- In the early colonial period, voting was restricted to white male property owners.
- In the late 1700s, some states began to allow free Black men to vote, but most Southern states did not.
- After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment (1870) guaranteed Black men the right to vote, but Southern states used various methods, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses, to disenfranchise Black voters.
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed these discriminatory practices and led to a significant increase in Black voter registration and participation.
- In 1971 the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18.