Are we there yet?

Shannon Bohrer

(11/2024) We have a national election on November 5th. The country seems divided and yet overconfident. Divided over politics, with each side believing they are the answer to our problems and issues, and overconfident, with each believing the other side would be destructive for the country. There are times when two things can be true simultaneously, but this is not one of them. Under normal times, the answer may be different, but these are not normal times. Another question could be what constitutes normal times in a democracy.

As a country, we have experienced some difficult and trying periods, beginning with our revolution for independence. The country was created with a rebellion against England. The citizenry was not happy being ruled by a King, so we fought and created a democracy with ambitious ideas. Our democracy has endured two hundred forty-eight years—and hopefully many more.

To announce our intentions to the King of England, we put forth a Declaration of Independence that said, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are recreated equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are the pursuit of happiness." Our history tells us that we have not always held up to our stated ideals; our democracy has had rough patches, but we generally moved forward. Slowly, but forward. The ideals could be viewed as aspirational.

In a democracy, people have the freedom to vote, making each of us equal in the eyes of the government. However, in our early elections, each state sets its own voting requirements. Generally, white male property owners had the right to vote. A few states allowed free Black men to vote, and New Jersey allowed widowed and unmarried women to vote, but only if they owned property.

In 1791, Vermont, a new state, allowed all men to vote, even men who did not own property, including men of color. In 1792, New Hampshire removed property ownership as a requirement to vote. Kentucky, another new state, allowed all men "regardless of color or property ownership" to vote. Abruptly, Kentucky then removed the right to vote for free Black men. Property ownership was also removed from other states, but the color of your skin and your sex primarily determined your individual right to vote.

In the 1828 presidential election, most states allowed white males who were non-property owners to vote, which was considered very progressive. That same year, the State of Maryland enacted a law that allowed Jews to vote. Maryland previously had the moniker of the Free State because, as a colony, it allowed Catholics to practice. The allowance was codified in Maryland Law in 1649 and was known as the Maryland Toleration Act. Tolerance of religion apparently did not include Judaism.

Between the 1828 election and the Civil War, voting rights for free Black men in Pennsylvania were rescinded. Women in Kentucky were allowed to vote, but only in school elections. Rhode Island drafted a new state constitution allowing non-property owners to vote, provided they paid a pole tax. In 1856, North Carolina, the last state to do so, abolished the requirement of property ownership to vote.

The fledgling democracy, which began with a revolution, had taken a few steps in the direction of equality. Nonetheless, democracy continued and often resembled other fledgling democracies in Europe. But the central idea, "…that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these is the pursuit of happiness," was not yet self-evident.

From 1861 to 1865, we had a civil war. The conflict between the southern and northern states was fought over slavery. We often hear that the war was over states’ rights and economics. Owning slaves was a state’s right that was an engine of economics in slave states. The fact is that the confederacy declared session and war against the United States of America because they wanted to maintain their right to own slaves.

After the Civil War, when the slaves were freed, that was considered a significant step in the direction of equality. Of course, the period when people of color were free and could vote was brief. The Jim Crow laws that existed expanded with the 1876 presidential election. Reconstruction was over, and the southern states created the doctrine of "separate but equal" for African Americans. Jim Crow laws included literary tests for African Americans to vote and segregation of schools, transportation, and public places. There were separate restrooms, drinking fountains, and laws prohibiting interracial marriages. Many of the freedoms gained at the end of the Civil War for Black men were withdrawn and revoked. Jim Crow laws continued into the 1960s.

In August 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote. One hundred forty-two years after becoming a country, women were given the legal status to vote. Prior to the 19th Amendment, there were decades of protests, marches, and civil disobedience by protesters. Women were beaten and often incarcerated for protesting. The amendment to allow women to vote was first introduced in Congress in 1878, forty-two years before being ratified.

In the 1960s, laws were enacted, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act prohibited discrimination, eliminating the separate but equal Jim Crow laws. Before the Civil Rights Act, it was legal to discriminate against people and groups in restaurants, hotels, and other public places. That was a large step in the right direction.

In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, "outlawing discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the civil war…" The Voting Rights Act enforced the 15th Amendment, granting African American men the right to vote. Passed in 1869 and ratified in 1870, the act was unenforced for 95 years. Every citizen is given the right to vote one hundred and eighty-nine years after becoming a country, at least on paper.

As a country, we have periods of moving forward two steps and then taking one step back. We are in that position with the November 5th election. Will we go forward or backward? Will we keep our democracy and continue to move forward, or will we create an autocracy?

"Mary forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government, except for all other forms that have been tried from time to time." - Winston Churchill