Who could vote was up to each state. Ex: New Jersey let any property owner (of any race or sex) vote until 1807. The 1790 Naturalization Act let free white immigrants become citizens, but that didn't imply a right to vote. Nor did the 1795 Naturalization Act.
This is why whenever they're cheering about the 15th amendment they have to stick "constitutional" in there, because some black property owners legally voted in the 1789 elections. Same with the 19th and women; more than half the states had let women vote before the 19th.
It just wasn't until the 15th amendment that the feds started meddling in the states' rights to decide who their voters were.
>Citizenship
>Naturalization
Who could vote was up to each state. Ex: New Jersey let any property owner (of any race or sex) vote until 1807. The 1790 Naturalization Act let free white immigrants become citizens, but that didn't imply a right to vote. Nor did the 1795 Naturalization Act.
This is why whenever they're cheering about the 15th amendment they have to stick "constitutional" in there, because some black property owners legally voted in the 1789 elections. Same with the 19th and women; more than half the states had let women vote before the 19th.
It just wasn't until the 15th amendment that the feds started meddling in the states' rights to decide who their voters were.