Suffrage: A Legal Timeline of Voting Rights

Explore the history of voting rights in the United States, from its early influences to constitutional amendments and landmark Supreme Court cases.

Learning Activities

These learning materials facilitate a deep dive into important aspects of American legal history.

The Inquiry Packs are built around primary sources from the Library of Congress and designed to accompany the timeline above. Each pack includes a background reading, several primary sources (documents, articles, images), discussion questions, an inquiry question, and an inquiry extension question.

Who Should Be Able to Vote? Voting Requirements Past, Present, and Future

The Right to Vote for All: Residents of the District of Columbia

The Power to Make the Rules: Federalism and Voting Rights

The Missing Right?: The Explicit Right to Vote and the Constitution

A Victory for All?: Inclusion and Exclusion in the Women’s Suffrage Movement

Reconstruction and Suffrage