Who could vote In the thirteen British colonies?

Answer 1

Before the colonies declared their independence, there was little chance to vote. The King of England was the ruler, and his word was law, enforced by the Royal Governors in each colony. But when the US declared itself a free country, individual states decided to create their own constitutions. Unfortunately, they used the model they knew best-- the one from England, where women could not vote, nor could members of minority religions (such as Jews). Originally, the plan was to only allow free-born white men who owned land (the upper-class, in other words) to vote; but gradually, it was decided to allow any free-born white man, with or without land, to cast a ballot in local and state elections. Black men, women, and in some of the states, Jews and Catholics, were not given the vote. But once the federal constitution established freedom of religion (First Amendment), Jewish and Catholic men did get that right, no matter where they lived. Free black men up north were theoretically allowed to vote, but it varied from state to state; in the south, on the other hand, even free black men were generally discouraged from voting.