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The historians trace American elections from property-owning white men's exclusive franchise through abolition, suffrage, and the Voting Rights Act. Who gets to vote has always been America's most contested question.
Highlights
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The right to vote was never 'expanded' — it was fought for against violent resistance at every step
Ayers challenges the 'expanding franchise' narrative: every extension of voting rights (to non-property-owners, to Black men, to women, to 18-year-olds) was fiercely resisted by those who already had the vote.•
The gap between America's democratic ideals and its democratic practices has been the engine of American history
Freeman argues that the tension between 'all men are created equal' and the reality of exclusion has driven every major social movement in American history — from abolition to civil rights to marriage equality.