionists had many allies in the fight to end slavery nationwide, but found fewer supporters in their quest for equal voting rights in their own state.  Following the Civil War, many white New Yorkers resisted the national movement for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal voting rights for all men.  As late as 1869, a majority of the state's voters cast ballots in favor of retaining property qualifications that kept New York's polls closed to many blacks.  African American men did not obtain equal voting rights in New York until ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870.
 
Essential Question
How do governments protect the rights of citizens?
 
Check for Understanding
Explain how African American men received the right to vote in the United States.