Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Suffrage concerned

  • New Jersey (USA) 1776. For the first time in history, female suffrage was accepted “involuntarily”. The reason for the progressive law was a mistake in drafting the Constitution of the State, which instead of all “men” having the right to vote, wrote that this right was of all “people”. Aware of the (late) error, the law was not suspended until 1807.  
(Argazkia: AEB-etako Kongresuko liburutegia)
(Argazkia: AEB-etako Kongresuko liburutegia)
Zarata mediatikoz beteriko garai nahasiotan, merkatu logiketatik urrun eta irakurleengandik gertu dagoen kazetaritza beharrezkoa dela uste baduzu, ARGIA bultzatzera animatu nahi zaitugu. Geroz eta gehiago gara, jarrai dezagun txikitik eragiten.

The curious anecdote is collected on several websites, most of the time with the same words and without further deepening. But going to other sources, like the article Rethinking women’s suffrage in New Jersey, 1776-1807, published by historian Jan Ellen Lewis in 2011, we will see that it is true that in 1776 women in New Jersey got the right to vote, and in 1807 it was lost, but there were no errors.

This passage from the New Jersey Constitution says: “That all inhabitants of the Colony (…) shall be entintled to vote”. In other words, all “inhabitants” could vote; although there is no talk of “people”, the text is ambiguous in terms of gender. But 20 years later, in 1796, a decree was passed to determine the voting process: “That every voter shall openly, and in full view deliver his or her ballot.” “His” and “her”, with a male and female possessive title, collected both in the decree, demonstrating that there was no involuntary error when writing 20 years earlier. Moreover, it is not very credible that the mistake made in 1776 will be discovered 31 years later and corrected then.

So today, most historians think that this ambiguous language was used consciously and intentionally. And they stress that the other conditions for voting were far from ambiguous. According to the text, voters had to be of age, reside in the same county for at least 12 months and have a patrimony of at least £500 on their behalf.

These minimum assets could only be voted by women who had the permission of the husband or father, and a few wealthy single or widowed. They were still vassals. But it is more beneficial to a subordinate who has the option of voting – to whom you want – than a subordinate who cannot use in the elections.

Similar electoral laws were also established in New York and Massachusetts, but they were rejected in two or three years. In New Jersey, rich men further removed women's voting rights.


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