Someone said to me the other day, “You know, rich people run the country.” I thought about it for a minute, and I had to agree.
In fact, when you look back at the history of our nation, certainly it was the aristocrats that made the rules, that were in charge, that drafted the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and so on. It was white people of the late 1700s—who had money, who were in charge and calling all the shots. In fact, back at the beginning of voting times in America, you could be white, but if you didn’t, at the very least, own some land, you couldn’t vote. Early American voters were required to be property owners. If a person did not own property–you were just out of luck. This practice by the founders of America was an accepted practice for too many years. It’s been argued that such a practice is not one that demonstrates freedom for all people, nor did it show that the Founding Fathers believed that all men were created equal. The Founding Fathers of the United States clearly, didn’t believe that all men were created equal. They wrote that into the Constitution. Blacks were only considered 3/5th’s humans. Since women could not own property, nor could slaves, and most newcomers and the poor could not afford to own property, the practice ensured only the rich, white slave owners were able to vote.
As time passed, as history goes, things did change, and after much fighting and struggle, all white men could vote. Then finally, women were allowed to vote, and then after blood was shed, lynchings were committed, and more atrocities against Blacks, Blacks were given the right to vote. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868 granted African Americans the right to citizenship. This still did not always translate into the ability to vote. Black voters were systematically turned away from polling places. It wasn’t until 1964 that the twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution was written that prohibited–the use of poll taxes that finally, things started to get better for African Americans and voting. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act directed the Attorney General to enforce the right to vote for African Americans. The 1965 Voting Rights Act created a significant change in the status of African Americans throughout the South. It’s a shame that in 2022, we still have to fight to try and preserve the Voting Rights Act by some of the very aristocrats that currently sit in positions of power in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. To the “will of the people,” which apparently means “all people” turned the tide, and eventually, voting rights became the norm for all persons that had reached the minimum age requirement. Voting rights for all would be fine if the electorate ensured they remained properly informed and considered all of the issues–and the politicians did not try to take advantage of those that really have no stake in the election.
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