The Fourteenth Amendment did extend universal male suffrage

Full Answer Section

1. Strategic Political Calculations: Many politicians and even some abolitionists believed that pushing for both Black male suffrage and women's suffrage simultaneously would be too much for the public and political system to bear. They feared that demanding "universal suffrage" for all adults, regardless of race or sex, would jeopardize the already contentious effort to secure voting rights for Black men. As a result, the "Negro's Hour" became a prevailing sentiment among some who felt that securing the vote for Black men was the priority, and women's suffrage could be addressed later.

2. The Introduction of the Word "Male" into the Constitution: Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment states: "But when the right to vote at any election...is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States...the basis of representation therein shall be reduced..." This was the first time the word "male" was explicitly used in the U.S. Constitution in relation to voting rights. This angered many women's rights advocates, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who had previously allied with abolitionists. They saw this as a step backward, constitutionally enshrining male-only suffrage.

3. Prevailing Societal Beliefs about Women's Role: In the 19th century, dominant societal norms confined women to the domestic sphere. The idea that women should engage in public life, including politics and voting, was considered radical by many. Traditional views held that women were emotionally fragile, intellectually inferior, or that their political participation would corrupt them or destabilize the family unit. These deeply entrenched beliefs formed a significant barrier to including women in suffrage legislation.

4. Legal Interpretations of Citizenship and Suffrage: Even after the Fourteenth Amendment, legal challenges by women (such as Virginia Minor in Minor v. Happersett, 1875) argued that citizenship (granted by the Fourteenth Amendment) inherently included the right to vote. However, the Supreme Court ruled that while women were indeed citizens, the Constitution did not confer the right of suffrage on anyone; rather, it was a privilege that states could grant or deny. This ruling cemented the idea that a separate constitutional amendment would be required for women's suffrage.

In essence, the exclusion of women from the Fourteenth Amendment's suffrage provisions was a complex outcome of the immediate political priorities of Reconstruction, strategic calculations by politicians, deeply ingrained societal sexism, and specific legal interpretations that separated citizenship from the right to vote. It would take another half-century of determined activism before women finally secured the right to vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

Sample Answer

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, is a cornerstone of civil rights, primarily aimed at granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. While it introduced the concept of "universal male suffrage" by linking representation in Congress to a state's male population of voting age (thus penalizing states that denied voting rights to adult male citizens), it notably excluded women.

Here's why women were not included in the Fourteenth Amendment's provisions for suffrage:

1. The Primary Focus of Reconstruction: The immediate aftermath of the Civil War was dominated by the imperative of integrating newly freed African American men into society and securing their civil rights, particularly the right to vote. The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, predominantly Republican congressmen, viewed this as the most urgent and politically feasible task to ensure the success of Reconstruction and prevent former Confederate states from re-establishing forms of slavery. They believed that attempting to include women's suffrage would complicate or even derail the ratification of the amendment, given the significant opposition to women voting.